Ancient times on the Faroe Islands – Trap The Faroe Islands

Ring from Velbastaður in gold-plated silver, decorated with the Christian symbols grapes and a cross. It was found in connection with the study of the village’s small church ruin with a round cemetery. The ring dates to the late Viking Age or early Middle Ages.
FINNUR JUSTINUSSEN, 2016

Archaeological and botanical studies indicate that there have been settlements in the Faroe Islands before the Norse settlement, which is known from the 9th century. The first traces of humans consist of some charred barley grains found in two patches of peat ash under a longhouse from the Viking Age at á Sondum in the village of Sandur on Sandoy. The excavation was carried out in 2006 and carbon 14 studies dated the grains in the lower patch to the period between the 4th and 6th centuries and in the upper patch to the period between the 6th and 8th centuries.

Ring-headed pin with valknut, a symbol associated with the Cult of Odin. This type was made in Dublin around the year 900. The discovery of the 150 mm long ring-headed pin at the burial site in Tjørnuvík in 1956 provided definitive archaeological proof of settlements during the Viking Age.
TJÓÐSAVNIÐ, NO YEAR

In 2021, evidence was presented that humans lived in the Faroe Islands around 300 years before the arrival of the Vikings. The results are based on the study of sediments that have accumulated over millennia on the bottom of lake Eiðisvatn on Eysturoy. The sediments have been examined for ancient DNA from plants and animals as well as microscopic remains of faeces from, e.g., sheep. With the help of carbon 14 dating and tephrachronology (dating from the ash layers of known volcanic eruptions), a change in the vegetation, which may be due to grazing sheep, can be demonstrated around the year 500.

Other traces which may be connected to the early settlement are cultivated areas appearing as narrow strips of arable land separated by low, parallel, grassy embankments of stone and earth. They are found on south- and west-facing slopes, sometimes in fairly inaccessible terrain, such as in Akraberg and on Mykines. Here, botanical studies and pollen analyses have been able to prove grain cultivation in the 7th-8th centuries.

Reconstruction of the archaeologically excavated longhouse from approx. year 900 at Toftanes in Leirvík. In addition to the buildings, thousands of objects were found that shed light on daily life in the Viking Age. Some can be seen in the exhibition at Tjóðsavnið.
TJÓÐSAVNIÐ, 2007

In 825, the Irish monk and geographer Dicuil wrote the work De mensura orbis terrae (Concerning the Measurement of the World). Based on an eyewitness account from a fellow Irish countryman, Dicuil, who worked in the Frankish kingdom, described an archipelago in the North Atlantic that matches with the Faroe Islands. According to him, these islands had been inhabited by Irish hermits, but were now abandoned due to pirate raids by the Norse. They were supposed to have lived on the islands for around 100 years. However, no archaeological traces have been found that can be linked to the hermits’ presence on the islands.

Further reading