The Four Doors (in Spanish ''Cuatro Puertas'') site, also known as , is a complex of caves in the south of the municipality of

Telde Telde is a town and a municipality in the eastern part of the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, overseas (Atlantic) insular Spain. It is the second most populous municipality on the island, with a population of (2013).

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

. The ''Cuatro Puertas'' site is named after its most spectacular cave, the most emblematic of

due to its uniqueness and location. The site includes many other caves, some linked with each other. A small village nearby also bears that name, as well as a ravine (''barranco de Cuatro Puertas'').Interactive map of Cuatro Puertas near Telde
on ''google.com/maps''. The site is listed as Spanish Heritage as a Property of cultural interest.

Location

''Cuatro Puertas'' and Montaña Bermeja are 6 km away from the east coast of the island of

, on the east side of the GC-100 road that links

(5 km north) to Ingenio (8 km south). The ''Cuatro Puertas'' hamlet, situated near the top of Montaña Bermeja, is of easy access: the GC-1 highway and

Gran Canaria airport Gran Canaria Airport , sometimes also known as Gando Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria), is a passenger and freight airport on the island of Gran Canaria. It is an important airport within the Spanish air-transport network (owned and manag ...

are only 6 km east. The caves' site itself is to the east of the village, after about 500 m (~1,500 ft) of an easy footpath.

Description

Beside its most spectacular cave that gave its name to the whole complex, the site includes several groups of caves, an uncommon ceremonial place, granaries, paths and alleys.Cuatro Puertas
on ''grancanariapatrimonio.com''. The whole was dug in

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

with stone picks by the pre-Hispanic Canarians. Other caves include the ''cueva de los Papeles'' ("the Papers' cave"), ''cueva de los Pilares'' ("the Pillars' cave"), ''cueva de la Audiencia'' ("the Audience cave") and the ''cantera de Molinos'' (quarry for grindstones). Most caves consist of a main central space with smaller rooms opening onto it. The caves were most likely shut off with

dry stone Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction me ...

walls. The main room may have been partitioned with light structures (for example of animal skins) or with stone alignments. The site covers practically the whole of Bermeja mount, although only the upper part can be visited. The chronicles of the conquest hardly mention it, even though it is only 4 km away from the Conquest tower that stands in Gando's sandy bay (nowadays this tower is used as the museum of Military Aviation).

Four Doors cave (''Cuatro Puertas'')

The Four Doors cave, or ''Cuatro Puertas'' cave, in the northern part of Montaña Bermeja and near the summit,''Cuatro Puertas, archaeological site''
on ''grancanariapatrimonio.com''. is a 17 X 7 metres man-made cave opening towards the north-east, dug in

and provided with four large doors, all opening onto the same large space. These doors may have been shut by some coverings, made of skins or other materials.
Outside, just beyond the porch thus formed, are a series of about 20 post-holes that show that the whole space was enclosed on the outside.(English
''Beyond the Beaches of Gran Canaria - Cuatro Puertas and Nearby Sites'', p. 1
October 29, 1999. On ''archaeology.org'', published by the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

. Numerous deliberate arrangements have been recently made to the tuff walls and floors of the Four Doors cave with the aim of achieving a correct orientation to observe the

summer solstice The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer s ...

Use

The cave's use is not clear. But because of the type and position of the location, the cave's monumental aspect, the closeness of the ''almogarén'', and the descriptions of other similar sites in the ethnohistoric chronicles of the conquest, most archaeologists believe that it may have been a sacred place where the worship and rituals were carried out directly by the ''faycán''The ''faycán'' was a religious leader in the pre-Hispanic

guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language Guanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It died out after the conquest of ...

society, and likely an adviser to the ''

mencey The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean some west of Africa. It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BCE. The Guanches were the only nativ ...

'' or local king. and the ''harimaguadas'' (virgin priestesses under the authority of the '' faycán'', daughters of the nobles).

Ritual place (''almogarén'')

Almogarén - Archaeological area of Cuatro Puertas

In the upper part of the mountain, above and not far east''El almogaren y las cuevas artificiales de Cuatro Puertas''
on ''estodotuyo.com'', site of the ''Unidad de Patrimonio Histórico del Cabildo de Gran Canaria'' ("Historical Heritage unit of the Grand from the Four Doors cave, is another cave with a sacred site or ritual space (''cazoleta'' or ''almogarén'') where libations and offerings to the gods (such as Alcorac, the Sun) were practised in an enclosed space. Milk was also used in the course of these ceremonies. This is similar to the one found at .(English

October 29, 1999. On ''archaeology.org'', published by the

Papers' cave (''Cueva de los Papeles'')

The ''cueva de los Papeles'' ("Papers' cave") is in the south part of the mount. It is reached by a path cut in the tuff in the south face of the mount, going east from the ritual place. Its floor plan is more or less circular. its walls bear various engraved triangles, a sign associated with fertility; this cave was probably used for rituals around that theme.

