A recent archaeological study has opened a new chapter in the history of the Canary Islands by suggesting that the Romans might have discovered the archipelago before the arrival of the Berber populations between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. According to Jonathan Santana, historian at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), the islands did not have enough food resources to sustain large human populations, which would have led the first Roman explorers not to establish permanent settlements.
Historian Jonathan Santana, who is also the principal investigator of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS), indicates that the Romans might have visited the islands on their expeditions, but they did not find the necessary conditions to settle. Unlike the Romans, the Berber populations that arrived later brought with them “plants and domestic animals” that allowed them to establish permanent settlements.
Jacob Morales, another researcher of the study, points out that the first people who arrived on the islands, probably Berbers, were equipped with a survival kit made of domestic crops and animals that allowed them to settle on each island for more than a thousand years. This finding changes the perspective on the chronology of the human colonization of the Canary Islands and suggests a complex interaction between the first Roman explorers and the Berber settlers who followed.
The study, part of the IsoCAN project (Isolation and evolution in oceanic islands: the human colonization of the Canary Islands) of the ERC Starting Grant program of the European Commission, lays the foundations for understanding when we can start attributing changes in island ecological systems to human activity, explains Santana.

There were changes in vegetation cover, species distribution, and extinctions of others, and the role of humans, of the aborigines, was not very clear, adds the researcher. Now, we can distinguish which impacts can be linked to humans and which are caused by climatic fluctuations and other natural factors, he clarifies.
The discovery that the Romans might have reached the Canary Islands before the Berbers not only rewrites the history of the archipelago but also has important implications for understanding ecological changes on the islands. The arrival of the Romans, although not resulting in permanent settlements, could have caused initial disturbances in the island ecosystems.
The study suggests that the first Roman visitors might have introduced new species, both intentionally and accidentally, and caused impacts on the local flora and fauna. These early contacts would have set the stage for the more significant changes that occurred with the arrival of the Berbers, who brought with them domestic animals and plants that profoundly transformed the ecological landscape of the islands.
The work of Santana and his team is crucial for understanding the extent of these ecological changes and the history of the colonization of the Canary Islands. By providing a detailed chronology of human arrival and distinguishing between ecological impacts caused by human activity and natural factors, this research offers a solid foundation for future conservation and restoration strategies in the archipelago.
SOURCES
Jonathan Santana, Miguel del Pino, et al., The chronology of the human colonization of the Canary Islands. PNAS 121 (28) e2302924121. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2302924121
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