When you think of mysterious pyramids, the first that come to mind are those in Egypt, perhaps followed by the ones in the remoter parts of the Amazon Basin or the Central American highlands. However, the most mysterious pyramids are those found in the Canary Islands, particularly on the largest island of Tenerife.
Güímar has a great harbour which has recently had new pontoons, complete with a few visitors moorings. From the marina you walk past a nice array of sunny beaches and into the town; with it's architecture and churches dating back to the conquest of the island in the 15th century (the first real expansion of Spanish colonialism in the Canary Islands).
However, aside from the appeal of a more laid back holiday spot, the principle appeal of Güímar are its mysterious pyramids. Theories abound about the Pyramids, which date back to the days of the Spanish Conquest, and are mentioned in the earlier writings by Roman visitors to the islands, though in the writings of Pliny the Elder, the Romans say the Canaries are completely uninhabited. Even to the Romans, these pyramids were mysteries.
These pyramids are low, stepped sided pyramids, similar to the ones seen in Central and Mesoamerica, as constructed by the Mayans. The conventional theory is that they were made by local farmers clearing out rocks from the fields as they were being plowed; the similarity to agricultural terraces is a decent corroboration. It's also known that several of the pyramids have underground chambers beneath them – they were used by the native Guanches people as hiding places when the Spaniards came.
A much more opportunistic theory was proposed by Thor Heyerdahl in the early 1990s. Heyerdahl, who demonstrated that it was possible to cross the Pacific using Polynesian style outriggers (Kontiki Expedition), and had also crossed the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados on a Papyrus boat, contends that the Canary Islands were a major trans-shipment point for trade crossing the Atlantic from the Mediterranean to the Americas in ancient times.
Points in Heyerdahl's favour include the fact that the stones appear to be igneous basalt that's been worked, rather than the granite found in the local fields of the area. The ground was also levelled before construction, and the way the pyramids are arranged may have special astronomical significance, given where the steps are.
