Archaeologists studying a cave complex on Gran Canaria have found the earliest direct evidence of cereal harvesting in the Canary Islands, adding new detail to what is known about farming and burial customs among the island’s Indigenous communities before the Castilian conquest.
The research focused on stone tools recovered from cave complex C008 at Bentayga, a major archaeological site on the southern slope of Roque Bentayga in Tejeda, Spain. The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, examined how people used the caves between the 10th and 13th centuries CE.
Roque Bentayga, a volcanic monolith rising 1,414 meters above sea level, was an important center for the ancient inhabitants of Gran Canaria, a population of Amazigh origin. More than 100 caves were cut into its slopes and served different roles, including homes, burial chambers, and granaries.
The C008 complex sits about 1,100 meters above sea level and consists of several artificial chambers carved into volcanic tuff. Radiocarbon dating shows the caves first functioned as a granary between the 10th and 13th centuries. Later, during the 12th and 13th centuries, part of the space was reused as a collective burial area.
Dry and stable conditions inside the caves preserved unusual organic materials, including barley ears, seeds, reed mats, leather fragments, wood, and even soft animal tissues. Such preservation gave researchers a rare chance to study both tools and associated materials together.
The team analyzed 218 stone artifacts and selected 46 for detailed functional study. Researchers used high-powered microscopes with magnifications up to 400 times and cleaned the pieces in ultrasonic baths to remove sediment. This work was especially difficult because the assemblage consisted largely of volcanic rocks such as basalt, trachyte, and obsidian, whose rough surfaces make microscopic wear traces harder to identify than on flint.
Among the most important finds was a small basalt blade showing clear traces linked to cereal harvesting. Its edge displayed a bright continuous sheen and fine parallel scratches, wear patterns created by repeated cutting of silica-rich cereal stems. This is the first physical proof of cereal harvesting tools in the pre-European archaeology of the Canary Islands.
Until now, archaeologists had relied mostly on later European written accounts and indirect evidence, such as weed seeds or crop remains, to suggest cereal agriculture on the islands. Some historical descriptions claimed ancient Canarians removed grain heads by hand, leaving stalks behind. The new evidence points to a more varied harvesting system.
Researchers also found barley stems with clean cut marks, which support the idea that people used cutting tools similar to sickles. In one silo, archaeologists documented bundles of uprooted plants whose upper sections had been neatly cut, likely separating grain from stalks.
The findings suggest these caves were more than storage spaces. Large stone picks and scrapers carried wear from striking and scraping volcanic rock, showing they were used to shape and maintain the cave walls. Other tools were linked to crop processing, indicating grain handling likely took place inside the granaries.
The site later took on a different purpose. In the burial phase, archaeologists found adult and perinatal human remains in a central chamber. Bodies had been wrapped in shrouds made from plant fibers and leather.
Stone flakes recovered near the burials showed wear linked to scraping dry hide and cutting reeds. Researchers believe these tools were likely used to prepare or adjust burial wrappings during funerary rituals rather than being intentionally placed as grave goods, since such offerings were not typical in Indigenous Gran Canarian burial traditions.
An obsidian piece also showed traces linked to meat processing, suggesting stored food or preserved meat products may have been prepared in the complex as well.
The study gives a more detailed picture of life at Bentayga. Over several centuries, the same cave complex served as a construction site, food storage and processing center, and later a burial place. Researchers say the work also highlights the value of use-wear studies on volcanic stone tools, an area still understudied despite the importance of such materials in volcanic regions like the Canary Islands.
Disclaimer: This website is a science-focused magazine that welcomes both academic and non-academic audiences. Comments are written by users and may include personal opinions or unverified claims. They do not necessarily reflect the views of our editorial team or rely on scientific evidence.
Comment Policy: We kindly ask all commenters to engage respectfully. Comments that contain offensive, insulting, degrading, discriminatory, or racist content will be automatically removed.