Human presence found in the Azores years before the arrival of the Portuguese

Ebad notice, CIBIO-Azores explains that the study reconstructed the conditions in which the Azores were first settled and the impact of the human presence on the ecosystems of the archipelago.

One of the main findings of the investigation, published in the journal PNAS, is that The first evidence of human presence on the islands was discovered 700 years before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century, namely on the island of Santa Maria in 1427 and on the islands of Corvo and Flores in 1452.…

The study also suggests, based on various models to determine weather conditions, that the first settlers of the archipelago were “probably” from Northern Europe and found “favorable climatic conditions for sailing to the Azores at the end of the high Middle Ages due to the prevalence of north-east winds and weakening of the west”.…

“The published work records the arrival of the first settlers to the islands at the end of the high Middle Ages,” emphasizes CIBIO – Azores, adding that the investigation contradicts the consensus that the archipelago was never inhabited before the arrival of the Portuguese. …

Cited in the statement, Pedro Raposeiro, a researcher at the Azores Center and first author of the article, emphasizes that the investigation “demonstrates the importance of promoting interdisciplinary research between the natural sciences and the humanities” so that there is “a wider field of action.” a vision of what really happened in the past. “

Researchers analyzed and dated, using geological, chemical, physical and biological methods, five soundings of sediments recovered from the bottom of lakes in the islands of San Miguel, Pico, Terceira, Flores and Corvo.

“They found sterols in lake sediments, a very abundant fraction of organic matter in mammalian feces and coprophilic bottom, which are interpreted as indicators of human activity,” the center explains.

Also quoted in the statement is Timothy Shanahang, a researcher at the University of Texas (United States of America), explains that mammalian gut produces “abundant fecal sterols and stanols, which are well preserved in lake sediments and are a unique and unambiguous indicator of their presence among large mammals in certain periods of the past ”.

“In addition, the compounds made by the intestines of humans and cattle are different, which allows us to distinguish between them,” he says.

Santiago Giralt, one of the main authors of the article, adds that due to their geographic location, the islands of the Azores “were not inhabited by large mammals” and that the appearance of “coprostanol in sediments” could be attributed to the presence of humans and stigmastanol in ruminants such as cows. goats or sheep. “

Based on the study of pollen, fossil plant fragments and coal residues present in the sediments, the study also characterized the impact of early human activities on the island’s ecosystems, which led to “profound ecological and ecological changes.”

“Although historical sources describe the Azores as densely forested and pristine, this work highlights the discrepancy that exists between the fossil record and the historical record that most often serves as a reference point for identifying pristine ecosystems,” says Pedro Raposeiro.

In addition to researchers from the University of the Azores Center, research in Portugal was carried out in collaboration with the Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), Don Luis Institute, University of Lisbon and the University of Évora.

Experts from Geosciences Barcelona (GEO3BCN-CSIC), Institute of Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​Center for Environmental Research and Applications in Forestry (CREAF), Institute for Marine Research (IIM-CSIC) National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), University of La -Coruna (UC), University of Barcelona (UB), University of Texas, Brown University of the United States of America, NIOZ (Netherlands), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), University of Bern (Switzerland) and Edith Cowen University (Australia).