On the orientation of the historic churches of Lanzarote: when human necessity dominates over canonical prescriptions

TL;DR

This study analyzes the orientations of Lanzarote's historic churches, revealing a unique pattern influenced by practical needs over canonical religious prescriptions, marking a pioneering archaeoastronomical investigation in the Canary Islands.

Contribution

It provides the first systematic archaeoastronomical analysis of Lanzarote's churches, highlighting a distinctive orientation pattern driven by human necessity rather than canonical rules.

Findings

Presence of a unique north-northeast orientation pattern

Orientation influenced by practical needs over religious prescriptions

First systematic archaeoastronomical study in Canary Islands

Abstract

We present the analysis of the measured orientations of 30 churches of the island of Lanzarote, in the Canarian archipelago, built prior to 1810, as well as a few buildings of later times, which represent a nearly complete sample of all the island's Christian sanctuaries. Our study indicates that a definite orientation pattern was followed on the island but, unlike what is often found in most of the Christian world, it has two interpretations. On the one hand, the representative orientation to the east (or west) is present. However, the sample has also a marked orientation towards north-northeast which is, as far as we know, a pattern exclusive to Lanzarote. We discuss the reasons for this pattern and suggest that one possible explanation could be a rather prosaic one, namely, that sometimes needs of everyday life are more relevant than --and push individuals to make decisions at odds with-- religious beliefs. This work is the beginning of the first systematic archaeoastronomical study ever conducted with old churches in the Canary Islands [abridged].