El uso humano de las cuevas volcánicas de Tenerife
- Matilde Arnay de la Rosa
- Emilio González Reimers
ISSN: 1696-1897
Year of publication: 2019
Issue: 13
Pages: 47-58
Type: Article
More publications in: Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Espeleología y Ciencias del Karst: SEDECK
Abstract
We here present a short review on the human use of the volcanic caves of Tenerife both during the prehispanic and modern times. The guanches used the caves as dwelling places and burial sites. After the Spanish conquest the caves continued to be used as goat-, sheep- or pig yards, storage of appliances, or, eventually, as occasional living places. In las Cañadas del Teide, caves were also used as shelters or hidden places, and in many of them some natural resources were exploited, such as natron or ice. By these reasons, some caves bear historical, natural, scientific and/or identitary values