Archaeological site of El Julan

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The archaeological site of El Julan ( Spanish Zona Arqueológica de El Julan ) is located in the southeast of the island of El Hierro in the area of ​​the municipality of El Pinar . Finds from before the conquest of the Canary Islands in the 15th century can be found in various places on the extensive site . In the visitor center of the cultural park of El Julan ( Spanish Centro de Interpretación del Parque Cultural de El Julan ) the particularities of the sites are presented. The entire complex has been declared a Bien de Interés Cultural .

El Julan

El Julan is a vast, vast wasteland in the southeast of El Hierro Island. It stretches between the ridge that runs through the island in its center and the cliffs on the south side of the island. The sites of petroglyphs found at the end of the 19th century are located on an above-ground lava flow that follows the slope of the terrain. Other significant archaeological finds in the area led to the fact that the area is now one of the most important historical ensembles in the Canary Islands.

Petroglyphs

Within the area of ​​the Archaeological Site of El Julan are the sites “Los Letreros” and “Los Números”. Here are petroglyphs found which came in the 19th century by scientific research abroad, with interest. At both sites together there are more than 200 worked stone surfaces known as "panels" on which signs can be recognized. The recessed lines were created in most cases by hitting the surface of the rock with hard stones. Only in a few cases were the characters created by scratching or scraping .

According to their motives, three types of signs are distinguished. The geometric motifs contain simple, z. But sometimes also complicated circular shapes, curved lines, ovals, spiral shapes, meander shapes , straight lines and labyrinths . The figurative images show recognizable shapes of objects, albeit in a schematic representation. Frequently occurring forms are the footprints that are known as Podomorfos . The scientific interest is particularly concentrated on the characters that have been found in the same or similar form on all the Canary Islands. They are called Libyan-Berber inscriptions. The amount of petroglyphed areas and the stylistic differences suggest that they were made by different people at different times. This could have happened in a repetitive ritual.

Stone circle

Seats made of stacked stone slabs are arranged around a free space with a diameter of 8.5 m. It is about 300 m above sea level. Based on the term that the natives of Tenerife used for such a place, it is usually referred to as "Tagoror". It is believed that the Bimbaches held socio-political meetings, festivals or rituals at this location.

Sacrificial altars

In the area of ​​the archaeological site of El Julan, burnt offering altars ( Spanish: Aras de sacrificio ) were found in twelve places . They are called small ovens ( hornillos in Spanish ) by the population . The altars have a uniform construction scheme: the actual sacrificial sites, which taper towards the top, are located on a circular base made of flat stones from 80 cm to 130 cm. They have an inner diameter of 80 cm to 160 cm and an outer diameter of 130 cm to 210 cm. The height is 30 cm to 100 cm. Inside, charred remains of young goats and pigs were found.

Clam pile

In the area of ​​the Archaeological Site of El Julan there are piles of mussels ( Spanish concheros ). Sea snail shells, clams, fish scraps and stone tools have been found in them. Since the distance to the sea is considerable and there is no watering point nearby, it is assumed that these are not places where the snails, mussels and fish collected were processed, but rather they were consumed in community at these places .

Hut settlements

There are groups of three to four round stone houses spread over the entire site. They were half buried in the ground. There are also small, stone-built, semicircular buildings called "taros". Since they were placed at points that were important for monitoring the flocks, it is believed that these were shelters for shepherds.

