The Libyco–Berber and Latino–Canarian Scripts and the Colonization of the Canary Islands

Abstract

Research into Canarian rock art, Libyco–Berber inscriptions, and the colonization of the Canary Islands—within the North African context—has presented several problems since the emergence of Canarian archeology in the nineteenth century. This paper analyzes the evolution of research into Canarian rock art and Libyco–Berber inscriptions from a historical and diachronic perspective and develops a thesis concerning the origin of the Libyco–Berber script based on new discoveries of inscriptions on the Canary Islands as well as in Morocco. In light of this new thesis, we propose a diachronic hypothesis for the ancient colonization of the Canary Islands.