Anthropology: Evidence for the earliest human occupation of the Faroe Islands
A paper suggesting that humans settled in the Faroe Islands around 500 AD, about 300 years earlier than previously thought, will be published in Communications Earth & Environment.Livestock breeding in the Faroe Islands was reported to have occurred around the time the Norwegian Vikings landed, but the study showed that it was done earlier.
The Vikings' landing on the Faroe Islands in 800-900 AD is the earliest direct evidence that humans have settled in the Faroe Islands.However, earlier there were settlers (probably Celts from the British Isles), suggesting that they had already landed before the Vikings.However, there was little evidence to support it.
Now, Lorelei Curtin and colleagues examine DNA deposited in a 1500-year-old sedimentary layer on the bottom of Lake Fellow.As a result, the DNA of sheep and traces of feces were discovered around 500 AD, and it was found that the DNA of various grasses increased and the DNA of woody plants disappeared around the same time.All of these are signs of grazing.Our findings suggest that humans who settled before the Vikings were grazing livestock on the island, which may change our understanding of the early settlement of the Faroe Islands.
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Reprinted from: "Anthropology: Evidence of humanity first settled in the Faroe Islands'
