Zanata Stone, Archaeological stone artifact in Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
The Zanata Stone is a basalt artifact featuring a carved fish shape with Libyco-Berber inscriptions reading ZNT on its main surface. The stone was worked with basic tools and shows details of an early writing system in the region.
The stone was discovered in 1992 near Montaña de Las Flores in El Tanque municipality, where it lay within a dry stone circle on volcanic ground. The find sheds light on early settlement patterns and cultural exchange in the Canary Islands.
Red coating on the surface suggests the stone was painted, linking it to ancient Guanche practices in the Canary Islands. This coloring connects the artifact to ritual or decorative traditions rooted in the islands' early inhabitants.
The stone can be viewed at the Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre in the archaeology section on the first floor. The location is easy to find and the display is clearly organized for exploring various artifacts.
The inscription ZNT links to the ethnonym Zanata or Zenete, pointing to early North African connections to the islands. This connection has sparked considerable discussion in scholarly circles about settlement migration and early contact patterns in the region.
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