Valle de la Cueva

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

from Radio Sintonia:

The Valley of the Cave, a place of great beauty, is one of the ravines of Fuerteventura hidden even from the massive visits of tourists and curious. The place, difficult to access, is traveled by local people, cattle ranchers, is within commons land, and fishermen. This space is also known by history scholars since it has an aboriginal village that according to the latest research carried out by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is one of the oldest on the island. Specifically, the dating places it between the third and fourth centuries.

Research

The ULPG reported this week that the team led by Pedro González Quintero, dean of the Faculty of Geography and History has just finished the work of inventory and cataloguing of the archaeological record in the Barranco del Valle de la Cueva (Fuerteventura). These works were developed between the end of 2021 and 2022.
From the financing of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, with the participation of the company specialized in Archaeological Heritage, Tibicena. Archaeology and Heritage and in collaboration with the Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura, the varied and abundant archaeological record of this site has been inventoried.
A village with at least 150 structures
The first works date from the nineties of the last century, without those having the desired continuity. At present, the cataloguing works have allowed to document almost 150 structures of different kinds, from pre-European structural complexes, to reuses of the same and current architectures.
In addition, radiocarbon dating has been made from the elements recovered in previous excavations at the site. The dates, once calibrated, have provided a historical time between the third and fourth centuries, which establishes, for the moment, as one of the oldest places on the island of Fuerteventura. This has surprised the researchers themselves who expected later dates for this space.
Archaeological intervention project
The university entity points out that at this time, it works with the data obtained to have a first spatial and architectural reading of the documentation obtained, for this it relies on the tools provided by Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The work team hopes that the archaeological tasks can continue, preparing at this time a detailed archaeological intervention project that allows to understand how these large towns work, their duration and internal organization, as well as to take the first step for their future and possible patrimonial use.
When the research work is completed, we will know what the Village of the Cave Valley has kept for centuries.

click here for orig article and pics

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Radio Sintonia:

A second archaeological intervention in the Valley of the Cave investigates large settlements of the third century AD in Fuerteventura.

The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage has carried out a second archaeological campaign in the ravine of Valle de la Cueva (Antigua, Fuerteventura) by Tibicena Archaeology and Heritage, under the direction of Pedro González Quintero, professor at the ULPGC. A new intervention as a continuation of the work begun last year, when the same team carried out an intensive prospection of the territory, inventorying the existing archaeological units.

 

In 2021, the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage promoted the realization of a prospection for the inventory of the existing structures at the site. Along with these works, several datings were carried out that confirmed the indigenous filiation of the cataloged architectures. However, to know the scope and evolution of this space that is located south of the municipality of Antigua, occupying the bottom of the ravine in a distance of almost one kilometer, it has been necessary to continue with this new intervention.

The general director of Cultural Heritage, Nona Perera, explains that Valle de la Cueva "is a typical exponent of the extensive and intensive livestock dedication of the aboriginal Fuerteventura. The previous studies carried out, the level of conservation of fertile area, the age reached by the datings and the continuity of the livestock activity that includes the celebration of apañadas indicate the good characteristics to investigate this settlement".

In the opinion of the director of the research, Pedro González, "we are facing a town of the third century AD where it seems that there is an already established population and with a settlement configured spatially with areas of habitat, work, etc. The analysis of the samples for the study of micromorphology, collected in order to know the possible origin of this sediment and, therefore, its possible function, is still pending," he says. On this occasion, adds the ULPGC professor, "the research is in line with the lines of work proposed in other islands, with which Fuerteventura joins the new stream of archaeological studies, highlighting the work and analysis that can be carried out from the ULPGC, without losing sight of the fact that we are facing a spatial study of the place".

In this campaign the works have concentrated on the realization of archaeological surveys in different spaces with the intention of characterizing their possible functionality. Another of the proposed objectives has been the realization of new dates that allow validating the previous results.

The new intervention has focused on understanding how these large settlements work, their duration and internal organization, as well as taking the first step for the future heritage use of this aboriginal nucleus that according to the dates carried out is one of the oldest on the island.
Work began on this site in the nineties, without the studies having continuity until 2021, resulting in the documentation of almost 150 structures of different kinds, from indigenous structural complexes to reuses of them and current architectures.

link to article for pic