Piramida Guimar
Piramida Güímar terletak di Desa Güímar di pantai timur Pulau Tenerife, Kepulauan Canary, Spanyol. They are still mysterious to archaeologists. The term covers six step pyramids with a rectangular ground plan, which have a noticeable similarity to the pyramids built by the Maya and Aztecs in Mexico.
For a long time they used to believe that the pyramids were heaped up by native farmers who had found the stones while ploughing and stacked them up on the edges of their fields. This used to be a common practice on the Canary Islands. Reports by the local people and old images say that such pyramids once existed at many locations on the island but were pulled down because of their supposed uselessness and used as a cheap building material. In Güímar itself there had been nine pyramids of which only six are left.
Pada 1991 peneliti terkenal Thor Heyerdahl mempelajari piramida-piramida ini dan menemukan bahwa mereka tak mungkin hanya tumpukan batu yang acak. Misalnya, batu-batu pada sudut piramid menunjukkan tanda-tanda jelas telah ditangani manusia, dan tanahnya diratakan sebelum piramida dibangun. Materinya bukan batu dari daerah sekelilingnya, melainkan batu lava. Heyerdahl juga menemukan orientasi astronomisnya. Pada hari solstis musim panas, orientation of the pyramids. On the day of the summer solstice you can see a double sunset from the platform of the biggest pyramid – the sun sinks behind a tall mountain peak, passes it, appears again and sets behind the next mountain for a second time. All pyramids have stairs on their western side, on which you can step exactly to the rising sun in the morning of the winter solstice.
However, either Heyerdahl was not able to find out the age of the pyramids or answer the question by whom they were built. But in fact, Guanches have lived in a cave under one of the pyramids. Until the Spanish conquest in the late 15th century Güímar was the residence of one of the ten ‘’menceys’’ (kings) of Tenerife.
It is remarkable that according to a report by Pliny the Elder, the Canaries had been uninhabited in the time of Hanno the Navigator (c. 600 BC) but had contained the ruins of huge buildings.
The origin of the Guanches is not quite clear. The passage to the Canary islands from the next mainland coast in southern Morocco is difficult because of the sea currents, while it is easier from Europe and the Mediterranean area.
Heyerdahl advanced a theory according to which the Canaries had been bases of an ancient shipping between America and the Mediterranean. The quickest route between the two world regions indeed passes the Canary Islands – it was also used by Christopher Columbus. Already in 1970 Heyerdahl had shown that shipping between Northern Africa and the Caribbean is possible with ancient methods – he had sailed from Morocco to Barbados with the papyrus boat Ra II.
Pada 1998 wilayah piramida Güímar seluas 65.000 meter persegi ini dibuka untuk umum sebagai taman etnologi. Heyerdahl didukung secara finansial oleh pemiliki kapal berbangsa Norwegia, Fred Olsen, yang tinggal di Tenerife. An information centre acquaints visitors with Heyerdahl’s expeditions and his theories about the pyramids. Two pavilions contain exhibitions about Heyerdahl and models of his boats, among other things a reproduction of the Ra II in original size.
Pranala luar
- Situs resmi Ethnological Park (Spanyol - Inggris - Jerman)