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Combined unspiked K–Ar dating and detailed mapping have established the eruptive chronology of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary islands. The CV volcano is a large polygenetic volcano (subaerial area: 220 km², subaerial volume: 125 km³, elevation above sea level: 2000 m), which rests on the southern flank of the older Taburiente-Cumbre Nueva volcano. We defined two stratigraphic units by their relationship to the development of coastal cliffs developed around the Cumbre Vieja volcano: a cliff-forming series and a scree-forming series which is draped over the cliffs and forms the coastal platforms at their bases. K–Ar ages were measured from 20 samples from the two series. There are no discrepancies between K–Ar ages and the stratigraphy, the K–Ar ages of one flow compare well with ¹⁴C determinations (¹⁴C : 3.2±0.1 ka; K–Ar: 4±2 ka). The ages of the scree-forming series range from 3±2 ka to …