Ancient Guanche Solar Worship And Fertility Rites In The Canary Islands
The Canarian laurel forest is a prehistoric forest about 20 million years old, present in many enclaves on the north coast of Tenerife. This wonderful and ancient forest formation treasures great botanical and archaeological jewels from the Canarian ancestors, the Guanches. Very close to the visible Mount Teide, a group of independent researchers have just found what could be considered a great Guanche meeting / worship center, associated with fertility rituals and sun monitoring. The space is made up of two large independent rock formations, in the middle of the pristine Canarian laurel forest. Both stone cliffs, several meters high, stand out as two stony sentinels in the middle of the ancient green sea of vegetation.
Side view of the dog´s head rock. Note carved eye and canine (zoomorphic) profile (Image: ©Gustavo Sánchez Romero)
The Dog’s Rock
The first of them powerfully draws attention to the huge stone monolith at its feet, a cyclopean block shaped like a head, or skull, of an animal (perhaps a dog) that defiantly gazes into the abyss. This first mountain sanctuary has been initially called ‘The dog´s rock’. The stone / head is about 3.5 meters (11.48 feet) long and 1.6 meters (5.25 feet) tall, has a carved eye and presents the typical canine profile, high skull and pointed snout. At the back there is a carved stone cup, a well differentiated concavity.
