Chris Gatling in Current World Archaeology 127, October 2024 [see also https://www.world-archaeology.com] starts off by saying when the Portuguese, in AD1418, arrived in Madiera and Porto Santos they encountered no indigenous inhabitants. They were able to start straightaway making use of the fertile soils to produce sugar cane for the European markets. On the other hand, when the Spanish set their eye on colonising the Canary Islands in 1402 they found them occupied by the Guanches. There was a long war as the Guanches resisted the newcomers, island by island. It was not until 1496 that the Spanish finally took total control of the Canaries. See https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2302924121 … which throws new light on the Guanches, recognised as having an origin amongst Berbers in North Africa. On the island of Fuerteventura archaeologists have found physical evidence of Roman period settlement. A purple dye production workshop complete with houses, pottery, tools, and general Roman household paraphinalia. It has been dated as existing between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. They produced imperial purple, a highly prized resource. Why the Romans did not stay longer than the 1st century AD is not mentioned. Were better locations for purple dye production discovered?
The latest analysis, which may change at some point in the future, shows no overlap between Romans and Guanche. The latter did not live simultaneously with the Roman dye manufacturing workshop. The Berbers reached the Canaries, we are told, at some point between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. They spread rapidly through the archipelago – at a time when the people of North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean in general, were travelling by boat and trading widely. I might add it may also have a connection with one of the Roman period pandemics – such as occurred in the 2nd century AD. Migrating to a people free zone like the Canaries might have seemed like a good idea.
Gatling says that DNA extracted from the mummified remains of Guanches and compared to the DNA of modern inhabitants of the islands have found the latter preserve as much as one third of Guanche descent. Over the long struggle for domination of the islands, around 90 years, hybridisation took place – Spanish and Guanche intebred with each other.