The Canary Islands were first settled by North African groups in the first millennium CE and, after a few centuries of interconnections with the mainland and between islands, remained isolated until the late medieval European expansion into the Atlantic. El Hierro is a small island located in the westernmost part of the archipelago that was inhabited by the bimbapes from the 2nd century CE until the 15th century European conquest. The archaeological records, including marine food processing sites and cave burials, illustrate their adaptation to the environment: the dependence on marine resources for its economy owing the island's isolation and the scarcity of arable land and the use of the natural landscape to dispose of deads. La Lajura Cave, a collective burial site used from the 6th to 11th centuries CE, revealed significant anthropological and entomological findings. The archaeoentomological analysis of the sediment samples revealed 5816 insect remains, primarily Diptera and Coleoptera, with relatively small numbers of Hymenoptera, Heteroptera, Lepidoptera, and Arachnida. These findings shed light on decomposition processes and funerary practices as well as the distribution of the cadaveric entomofauna present in the western limit of the Palearctic region before the modern era. This study highlights the role of insects in cadaveric decomposition and their ecological behaviors, offering valuable insights into the funerary practices of Bimbape society in a unique ecological context.

中文翻译：

---

遥远西部的昆虫：El Hierro 岛（西班牙加那利群岛，约 6-11 世纪）的埋葬习俗，通过葬礼考古昆虫学重建


加那利群岛在公元第一个千年首次由北非群体定居，经过几个世纪与大陆和岛屿之间的相互联系，一直与世隔绝，直到中世纪晚期欧洲人向大西洋扩张。El Hierro 是一个位于群岛最西端的小岛，从公元 2 世纪到 15 世纪欧洲征服期间，石肠鱼就居住在这里。考古记录，包括海洋食品加工遗址和洞穴墓葬，说明了它们对环境的适应：由于岛屿与世隔绝，耕地稀缺，以及利用自然景观处理死者，其经济依赖于海洋资源。拉朱拉洞穴是公元 6 至 11 世纪使用的集体墓地，揭示了重要的人类学和昆虫学发现。对沉积物样本的考古昆虫学分析显示，有 5816 个昆虫遗骸，主要是双翅目和鞘翅目，还有相对较少的膜翅目、异翅目、鳞翅目和蛛形纲。这些发现揭示了分解过程和丧葬习俗，以及现代之前存在于古北界西部边界的尸体昆虫动物群的分布。本研究强调了昆虫在尸体分解中的作用及其生态行为，为在独特的生态背景下 Bimbape 社会的丧葬习俗提供了有价值的见解。