The Painted Cave, Galdar. Gran Canaria.

Something about the first inhabitants .

The origins of the Canarian indigenous people are still the subject of debate. The islands were known to the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, and are mentioned in many classical books . For example, Pliny the Elder describes a Carthaginian expedition to the Canaries, and they may have been the Fortunate Isles of other classical writers.

Archaeology suggests that the original settlers arrived by sea, importing domestic animals such as goats, sheep, pigs and dogs and cereals such as wheat, barley and lentils. They also brought with them a set of well-defined socio-cultural practices that seem to have originated and been in use for a long period of time elsewhere.

When the Europeans began to explore the islands they encountered several indigenous populations living at a Neolithic level of technology. Although the history of the settlement of the Canary Islands is still unclear, linguistic and genetic analyses seem to indicate that at least some of these inhabitants shared a common origin with the Berbers of northern Africa.[ The pre-colonial inhabitants came to be known collectively as the Guanches, although Guanches was originally the name for the indigenous inhabitants of Tenerife.

Once you get at the archeological site, you are going to be told a story about a girl called Arminda. The introduction below will help you to understand a little bit more the whole story once you get there.

Arminda is a canarian girl and although her father is a very important man, she is an ordinary girl who likes playing with other girls, walking and being with Guama, her litte goat. In fact, Arminda's father is Guanarteme. He is a good man who likes helping people and trying to solve their problems without violence, trying to find a solution through the dialogue ... He doesn't like war. She lives in Agaldar a little village on the north of the island called Gran Canaria.

Arminda's house has several rooms and she lives with her parents and other relatives. Besides, she likes learning her traditions and sometimes she has to do some tasks, for example to fetch some water, to toast the barley to prepare the gofio or to help to make the mats. Her favourite meal is dried figs with milk and honey.

Arminda's real name is Wayyarminna, which is usually spelled Guayarmina. In fact it is the name of a star which it is called Canopo. Some north African traditions tell us that this is the first star that existed but later it exploded, giving place to the millions of stars and constellations that form the Universe.