Lomo Estrecho, La Palma. Photo by A Curtis (2014).
I have had a long interest now in Northumberland's prehistoric carved rocks and occasionally get about to visit rock art in more distant locations, including Durham, Yorkshire and even parts of Scotland.
A recent visit to La Palma in the Canary Islands gave me pause for more thought, both on how rock art might be, or should be conserved, interpreted for the public, and also on the apparent similarities and differences in rock carving traditions in these two very different locations.
A recent visit to La Palma in the Canary Islands gave me pause for more thought, both on how rock art might be, or should be conserved, interpreted for the public, and also on the apparent similarities and differences in rock carving traditions in these two very different locations.
There is a very nice general guide to the symbolic style of rock carving across the world on the Irish megaliths website. This notes the apparent similarities between rock art styles along the Atlantic seaboard including the Canary Islands, Ireland and the cup and ring forms found closer to home.
As at other Atlantic sites such as Galicia and the Canary Islands, Irish "rock art" occurs not only close to the coast and at sea-level (like the examples in SW Scotland) but as high up as 200 metres or more, and as much as 10 kilometres inland.
Like the other Atlantic petroglyphs they are mostly on horizontal outcrops or on table-like surfaces of boulders.
... they are nearly always carved where there is a panorama or a wide open view.
They are also part of a common Atlantic seaboard (or edge-of-the-known-world) culture.
Are these similarities really the result of a shared origin, of culture or systems of belief, or purely the result of chance, a parallel and independent evolution?
As Richard Bradley pointed out in Rock Art and the Prehistory of Atlantic Europe: Signing the Land (2002) there are similar forms of symbolic art (found with more pictorial forms) in alpine locations (including Valcamonica). They may date to a similar period to carvings found on the Atlantic coast but apart from using the same basic forms, the overall assemblage is far from showing a physical connection . The circular forms of rock art found on the Canary Islands is also superficially similar to that found in Galicia and further north but as Bradley points out:
... it is almost certain that the Canary Islands were not settled until long after the period in which Atlantic rock art had gone out of use. The earliest radiocarbon date is about 600 BC and all the others fall in the first millennium AD.
We remain no closer to understanding the meaning of such symbolic carving but there do appear to be similarities in location and form that may aid our interpretation.
 'Captive' petroglyph at Lomo Estrecho, La Palma. Photo by A Curtis (2014). |  'Captive' petroglyph at Lomo Estrecho, La Palma. Photo by A Curtis (2014). |
The locked, strong metal cage at Lomo Estrecho encloses a single carved volcanic rock, no different from thousands of uncarved rocks strewing the steep hillside. The rock stands upright facing south and is shallowly carved with concentric semi-circles.
In an interesting parallel with rock art in Northumberland, there were also the odd rocks in the area with similar, apparently natural formations, perhaps caused by the cooling of lava. As is our local rock art, the carvings had been made by percusion and grinding using stone tools.
The situation is in open pine forest around 1300m high on the steep south facing slope of the Taburiente Crater National Park. It lies 700m off a popular walking trail that goes from a car park at Pista de Valencia (1150m) to Pico Bejenado (1854m). Because of the slope, the site has extensive views south, standing high above the narrow eastern entry into the Crater used by the road to La Cumbrecita. The path to the petrogyph is sign-posted from the main trail and featured on route maps.
In an interesting parallel with rock art in Northumberland, there were also the odd rocks in the area with similar, apparently natural formations, perhaps caused by the cooling of lava. As is our local rock art, the carvings had been made by percusion and grinding using stone tools.
The situation is in open pine forest around 1300m high on the steep south facing slope of the Taburiente Crater National Park. It lies 700m off a popular walking trail that goes from a car park at Pista de Valencia (1150m) to Pico Bejenado (1854m). Because of the slope, the site has extensive views south, standing high above the narrow eastern entry into the Crater used by the road to La Cumbrecita. The path to the petrogyph is sign-posted from the main trail and featured on route maps.
Further west along the slope, 1.2km from the main trail, are two more petroglyph sites, also protected by substantial fences.
 Lomo Gordo, La Palma. Photo by A Curtis (2014). |  Lomo Gordo, La Palma. Photo by A Curtis (2014). |
Lomo Gordo consists of a loose cairn of rocks on the top of a ridge. one on the north side carved with a fine spiral. Spirals are much more of a common element in Canary petroglyphs than they are here. Built into the east side of the cairn is a small rectangular stone structure, possibly the temporary shelter for a shepherd. A possible connection between rock carving, animal husbandry and transhumance has also been noted here.
 La Trocha, La Palma. Photo A Curtis (2014). |  La Trocha, La Palma. Photo A Curtis (2014). |
Directly below the fenced enclosure on the Lomo Gordo ridge, and below the track that contours the hillside to the petroglyph sites, is La Trocha. Here a huge area of the steeply descending ridge has been enclosed with a wall and secure metal fence. Several groups of carved stones can be seen, with difficulty, through and over the fence. Below the site extends a firebreak through the open forest of Canary Pine trees providing an extensive vista south. I was reminded strongly of certain similar sites with descending rocky ridges bearing multiple carvings in Northumberland.
The presence of rock carvings in areas of forest which certainly curtail views is also of interest as this may also have been the situation here. The forest understorey on the La Palma slopes has been severely depleted by over-grazing and would too have been originally more dense.
Several of the sites on La Palma have notices urging you not to use chalk, red-ochre or damage the carvings in any way but clearly this has not been enough. Rocks outside the enclosures shown here have been recently inscribed or have added graffiti and we sadly have the same problem at home.
Is education enough, or do we need enclosure for some of our most important sites?
Is education enough, or do we need enclosure for some of our most important sites?
Red ochre on rayed cup and ring carved motif at Roughting Linn. Photo A Curtis (2013).
Victorian graffiti on Chatton Park Hill. Photo A Curtis (2013).
For me, having to observe our rock art sites through fences would be a step too far. They would certainly spoil the atmosphere of the places which to me is as important as the carved motifs themselves. There is no easy answer and people have to take ultimate responsibility for their heritage. In our climate, there is possibly a larger threat to the survival of rock art panels by natural weathering and biological processes.
Fences might just protect some sites from people who know no better. They would certainly spoil the atmosphere of the locations for those who feel these things, and what would metal fences do to the energy? There is much pseudo-science in the world of petroglyphs (see the Atlantis theories, rock maps and UFOs for more). It is usually harmless and quite entertaining but does obscure the real science.
There are over 200 petrogylph sites on La Palma. The three I have illustrated above are all in the area of the National Park and perhaps being on publicly-owned land are probably not representative of the island as a whole.
Towards the south end of the island, the yellow volcanic rock at Roque Teneguia which has several flat intricately-carved panels, along with burial sites and caves with evidence of ancient occupation, is little protected from visitors. The site was however nearly wiped out by the Teneguia volcanic eruption in 1972.
 Roque Teneguia, La Palma. Photo by A Curtis (2014). |  Roque Teneguia, La Palma. Photo by A Curtis (2014). |
It is clear that the rock carving heritage on La Palma is greatly appreciated by the island authorities and widely disseminated in the tourist literature. Several cave sites with rock carvings, at La Zarza / La Zarcita (below) and at Belmarco, are brilliantly interpreted at on-site displays and museums.
 La Zarza / La Zarcita, Garafia, La Palma. Photo A Curtis (2014). |  La Zarza / La Zarcita, Garafia, La Palma. Photo A Curtis (2014). |
Museums in the main towns also widely feature the culture that existed before the Spanish Conquest. The aboriginal people are thought to have come from North Africa but had forgotten the use of boats, navigation and had no metal tools. The carvings, originally thought to be mere scribbling are now usually interpreted as ritual, to do with water, the sun, archaeo-astronomy or fertility. Folk memories appear to exist of pouring liquids in natural channels and hollows in rocks to appease the gods or ask for rain. It all sounded very familiar.
Prehistory on La Palma is a much more compact and less confusing story than prehistory in the British Isles which has had a much longer and more complex history of occupation, of which rock art is just a small and poorly-understood part. The culture of the people who made the carvings on La Palma seemed to have many parallels to things proposed for our own rock art.
Or is that just how we would like it to be?
Prehistory on La Palma is a much more compact and less confusing story than prehistory in the British Isles which has had a much longer and more complex history of occupation, of which rock art is just a small and poorly-understood part. The culture of the people who made the carvings on La Palma seemed to have many parallels to things proposed for our own rock art.
Or is that just how we would like it to be?
Archaeological Museum Benahoarita, Los Llanos, La Palma. Photo A Curtis (2014).
Links
Conquest of the Canary Islands by Robert Figuero.
Prehistoria de La Palma by Iruene.
Discovery of Islands in the Ocean by de Jonge.
Atlantis: Atlantology: Basic Problems By N. Zhirov.
Canary Islands in pre-colonial times - Wikipedia
History of La Palma - Issac Newton Group of Telescopes
INSTITUTUM CANARIUM
La Palma Island by Sheila Crosby.
Conquest of the Canary Islands by Robert Figuero.
Prehistoria de La Palma by Iruene.
Discovery of Islands in the Ocean by de Jonge.
Atlantis: Atlantology: Basic Problems By N. Zhirov.
Canary Islands in pre-colonial times - Wikipedia
History of La Palma - Issac Newton Group of Telescopes
INSTITUTUM CANARIUM
La Palma Island by Sheila Crosby.
April 9th 2014
Vandals damage ancient monument in Northumberland.
Vandals damage ancient monument in Northumberland.
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