The Mysterious Mounds of Gu�a de Isora
Alongside the road going upwards from the town of Gu�a de Isora just above the turn off to Playa de San Juan are a number of strange mounds, some of which have stones used to build their side walls. They reminded me when I first saw them of burial mounds and tumuli I have often seen in the UK.
In Britain such earthworks are normally covered by turf but here in the hot sun, grass will not grow and the rocks and earth that have been used as building material are exposed to the elements.
One of the constructions is almost like a primitive pyramid and has clearly defined sides built up from volcanic rocks. The mounds or cairns all overlook the sea, which is a characteristic all the pyramids on Tenerife also share, and a mountain can also be viewed from where they are too. In G��mar, for example, you can clearly see the volcanic cone mountain, Monta�a Grande, whereas at Gu�a de Isora, the nearest mountain is Monta�a Tejina.
It appears that this pattern for the pyramid sites was also in use for the mounds of Gu�a de Isora. Were they modelled on the conical shape of the nearby volcanic mountains or are they aligned with them? It certainly appears as if this is the case.
When author, lecturer and pyramid
researcher Philip Coppens was on the island earlier this year I took
him to see the complex of mounds and he agreed with me that they are
not simply piles of stones that farmers have made. In fact, Philip was
sufficiently impressed with the site to have written about it on his
website here: http://www.philipcoppens.com/
Whilst the mounds or cairns of Gu�a de Isora appear to be as ignored and neglected as the pyramids further north in Santa B�rbara and San Marcos it is tempting to theorise that they were made by the Guanches. It is accepted by archaeologists that the Guanches made tumuli on Gran Canaria, so why not here as well?
Side profile showing stonework
One of the strange mounds at Gu�a de Isora