One of the Pyramids of Güímar

The Pyramids of Güímar are situated in the village of Güímar on the east coast of the isle of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. They are still a mystery to archaeologists. The term covers six step pyramids with a rectangular ground plan, which have a noticeable similarity to the pyramids built by the Maya and Aztecs in Mexico. The Anaga Mountain Range in the north of Tenerife Tenerife (English also Teneriffe), a Spanish island, is the largest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. ... Canaries Capitals Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Santa Cruz de Tenerife Area  – Total  – % of Spain Ranked 13th  7 447 km²  1,5% Population  – Total (2003)  – % of Spain  – Density Ranked 8th  1 843 755  4,4%  247,58/km² Demonym  – English  – Spanish  Canary Islander  canario/a Statute of Autonomy August 16... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... The Step Pyramid The Pyramid of Djoser was built for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser by his Vizier Imhotep. ... The word Maya or maya can refer to: The Maya – a Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America the modern Maya people the pre-Columbian Maya civilization the Maya language Maya – a concept in Hindu/Vedic philosophy a state of misperception of reality the inherent force of... The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ...

Discarded rocks

For a long time archaeologists used to believe that the pyramids were heaps made by native farmers who had found the stones while ploughing and stacked them up on the edges of their fields. This used to be a common practice on the Canary Islands. Reports by the local people and old images say that such pyramids once existed at many locations on the island but were pulled down because of their supposed uselessness and used as a cheap building material. In Güímar itself there had been nine pyramids of which only six are left. For the constellation known as The Plough see Ursa Major. ...

Actual pyramids

In 1991 the famous researcher Thor Heyerdahl studied the pyramids and discovered that they cannot be random stone heaps. For example, the stones on the pyramids’ corners show clear marks of treatment, and the ground had been levelled before the pyramids were built. The material is not stones from the nearby fields, but lava rock. Heyerdahl also found that the pyramids had a special astronomical orientation. On the day of the summer solstice you can see a double sunset from the platform of the biggest pyramid – the sun sinks behind a tall mountain peak, passes it, appears again and sets behind the next mountain for a second time. All pyramids have stairs on their western side, on which you can step exactly to the rising sun in the morning of the winter solstice. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Thor Heyerdahl (October 6, 1914 in Larvik, Norway–April 18, 2002 in Colla Micheri, Italy) was (originally) a Norwegian marine biologist with a great interest in anthropology, who became famous for his Kon-Tiki Expedition in which he sailed by raft 4,300 miles from South America to the Tuamotu... Lava is molten rock that a volcano expels during an eruption. ... The summer solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the Sun in relation to the celestial equator. ... A red sunset panorama Sunset, also called sundown in some American English dialects, is the time at which the Sun disappears below the horizon in the west. ... In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is in a point of its orbit at which the northern or southern hemisphere is most inclined away from the sun. ...

Pyramids of Güímar

Despite his research, Heyerdahl neither could find the age of the pyramids nor answer the question of who built them. However, it is known that Guanches have lived in a cave under one of the pyramids. Until the Spanish conquest in the late 15th century, Güímar was the residence of one of the ten ‘’menceys’’ (kings) of Tenerife. Guanches (also: Guanchis or Guanchos) (native Guanchinet; Guan=person, Chinet=Teneriffe, man of Teneriffe, corrupted, according to Núñez de la Peña, by Spaniards into Guanchos), were the aboriginal inhabitants of the Canary Islands. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

It is remarkable that according to a report by Pliny the Elder, the Canaries had been uninhabited in the time of Hanno the Navigator (c. 600 BC) but had contained the ruins of huge buildings. Gaius Plinius Secundus, (23–79) better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author and scientist of some importance who wrote Naturalis Historia. ... Hanno the Navigator was a Carthaginian explorer, sent out with a fleet and many thousands of colonists, who founded or repopulated seven Carthaginian cities on the Atlantic shore of Morocco and explored the Atlantic coast of Africa, apparently deep into the Gulf of Guinea. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC - 600s BC - 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC Events and Trends Fall of the Assyrian Empire and Rise of Babylon 609 BC _ King Josiah...

The origin of the Guanches is not quite clear. The passage to the Canary islands from the next mainland coast in southern Morocco is difficult because of the sea currents, while it is easier from Europe and the Mediterranean area.

Heyerdahl advanced a theory according to which the Canaries had been bases of ancient shipping between The Americas and the Mediterranean. The quickest route between the two world regions indeed passes the Canary Islands – it was also used by Christopher Columbus. As early as 1970, Heyerdahl had shown that sailing between Northern Africa and the Caribbean is possible using ancient methods – he had sailed from Morocco to Barbados with the papyrus boat Ra II. The Americas (sometimes referred to as America) is the area including the land mass located between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, generally divided into North America and South America. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... No authentic contemporary portrait of Columbus has been found; this late 19th-century engraving is one of many conjectural images For information about the director, see the article on Chris Columbus. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Blank papyrus. ...

In 1998 the 65.000-sqm-large area of the Güímar pyramids was opened to the public as an ethnological park. Heyerdahl was financially supported by the Norwegian shipowner Fred Olsen, who lives on Tenerife. An information centre acquaints visitors with Heyerdahl’s expeditions and his theories about the pyramids. Two pavilions contain exhibitions about Heyerdahl and models of his boats, among other things a reproduction of the Ra II in original size. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Fred Olsen or Fred. ...

Weblinks

• Official webpage of the Ethnological Park (http://www.piramidesdeguimar.net) (Spanish - English - German)