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.
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.
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
- 1536-1850 on the Faroe Islands
- 1850-1920 on the Faroe Islands
- 1920-1970 on the Faroe Islands
- 1970-2007 on the Faroe Islands
- Argisbrekka
- Population trends on the Faroe Islands from 1327-2022
- The middle ages on the Faroe Islands
- The viking age on the Faroe Islands
Read more about History on the Faroe Islands