Pillars cave (''Cueva de los Pilares'')

Cueva de los Pilares - Archaeological area of Cuatro Puertas

The same path coming from the ritual place to the Papers' cave leads further to the Pillars cave (''Cueva de los Pilares''), which is accessed through ramps, stairs and small tunnels. The Pillars' cave (''cueva de los Pilares'') site is the heart and main part of the troglodyte village of Montaña Bermeja. It is south-orientated, sheltered from the dominant winds and commands a noticeably wide panorama that includes the coast. It may have been surrounded with a thick

wall. Most of the caves are more or less circular inside, many with lateral rooms. There are depressions in the ground for cooking fires, cavities in the walls that would have been used as storage places, seats, holes for beams or posts and grooves for window frames and door frames that would have been shut off with pelts or vegetal cloths. It included granaries and other recesses, the use of which is uncertain. From it, a path going east passes through a rock arch and by a narrow "chimney" towards the Audience cave and, further up on the eastern slope, at an interesting grindstone quarry – but of difficult access as the path, neglected, has disappeared under

opuntia ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...

The Audience cave

The cave of the Audience (''cueva de la Audiencia'') has been used for various functions such as sleeping quarters, kitchens, silos, granary and others. It stands about 200 m away from the Four Doors cave, near a narrow and hard-to-locate "chimney".

The Mills' Quarry (''cantera de Molinos'')

Generalities on hand-grindstones

These mills, made of stone, were essential to and even emblematic of house life in the Canaries. Every day the ''

gofio Gofio is a sort of Canarian flour made from roasted grains (typically wheat or certain varieties of maize) or other starchy plants (e.g. beans and, historically, fern root), some varieties containing a little added salt. Gofio has been an i ...

'' was served - some roasted flour - and barley was much used for this purpose; other flours were also much used, especially on Gran Canaria island where agriculture dominated the means of subsistence, contrary to the other islands of the archipelago where livestock farming bore the largest part in food production. The two types of stone used for them were either

, or vacuolated or vesicular

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

(basalt with many small holes in it, due to gas bubbles trapped in the cooling lava): both provide a rough surface, appropriate for abrasions and grinding; but

was 3 times more used than vesicular

, the latter for which there is no clear evidence of production centres on the isl. The use of

rather than

had a notable wear-effect on the islanders' dentitions. Tuff is made of consolidation (aggregated and compacted)

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to refer ...

; it is technically an

igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...

but is more akin to a

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles t ...

because of its relatively loose inner structure; it has not been fired and its matter components have not melted together. Basalt on the other hand is an

made of cooled lava; its matter has been fired and thus has a much higher structural integrity than tuff. This is true also of vesicular or vacuolated basalt that present many small holes within their matter. Therefore tuff parts, more easily than basalt does, with minute pieces of its own material; these ended up in the flour, and wore out teeth noticeably more than a purer flour would. The grindstones were excavated so that the block of stone was in one piece and more or less already shaped underneath on the outside. Thus each of them left a round or oval hollow, or imprint, on the surface of rock it came from. These "negative imprints" are found all over the surface of the stone quarried, following the relief and remodelling it. Thus their disposition varies with said relief. These traces of extraction are the means by which grindstones quarries are identified. On Gran Canaria island, seven production sites were identified, in the municipalities of

Agaete Agaete is a municipality of Las Palmas province, on the Canary Islands, Spain. Geography It is in the north-west of Gran Canaria island, and is enclosed by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Gáldar to the north-east, and Artenara to the south. ...

at ''La Calera'' site (''La Suerte'') and ''El Risco'' site (near Cuermeja); in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the aut ...

at ''Los Canarios'' (''El Confital'') and ''Montaña Quemada'' sites, both on the ''Isleta'', and at ''La Cardonera'' site (''Riquianez''); in

at ''Cuatro Puertas'' site; and in Santa Lucia de Tirajana at ''El Queso'' site (towards Aldea Blanca and Vecindario).

Grindstones production in Cuatro Puertas

There are two main production sites for hand grindstones in Cuatro Puertas: one dating back to prehistoric times and, immediately next to it on the east side, a more recent historic site. Both are located in the lower portion of the northern slope of Montaña Bermeja, on the path that leads from the village to the cave, further than the Cuatro Puertas cave. Its altitude extends from 197 m to 210 m. It is close to a military zone (). The site is among a zone of dark-coloured

pyroclast Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they re ...

s of varying sizes, dating from the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

era, made of

basanite Basanite () is an igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. It is composed mostly of feldspathoids, pyroxenes, olivine, and plagioclase and forms from magma low in silica and enriched in alkali metal oxides that ...

and

nephelinite Nephelinite is a fine-grained or aphanitic igneous rock made up almost entirely of nepheline and clinopyroxene (variety augite). If olivine is present, the rock may be classified as an olivine nephelinite. Nephelinite is dark in color and may rese ...

