Investigaciones arqueoastronómicas en La Gomera.La cueva de San Blas y el origen del culto a la Candelaria en Chipude

Abstract

In the previous Colloquium we presented the first results of our researches on the mathematical and astronomical practices of the ancient Gomerans. Then we described the Winter solstitial marker found in Las Toscas del Guirre, now we present an important collection of archaeological, cultural and anthropological elements that allow us to link the indigenous past with the present times: the cult of the virgin of Candelaria in Chipude. The narrow parallelisms between the origins of the cult of La Candelaria in Tenerife and La Gomera allow us to point the presence in both island of the same North African cosmogony centered on Canopus. This system, documented in the last century in large parts of Northwest Africa, sustain that the universe arises from the explosion of this star. In Tenerife, its reappearance in the sky on middle August was celebrated at Candelaria and marked the beginning of the Guanche lunar calendar. It appears that the same was true in Chipude in times of the ancient Gomerans.