The present study aims to investigate the relationship between physical activity changes and the daily life patterns in the island of La Gomera (Canary Islands, Spain) during the aboriginal period (ca. 3rd–15th centuries AD). The commingled skeletal material used in this study comprised a minimum of 88 individuals from burial caves used by these agropastoral communities. The methodological corpus combines the study of entheseal changes in upper and lower limbs with a cross‐sectional geometry analysis. The results revealed a prevalence of muscle chains linked to bilateral movements and a high mobility, probably more intense in the eastern areas of the island. At the same time, we observed diachronic changes in mobility possibly due to processes of adaptation to an isolated environment. Finally, entheseal changes and cross‐sectional geometry also indicated some differences between sexes as women seem to have had lower mobility than men.

The indigenous population of the Canary Islands, which colonized the archipelago around the 3rd century CE, provides both a window into the past of North Africa and a unique model to explore the effects of insularity. We generate genome-wide data from 40 individuals from the seven islands, dated between the 3rd–16rd centuries CE. Along with components already present in Moroccan Neolithic populations, the Canarian natives show signatures related to Bronze Age expansions in Eurasia and trans-Saharan migrations. The lack of gene flow between islands and constant or decreasing effective population sizes suggest that populations were isolated. While some island populations maintained relatively high genetic diversity, with the only detected bottleneck coinciding with the colonization time, other islands with fewer natural resources show the effects of insularity and isolation. Finally, consistent genetic differentiation between eastern and western islands points to a more complex colonization process than previously thought.

Objectives This article presents new radiocarbon and isotopic data to provide further information about the diet of the indigenous population of La Gomera and its possible changes across time. Materials and methods δ13C and δ15N of 53 human and 19 faunal samples from different sites on the island have been obtained and analyzed. Of these, 52 have been radiocarbon dated to provide insight on chronological changes. Results Human dates range from the 3rd to 15th centuries AD, while faunal dates range from the 1st to 17th centuries AD. Stable carbon and nitrogen values are significantly different between the human and goat samples and have also a trophic increase of 3.4‰. Although male and female δ15N data are not significantly different. Both δ13C and δ15N values of both human and animal samples tend to discretely decrease over time. Discussion Radiocarbon dates from humans correlate with other dates obtained in the rest of the archipelago. Animal radiocarbon dates generally coincide except for one date, which requires further study. Isotopic δ15N data suggest a mix of marine and terrestrial protein consumption in humans, the latter being more abundant given the seasonality of the first. δ13C data also suggest a possible mixed diet in humans, with a predominance of C3 plants, like Hordeum vulgare, the only grain found in archaeological sites so far. Variations of both δ13C and δ15N over time suggest a slight modification on the diet, which could be related to environmental changes.