So when I overheard my buddy Giacomo (the fancy dress funster behind Bring Stuff events) talking about Tenerife, Thor Heyerdahl and pyramids the other day, I immediately butted in. According to Giac, the Canaries Island of Tenerife is home to the Pyramids of Güímar, funky rectangular pyramid-shaped, terraced structures built from lava stone without the use of mortar.
Image from piramidesdeguimar.net
Once back home, I hit Google and Wikipedia for info and even looked into some cheap flights to Tenerife. Yeah, the Pyramids of Güímar are for real (not that I ever doubted my friend). Who knew? Well, obviously Giacomo and lots of other people too. I guess better questions would be why didn’t I know about them and why haven’t I been there yet!
One of my heroes, Thor Heyerdahl of Kon-Tiki fame, was certainly hip to the pyramids. In 1991, he studied them and came to the conclusion that they were built with special astronomical orientation by ancient sun worshipers. However, it should be noted that others in the scientific community believe the pyramids only date to the 19th century and were used for agricultural purposes. Whatever the case, there’s still plenty of mystery surrounding the pyramids and that’s as good an excuse as any (there’s even a permanent Thor Heyerdahl exhibition onsite) to visit sunny Tenerife.
It would have been a first for the scientific community to let an outsiders theory stand. They first claim it wrong, then wait for 30 to 50 years come up with their own proofs and reverse their initial claims. I have never seen structures from the 19th century built like that, and if they are from that period the knowledge how to build this evolved and was refined over time.
Well, I’m going to argue against scientific process, but I see your point. We need guys like Heyerdahl with a “what if?” and “why not?” approach to the great mysteries of the world.
Have you been to see these pyramids?