. It is on a steep slope (sloping angle > 45° in some places). The extraction has created a south-orientated shelf with an irregular face, about 20 m wide and 10 to 14 m high. There is one main extraction place, and several other smaller ones scattered nearby on the same slope of the mountain. This site is in good state of conservation. Its south orientation has preserved it from humidity and from being colonized by lichens (contrary to other sites such as that of Riquiánez for example).

Conservation issues

The site has suffered a notable deterioration due to the natural erosion from wind and water, but also to human actions since up to recently the majority of the caves were used and modified to stable goats and sheep. In the fifties of the 20th century this archaeological space was used as cinematographic stage for the filming of the film Tirma, led by

Silvana Pampanini Silvana Pampanini (25 September 1925 – 6 January 2016) was an Italian film actress, director and singer. She was also the niece of the well-known soprano of the golden era of opera, Dame Rosetta Pampanini. Silvana Pampanini caused a sensation ...

. For the filming of one of the scenes a large tuff maquette was realised of the Four Doors cave, generating great deteriorations to the original archaeological space. The Four Doors cave site is listed in Spanish Heritage as a Site of cultural interest in the category "Archaeological site" since May 25, 1972, by decree nr. 1435/1972. The decree was published in the B.O.E. (''Boletín Oficial de España'', Spain official journal) nr. 136 on June 7, 1972. As of 1999, most of the site's land was private property. At that time the government was negotiating to buy it and that of other nearby sites. It is currently opened to the public as Archaeological Park. File:Vista de Cuatro Puertas.jpg,

Other archaeological parks nearby

Other nearby archaeological parks open to the public are the caves of Valeron (''cenobio de Valeron'') in Santa Maria de Guia, the Arteara necropolis in Fataga, the El Maipés necropolis in

, the Cats' ravine (''cañada de los Gatos'') on Mogán beach near Puerto de Mogan, (''roque Bentayga'') in

Tejeda Tejeda is a village and a municipality in the mountainous central part of the island of Gran Canaria in the province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Location The village of Tejeda is situated north-west of the Pico de las Nieves and s ...

, and the Painted cave (''cueva Pintada'') museum and archaeological park in Galdar.

Similar structures

Other similar structures on the island are : * King's caves (''cuevas del Rey'') and (''Roque Bentayga'') in

* Caves of the Granary (''cuevas del Pósito'') in Temisas,

Agüimes Agüimes is a Spanish town and municipality in the eastern part of the island of Gran Canaria in the Las Palmas province in the Canary Islands. Presentation Agüimes is situated 5 km from the coast, and 26 km south of the island capi ...

* the Numerous caves (''cuevas Muchas'') in the

Guayadeque ravine The Guayadeque ravine, in Spanish ''Barranco de Guayadeque'', is a ravine-type valley located on the Spanish municipalities of Ingenio and Agüimes, in the province of Las Palmas on Grand Canary island, off the coast of Morocco. One of the lar ...

(''barranco de Guayadeque''), Ingenio * Caves of the Dove (''cuevas del Palomar'') in Tabuco, IngenioNuevo BIC: Cuevas del Palomar en Ingenio
on ''estodotuyo.com'', site of the ''Unidad de Patrimonio Histórico del Cabildo de Gran Canaria'' ("Historical Heritage unit of the Grand * (''cuevas del Draguillo'') in El Gamonal, between

and Ingenio * El Álamo in Acusa,

Artenara Artenara is a village and a Spanish municipality in the western part of the island of Gran Canaria in the Las Palmas province in the Canary Islands. The village of Artenara is situated in the mountains, south-west of Las Palmas. Its population ...

* Birbique in Roque Bermejo,

* the caves of Valeron near Galdar * the

(''barranco de Guayadeque'') in Aguimes File:Cuatro Puertas - Gran Canaria - 01.jpg File:Cuatro Puertas - Gran Canaria - 02.jpg File:CUATRO PUERTAS.jpg, File:Almogarén de Cuatro Puertas (2).jpg, The ''almogarén'' File:Almogarén.jpg, The ''almogarén'' File:Paisaje desde Cuatro Puertas.jpg, View from the Four Doors site

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{Gran Canaria Caves of the Canary Islands History of the Canary Islands Archaeological sites in Gran Canaria Show caves in Spain Tourist attractions in the Canary Islands Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Las Palmas