Libyco-Berber writing and the settlement of the Canary Islands by Irma Mora-Aguiar
Canarian Dr Irma Mora Aguiar, descendant of the Amazigh Guanche of the Canary Islands, publishes her new book entitled “From Numidia to the Canaries, the journey of lipo-amazigh writing”, which is a study of more than 1,500 inscriptions from the Tifinagh Amazigh. script in North Africa and the Canary Islands.
The population of the Canary Islands remains an enigma which arouses the interest of researchers and the curious. This small milestone in North African history is essential for research, because it provides us with the basic frame of reference from which we can understand the different processes of adaptation of Libyco-Berber populations to the varied ecological niches of these islands. of the Atlantic.
The cultural and chronological aspects of this early occupation are the subject of the greatest consensus among researchers, as current hypotheses coincide in emphasizing its North African and Late Antiquity character. On the other hand, there is little agreement on the specific geographical origin and reasons for the arrival of these pioneers. This is largely due to the heterogeneity of the archaeological remains of the archipelago, which makes it difficult to identify parallels with the mainland. However, one aspect, both material and symbolic, shared by all island cultures, breaks with this diversity: the Libyco-Berber inscriptions.
Alphabetical writings form a finite, reduced and closed system of values, which allows us to detect and explain the variation of any of its elements. These changes are not random, but are linked to the linguistic system, so we can also explain their origin, diffusion and evolution by the state of the language they reflect. The fact that writing, as a material element, is anchored in the territory also makes it possible to trace its users geographically, historically and socio-culturally. The systematic analysis of 1500 continental and Canarian Libyco-Berber inscriptions revealed the existence of a late alphabet: Southern Libyan, which spread along the pre-Saharan fringe, reaching the Canary Islands. Its dispersion seems to coincide with the migrations caused by Romanization between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.
Libyco-Berber inscription from Hoyo Blanco (El Hiero, Canary Islands)
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