ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE

The town we know nowadays did not exist as such in the indigenous stage and it was an overall setting so – called Valley of Taoro – “menceyato or kingdom of Taoro-, the lands of Arautápala, dwelling of Benitomo (or Bencomo) the last king of Taoro, who was regarded as the most famous in the island since he was the man in charge of concealing the competitions which set at odds different areas, because of the cattle affairs. It was such his power that he was allowed to take the headline of all his warriors of the “Sides of War” facing the conquistadors and for instance, Alonso de Espinosa, on his work History of Our Lady of Candelaria, states that Bencomo obtained presents from the other kings because of his prestige and influence over them.

As many authors point out, we can depict Los Realejos as a place of passing by, where a large number of market routes of the ancient native societies of the island went through other areas of the highlands livestock, with huts which were lodged in a short period of time or areas of a market use which connected the rest of the “Menceyatos” (indigenous kingdoms the island was split up).

Taking into account the hypothesis about Los Realejos as a settlement where several populated centres were established, standing out among them those that go through the middle and low channel of the Godínez ravine and some of the near water beds, where water in the pre – Spanish stage went through continuously throughout the year and over there caves large enough as to be used. Those caves have been used afterwards in the Spanish age, and therefore many of the materials the remained during the indigenous settlement have been brought up or destroyed.

Other dwelling caves have been also established with documentary evidence in other near places like the current urban centres of many neighbourhoods of the municipality, thus, due to the pieces of information given by Luis Diego Cuscoy in his book Los Guanches, Vida y Cultura del primitivo habitante de Tenerife, it is about the existence of settlements of that type in El Mocán, where a number of materials such as a mill, pottery objects, punches and “tabonas” were found out; in La Zamora, El Patronato, the cave of El Tabonal and La Longuera, as well the indigenous dwelling caves in the ravines of El Dornajo and Ruiz and the cliffs of El Lance.

Further the coastline, the different sources deal with the existence of archaeological sites in the setting of Rambla de Castro, where it is known the cave of the Guanches or of the Princes, but there any archaeological object was found. What we can justify is that in some coastline places of a difficult access – cliff of El Guindaste or Gordejuela – there have appeared caves or cavities used burials and as funeral niches where some bony remains and a dowry where the potter’s accounts were frequent, with the shape of a necklace, would be a present to follow the ritual of the spirit of the deceased person as an amulet.

Another of the archaeological sites related to the activities taken in the coast are the shell settings – like the one mentioned by the same author in the area of La Zamora -, the places where the indigenous people cleared of the shell of the molluscs to make easy their transport towards the inner areas and their conservation, since in most cases the molluscs were cooked and taken away their entrails to avoid in that way its quick impairment. In those places there were domestic tools regarding feeding and the work of several raw materials, like pieces of pottery vessels, stone instruments (made stone), “tabonas” (knives made in obsidian materials), bone punches and some mills of a circular cavity made of porous basalt, very common in Tenerife.

One of the circumstances which has signed the archaeological heritage of Los Realejos, besides the destructive intervention of men, has been the strategic situation for the passing of the livestock, since it was, for the Guanches of Taoro, one of the main activities of survival, as for its undeniable contribution in the pre-Hispanic diet, as for its incidence in the social relationships. Therefore the cattle hut was mainly formed by sheep, goats, pigs and – in a less extent – dogs. This hut not only was the place which contributed to the feeding of those societies, but it supplied many foods like milk and its derived products ( like cheese), meat, skin ( to elaborate wearing tokens), as well bones, used to make up the necessary tools for those people lives.

The migration of the livestock from the coastline to the mountains and the other way around took place in the Road to Palo Blanco and the Road to la Cumbre , which near the slopes of Tigaiga, goes to Las Cañadas del Teide through the way to the seven Cañadas. From the area of Icod el Alto the peasants came to La Fortaleza, going through the Road of El Lance and the cattle track of Los Guancheros. In all this extension of the highlands there have been lots of peasants shelters of a provisional consideration which would show the presence of native peasants as a result of the seasonal movement of the livestock. Many of these pre-Hispanic roads are still used nowadays.

At this extent, because of the high status of changes of the municipality, it would be suitable to encourage the investigation and the development of works like the archaeological excavations, not only to protect the remains which still are kept , but to clarify the point of view of the aboriginal Guanche society, rebuilt though its legacy, and it constitutes one of the most important sources in the history of our town, which was alive many centuries before the Castilian conquest.