Imperialist Archaeology in the Canary Islands

Description

Who first arrived in the Canary Islands and colonized them? When and how did this happen? Where did the first inhabitants come from? These are the main questions relating to the colonization of the Canaries during primitive times that ethnographers, historians and archaeologists have tried to solve for six centuries, ever since the rediscovery of the islands by Europe in the 14th century. This monograph aims to analyse how imperialist archaeology was developed and articulated in the Canaries by countries like France and Germany. It includes a brief analysis of how the study of primitive colonization was articulated prior to the development of nineteenth-century imperialistic archaeology, analysis of the theoretical and methodological framework of European archaeology and physical anthropology, a look at the nineteenth-century historical context, with particular reference to the colonial partitioning of Africa, and reflections on the repercussions of imperialist archaeology on contemporary scientific production by Canarian authors.