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]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.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]
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.
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: