Was the Azores home to an ancient civilisation?

YouTube ^ | Narrator: Sam Hartford, Executive Producer: Griesham Taan | BBC Reel

[SunkenCiv]

History books tell us that Portuguese navigators found the Azores islands uninhabited in the middle of the Atlantic during the early 1400s. But some intriguing constructions suggest that people occupied this area long before.

So, who was this civilisation, and why did they leave?

Was the Azores home to an ancient civilisation? | Next Stop Stories | BBC Reel | October 28, 2022

[SunkenCiv]

Transcript
0:08	These are puzzling structures, because they should not be here.
0:13	'Here' is literally in the middle of the Atlantic, the Azores islands.
0:24	Officially, the Azores were found uninhabited by
0:27	Portuguese navigators in the early 1400s.
0:31	However, physicist Dr Felix Rodrigues has been researching and dating
0:35	buildings believed to be much older than that.
0:58	Dr Rodrigues' quest to find answers started 10 years ago
1:02	in the Terceira Island, where he lives.
1:04	These are the oldest structures he's found so far.
1:29	Dr Rodrigues believes these are dolmens used by prehistoric cultures
1:33	to place remains of the dead.
1:35	These cylindrical cavities would be indicators for the human presence,
1:39	showing intentional work in the rocks.
1:41	Material accumulated inside the cavities has been dated to be
1:45	two and a half thousand years old, at least.
1:50	Ceramic pieces found in the area are believed to be even older,
1:53	over 4,000 years.
2:46	By the sea, there are some intriguing clues of this supposed arrival.
3:27	This other structure doesn't seem to have been built
3:30	by 15th Century Portuguese either.
4:26	For Dr Rodrigues, these two structures are part of the same ritualistic complex,
4:31	which is completed by a sort of ground basin in the middle of the Columbarium.
4:36	It seems to be connected to the outside by a duct.
4:40	Similar basins are found in another location in the Terceira island,
4:45	inside some perfectly carved volcanic rocks.
5:22	Next to it there is a flooded cave.
5:45	But not everyone is convinced this complex is that old.
5:49	Some say these could be stables from a 16th Century fortress.
6:04	In the inland, the origins of these strange tracks are also controversial.
6:09	Locally called 'relheiras', they are popularly associated with cart loads.
7:26	Some questions are easier to answer than others.
7:43	But we are still far from knowing for sure who this civilisation was.

[No name given]

I’m reminded of Atlantis, the supposed lost continent.

[Equine1952]

It may or may not be but it is in the graveyard area of a USN nuclear submarine. USS Scorpion. Which still pisses me off.

[SunkenCiv]

The Guanches were the first known inhabitants of the Canary Islands, but their true origins have baffled archaeologists.

Their mummification rituals saw them linked to the Ancient Egyptians, and some legends suggested they could even have been surviving inhabitants of Atlantis. New scientific evidence, however, may have found the truth.

The truth behind the mysterious mummies of the Canary Islands | BBC Reel
September 26, 2022 | Video by Fernando Teixeira & Izabela Cardoso

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

Hypogeum: Malta’s Ancient Subterreanean Mystery
Geographics
December 23, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJOmDMHQby4&t=99

[HighSierra5]

Volcanoes?

[ImpBill]

I wonder what the writers major in college was? It certainly wasn't English Grammar. The Azores "are' a group of islands. More than one. The title really sticks out like a sore thumb.

"Was the Azores home to an ancient civilisation?"

[higgmeister]

Wow!   On my two years living in Praia da Vitoria, Illa Terceira, I never saw any evidence of this.   Since they are small volcanic islands, hosting a significant ancient civilization is 100% impossible IMHO.

[DMD13]

There are many people who believe the remnants of Atlantis are the Azores.

[oldasrocks]

If you want to see signs of a LOST civilization look no farther that the US today.

[higgmeister]

This from Wikipedia:

A small number of alleged hypogea (underground structures carved into rocks) have been identified on the islands of Corvo, Santa Maria, and Terceira by Portuguese archaeologist Nuno Ribeiro, who speculated that they might date back 2,000 years, implying a human presence on the island before the Portuguese.[9] These structures have been used by settlers in the Azores to store grain and the suggestion by Ribeiro that they might be burial sites is unconfirmed. Detailed examination and dating to authenticate the validity of these speculations is lacking; thus it is unclear whether these structures are natural or human-made and whether they predate the 15th century Portuguese colonization of the Azores.[10]

According to a 2015 paper published in Journal of Evolutionary Biology, research based on mouse mitochondrial DNA points to a Scandinavian rather than Portuguese origin of the local mouse population.[11] Some years later, a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2021, using data from lake sediment core sampling suggests brush-clearing was undertaken and animal husbandry introduced between 700 and 850 C.E.[12] Together, these findings may be explained by a brief period of Norse settlement and the 2021 paper further cites climate simulations carried out that suggest the dominant winds in the North Atlantic Ocean in that period blew from the northeast, which would have taken Viking ships heading southwest from Scandinavia more or less directly to the Azores.[12]

I wasn't actually considering either the Phoenicians or the Vikings as an ancient civilization, I suppose they might have attempted to have a go at living in the Azores for extended periods of time.

The Azores are a lush temperate garden paradise warmed by the Gulf Stream on its way to the British Isles.   They have only two seasons, presently moderate and Biblical deluge.   I have actually seen many times the rain striking the ground with only the rebound getting the sun's illumination so that it looks like huge drops of water are coming out of the ground.   Another thing to see are the giant Hydrangea bushes lining the roads all over the islands.   Also giant ferns are everywhere.

I'm looking forward to the new episodes of The Curse of Oak Island starting on November 15th.

[SunkenCiv]

And yet, it’s there. The similarities with the Canaries suggest a common source.

[SunkenCiv]

The Azores arose as volcanoes, and they have had a permanent population for 500 years. The Bzores were not so lucky... ;^)

[SunkenCiv]

Naturally, if you live on an island, and everything's great, then it gets buried in ash from an eruption, you've got boats, you make yourself scarce. The rest of the keyword, sorted:

• Did Vikings beat Portugal to the Azores? Researchers studying animal remains say Norse explorers stepped foot on the islands HUNDREDS of years before the Portuguese [10/31/2021]
• Evidence of people on the Azores archipelago 700 years earlier than thought [10/12/2021]
• Archeology: Prehistoric rock art found in caves on Terceira Island -- Azores [10/06/2012]
• Carthaginian temples found -- Azores [07/10/2011]

[logi_cal869]

It’s a shame that archaeology - like many of the sciences - has been poisoned by skeptics. ‘Stables’ my ass.

I wish him continued funding for his research. It would have been nice if the video contained more science & data, but it is what it is.

[higgmeister]

Going inside this Terceira volcano was an amazing experience.   I just occurred to me that the super aggressive biosphere could easily obliterate a great amount of evidence of earlier cultures.   Just because I didn't see it...   You should take a vacation there and explore.

[higgmeister]

I don’t always remember that Carthage was a Phoenician colony.

[SunkenCiv]

It’s been poisoned by true believers, and they are anti-skeptics — stooges, sheep, gullible, regurg’ing the talking points like more than two genders, AGW, censorship...

[SunkenCiv]

It’s no doubt beautiful, but active volcanoes tend to keep me out of places, even if I had the mad money — Santorini, Pompeii for examples.