archaeologist and anthropologist Brian Fagan which about 3,800 BC, the climate became drier suddenly, a trend that affected the region of southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean for over 1,000 years. The climate became more unstable and villages suffered from drought cycles. Consequently, the Sahara known a long period of warming and extreme aridity forcing residents to rely on livestock and move in search of food and water. The animals became their true wealth.
Around 800 BC, the European climate turned abruptly colder and wetter. It was a sudden cooling that led to major changes in vegetation, in which the site were down forests to pastures. For the year 500 AD, the conditions were even colder. The boundary between continental and Mediterranean areas was again on North Africa. And he even ice forms on the Nile during the winter of 829 AD The reason might be a gigantic volcanic eruption in 535 AD, producing the most dense and persistent dry fog that has been recorded in history. Affected virtually the entire planet.
In the year 900 AD and during the next four centuries (called MWP), the Mediterranean ecotone shifted again to the north and temperatures rose so that the vineyards came to thrive in the southern and central England.
Heavy rains of 1315 marked the beginning of what climatologists call the Little Ice Age a period of six centuries of constant climate change. The current warming trend began around 1860.
Summarizing the data discussed so far and although we do not know the true extent of climate variability in the Canary Islands, we can differentiate in a very general, as long as a guideline, five climatic phases during the time that man settled in these Atlantic cliffs. The first three were exclusively in prehistoric times, the fourth covers the transition from prehistory to English history:
1 .- From the moment the first settlement of the Canary Islands (III or II century BC) and 500 AD, Canarian climate was colder than today.
2 .- Among and sixth centuries X, environmental conditions were even colder.
3 .- Between X and XIV century, temperatures rose above even the current ones.
4 .- This stage corresponds to the transition between prehistory and history. Begins in 1315 with a further fall in temperature that lasts until mid-nineteenth century. At this stage the Ebro became frozen seven times, even snowed in Santa Cruz de La Palma on December 27, 1627.
Most of these changes are known as the displacement of the Azores anticyclone over northern latitudes, generating a different atmospheric dynamics. The trade winds lose ownership and other bodies air from different backgrounds would be more frequent. Obviously, this would produce changes in the weather and even in the provision of vegetation. Given the particular geographical situation of the archipelago, any sudden change and a decrease in rainfall in the islands could generate a process of desertification. Otherwise, an increase in humidity caused sudden changes in storms like that occurred before the English conquest in the Barranco de Aguacensio, described by the Franciscan Abreu Galindo and his tragic repetition in 1957.
The first occupation of the island of La Palma, like the other islands, either as event, it ordered an invasion occurred. The new settlers arrived by sea and viable breeding groups. Occupation was improvised, either consensual or forced, with little time to adapt to new environmental conditions. Their number was small and soon dispersed and adapted to the microclimate so important on islands such as La Palma. These first awara were hard people, stoic, able to overcome a strange place, adapting to the warm temperatures and icy coast of the summits.
One of the keys of the change could be found in the 13 piles of stones that are below 2,000 meters, two in Pico Corralejo (Santa Cruz de La Palma), four headers Izcagua I (GarafĂa) Novanillo four, two in Llano Las Animas (Puntagorda) and one in Headers Garome (Tijarafe).
Izcagua pile of stones
A majority (over 50) are above the pine forest domain, open to the cosmos, to monitor the appearance of the sun which marks the beginning of the New Year (December 21 .) Now the question is why a few piles of stones are now integrated in the pine forest?
A good answer or possibility would be related to a decrease in temperature and humidity between the ages VI and X which led to the decline of forests to lower levels, facilitating development of the bush. Another point of interest is the archaeological, the finding of a ceramic phase remains IIIc and IIId in two piles, well dated on or about the dates mentioned above.
brand image potential confines old pine forest. The blue line is the limit of 1,900 m. The white dots represent places where the piles of stones.
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