Page 370 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

370 from Italy to the Canary Islands

Starting with the second half of the 20 century, water transport, pu-
th
rification, and desalination systems finally solved the problem, greatly
improving the situation, especially compared with the period before Lan-
zarotto’s discovery; however, wells have certainly been the main water
collection system up to our more recent times.
Lobo Cabrera speaks of over twenty wells located between the Rubicon
and Puerto Escondido, while Torriani speaks explicitly of wells in Famara,
Rubicon, and Haria. Hausen claims that the wholesomeness of island wa-
ter is due to a travertine limestone layer that protects groundwater.
Francisco Hernandez speaks explicitly of a concentration of wells in La
Caleta, and a 17 century inventory lists a total of sixty-six wells, includ-
th
ing some in the area of Papagayo; these are considered very old, so much
so that the archaeologist Atoche claims they are prior to the conquest by
the Norman knights, which took place in 1402.
According to Agustín de la Hoz, it is certain that three wells were active
th
along the beach area of Los Pozos in the 16 century (two in San Marcial
and one in De la Cruz); this number is confirmed by Cabildo’s inventory
of 1560.
As documented, in 1731 the small village of Femes received requests to
dig wells in the bed of the small Los Pozos rain stream; this is confirmed
by the anonymous Compendio breve y famoso of 1776, which locates these
wells at the foot of Mount Las Coloradas.
Archaeologists are divided as to when the Lanzarote wells were built.
In the sixties, Serra Rafols claimed they were of Norman origin, whereas
in the late nineties, Pablo Atocha and other archaeologists claimed Roman
or even Punic origins for them. This is due to the fact that the wells of San
Marcial and De la Cruz are composed of a flight of stairs (for the twin
purposes of drawing water and cleaning the bottom of the well), a dome-
shaped cover (bóveda), and a small arched entrance, all built in limestone
around an underground water collection chamber, which could be an an-
cient Roman construction technique.
Water was collected in various ways. One way (called “mareta”) in-
volved an excavation performed in a depression to collect small occasion-
al rainfall streams nearby. According to Abreu Galindo, the edges of this
open air deposit were reinforced with stones and mud or with stone and
lime walls. The largest structure was La Gran Mareta de Teguise; it had
been built over a previous small local pool, called Eres, and was used to
collect the rainwater coming from the nearby mountains, such as the Gua-