Guanche mummy of Madrid or Guanche mummy of Barranco de Herques, is a mummy of a native aborigen from Tenerife, Canary Islands commonly known as Guanche , which is now on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, Spain.
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The mummy is a male in an excellent state of preservation. It is believed to date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries AD, and belongs to a man between 30 and 34 years and, according to experts, would be the best Guanche preserved mummy in the world. The individual in question, has all his teeth very well preserved, without any wear and tear, has caucasian features (including brown red hair) and his hands that do not reveal that he had done hard physical work. On the part of the Computerized axial tomography (CT) that was made to this mummy revealed that the viscera were not removed to mummify it and that in fact, it conserves the brain, which contradicts some historical Castilian chronicles that tell how was the mummification process between the Guanches. [1]
The mummy was found in Barranco de Herques, in the south of Tenerife, between the towns of Fasnia and Güímar. He arrived in Madrid in the 18th century as a gift to King Charles III. [2] It was initially placed in the Royal Library and subsequently in the National Anthropology Museum. The mummy participated in the Universal Exhibition of Paris of 1878. [3] In December 2015, the mummy was moved to the National Archaeological Museum. [4]
Although regional and local governments of the Canary Islands have requested its return, the Congress of Deputies has rejected this request on several occasions. [5] In February 2025, the Ministry of Culture announced that, consistent with its decision not to display human remains in Spanish national museums, the mummy would be removed from its exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum. This decision prompted the government of the Canary Islands to once again request the mummy's transfer to Tenerife. [6]