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One of the first stepping stones for Europeans as they explored across the Atlantic to finally land in the Americas was colonized much earlier than previously thought — and not by the Vikings , who were once think to be the innovator of those islet , researchers say .
TheFaroe Islandsare locate about halfway between Norway and Iceland . They were the first stepping stones beyond the Scottish archipelago of the Shetlands for the Viking diaspora that culminate in the European discovery of continental North America in the 11th 100 , about 400 or 500 year beforeChristopher Columbusmade his famous ocean trip .
Scientists have discovered evidence for the human colonization of the Faroes, located halfway between Norway and Iceland, by people some 300 to 500 years before the large-scale Viking colonization. The investigation revealed an extensive windblown sand deposit containing patches of burnt peat ash from human activity.
Until now , scientists think theVikingsundertook the first major settlement of the Faroes in the ninth one C . Still , there were hints there might have been earlier arrivals there — for representative , in about 825 , the Irish monk Dicuil in the court ofCharlemagnewrote of Irish hermits settling islands beforehand that may have been the Faroes , researcher Mike Church , an environmental archaeologist at the Durham University in England , told LiveScience in an audience . [ Fierce Fighters : 7 enigma of Viking Seamen ]
Mystery settlers
Now , scientists have get a line firm archaeologic evidence " for the human colonisation of the Faroes by masses some 300 to 500 long time before the large - scaleViking colonizationof the ninth century , although we do n’t yet have it off who these citizenry were or where they number from , " Church said in a financial statement .
Archaeologists reveal the wall of a Viking longhouse.
The enquiry took office at an archaeological site of Á Sondum on the island of Sandoy . The investigation revealed an extensive windblown sand sediment contain patch of burnt peat ash tree from human bodily process .
This ash take barleycorn metric grain sting in domesticated hearths , which carbon copy dating showed was pre - Viking . Barley is not indigenous to the Faroes , so it must have been either rise or brought to the islands by humans .
" This is the first archeologic evidence that bear witness there were humans there at the Faroes prior to the big Viking colonization event , " Church say .
mankind would have circulate these ashes onto the sands during the fourth to 6th C and 6th to eighth centuries . This practice was often seen in the North Atlantic region among Europeans during this period to stabilize the sand dune and keep the idle words from eroding them aside .
" The majority of archaeological evidence for this early colonization is likely to have been ruin by the major Viking encroachment , explaining the want of test copy notice in the Faroes for the earlier settlement , " Church suppose .
It remains strange who these newly discovered settlers were . possibility may includereligious hermitsfrom Ireland , late - Fe Age colonists from Scotland or pre - Viking Explorer from Scandinavia . [ The 10 Most Intrepid Explorers ]
" Maybe these were unfearing adventurer arriving from each of those region , " Church say , adding that the findings raise more questions than they suffice .
" Although we do n’t know who the citizenry were that settle here and where they came from , it is cleared that they did prepare peat for use by cut , dry out and burning it , which signal they must have quell here for some clock time , " researcher Símun Arge , of the National Museum of the Faroe Islands , pronounce in a statement .
Questions of human colonisation
The research challenge the scale , timing and nature of human colony of the wider North Atlantic region .
" This also raises enquiry about the timing of human activity on other island systems where , likewise , evidence may have been destroyed , " Church order .
Arge agreed . " We now have to digest these date of this former grounds in sexual relation to other sources and view whether there may be other similar sites , elsewhere on the island , which may be capable to offer us with further morphologic archaeological evidence , " Arge said .
It may be a major challenge finding more evidence of these ancient settlers , Church remark .
" We ’re likely looking at very small numbers of mass , so there wo n’t be that much to find , and the big Viking colonization event probably imply quite a lot of Viking longhouses put in the same kind of place where these early settler put houses , so a mass of what little evidence there was may be destroyed , " Church explain .
The scientist detail their finding online July 17 in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews .
