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Abstract
The Faroe Islands, a North Atlantic archipelago between Norway and Iceland, were settled by Viking explorers in the mid-9th century CE. However, several indirect lines of evidence suggest earlier occupation of the Faroes by people from the British Isles. Here, we present sedimentary ancient DNA and molecular fecal biomarker evidence from a lake sediment core proximal to a prominent archaeological site in the Faroe Islands to establish the earliest date for the arrival of people in the watershed. Our results reveal an increase in fecal biomarker concentrations and the first appearance of sheep DNA at 500 CE (95% confidence interval 370-610 CE), pre-dating Norse settlements by 300 years. Sedimentary plant DNA indicates an increase in grasses and the disappearance of woody plants, likely due to livestock grazing. This provides unequivocal evidence for human arrival and livestock disturbance in the Faroe Islands centuries before Viking settlement in the 9th century.
Humans may have settled the Faroe Islands and begun using the land for livestock grazing as early as 500 CE, around 300 years earlier than previously believed, according to sedimentary DNA and molecular fecal biomarkers from a lake sediment core.
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1 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, USA (GRID:grid.473157.3) (ISNI:0000 0000 9175 9928)
2 Department of Geology, William & Mary, Williamsburg, USA (GRID:grid.264889.9) (ISNI:0000 0001 1940 3051)
3 University of California, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Santa Cruz, USA (GRID:grid.205975.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0740 6917)
4 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Geosciences, Amherst, USA (GRID:grid.266683.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 2166 5835); Smith College, Department of Geosciences, Northampton, USA (GRID:grid.263724.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 1945 4190)
5 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Geosciences, Amherst, USA (GRID:grid.266683.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 2166 5835)
6 University of Bergen, Department of Earth Science and Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway (GRID:grid.7914.b) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7443)