Protection of the sources

The petroglyphs of the El Julan Archaeological Site are protected by the Law for the Protection of the Historical Heritage of Spain of June 25, 1985. By the decision of the Dirección General de Patrimonio Histórico of February 25, 1992, the area was demarcated. Today, the area can only be visited as part of guided tours with a limited number of participants and after prior registration. In addition to the effects of people on the stationary historical finds, which should be avoided by the protective measures, natural erosion also leads to losses. The finds were precisely recorded and inventoried using various methods.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deportes: El Julan. Bienes de Interés Cultural. Gobierno de Canarias, accessed May 26, 2018 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ Renata Ana Springer Bunk: The Libyan-Berber inscriptions of the Canary Islands in their rock painting context . Köppe, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-89645-942-8 , pp. 24 .
  3. ↑ Renata Springer Bunk: La escritura líbico-bereber de las Islas Canarias ¿uno o varios alfabetos? In: Tabona: Revista de Prehistoria y de Arqueología . No. 21 , 2016, ISSN  0213-2818 , p. 31 (Spanish, [1] [accessed June 11, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Hartwig-E Steiner: Burnt offering altars in El Julán on El Hierro II - sacrificial sites in the area of ​​“Los Letreros” . In: Almogaren . No. 28 , 1997, ISSN  1695-2669 , pp. 208 ( [2] [accessed May 4, 2019]).
  5. ↑ María de la Cruz Jiménez Gómez: El Julan . In: Armando del Toro García (ed.): Patrimonio histórico de Canarias, La Gomera / El Hiero . tape 2 . Dirección General de Patrimonio Histórico, Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deportes, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 1998, ISBN 84-7947-226-X , p. 308 (Spanish).
  6. ^ Antonio Tejera Gaspar; José Juan Jiménez González; Jonathan Allen: Las manifestaciones artísticas prehispánicas y su huella . Ed .: Gobierno de Canarias, Consejería de Educación, Universidades, Cultura y Deportes (=  Historia cultural del arte en Canarias ). Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2008, ISBN 978-84-7947-469-0 , p. 107 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
  7. ↑ María de la Cruz Jiménez Gómez: El Julan . In: Armando del Toro García (ed.): Patrimonio histórico de Canarias, La Gomera / El Hiero . tape 2 . Dirección General de Patrimonio Histórico, Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deportes, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 1998, ISBN 84-7947-226-X , p. 308 (Spanish).
  8. ^ Antonio Tejera Gaspar; José Juan Jiménez González; Jonathan Allen: Las manifestaciones artísticas prehispánicas y su huella . Ed .: Gobierno de Canarias, Consejería de Educación, Universidades, Cultura y Deportes (=  Historia cultural del arte en Canarias ). Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2008, ISBN 978-84-7947-469-0 , p. 107 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
  9. ↑ Ley 16/1985, de 25 de junio, del Patrimonio Histórico Español. BOE-A-1985-12534
  10. ↑ elhierro.travel: Parque Cultural de el Julán. Viceconsejería de Turismo del Gobierno de Canarias, 2019, accessed May 6, 2019 (Spanish).
  11. ^ Sixto Sánchez Perera, Teresa N. Ruíz González: Nuevas perspectivas en el estudio de las manifestaciones rupestres de El Hierro . In: Cabildo de Lanzarote (ed.): VII Congreso de Patrimonio Histórico. Inscripciones Rupestres y poblamiento del Archipiélago canario . Cabildo de Lanzarote, Arrecife 2010, p. 1-4 (Spanish, [3] [accessed June 11, 2018]).

Remarks

  1. ↑ “When taking stock of the rock art, the smallest units given by nature, the panels, are taken as a starting point. This designation means a coherent surface that can be understood as "writable". " Renata Ana Springer Bunk: The Libyan-Berber inscriptions of the Canary Islands in their rock art context . Köppe, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-89645-942-8 , pp. 5 .

literature

  • Hans Biedermann: The trace of the ancient Canaries: an introduction to ancient ethnology of the Canary Islands 1983
  • María de la Cruz Jiménez Gómez: El Julan . In: Armando del Toro García (ed.): Patrimonio histórico de Canarias, La Gomera / El Hiero . tape 2 . Dirección General de Patrimonio Histórico, Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deportes, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 1998, ISBN 84-7947-226-X , p. 307-308 (Spanish).
  • Antonio Tejera Gaspar; José Juan Jiménez González; Jonathan Allen: Las manifestaciones artísticas prehispánicas y su huella . Ed .: Gobierno de Canarias, Consejería de Educación, Universidades, Cultura y Deportes (=  Historia cultural del arte en Canarias ). Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2008, ISBN 978-84-7947-469-0 , p. 106 f . (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).

Web links

Film about the Parque Cultural El Julan