The Faroe Islands, a North Atlantic archipelago between Norway and Iceland, were settled by Viking explorers in the mid-9th century CE. Seafaring Vikings first reached the Faroe Islands around 850 CE, soon after they developed long-distance sailing technology. The settlement may have formed a stepping stone for the Viking settlement of Iceland in 874, and their short-lived colonization of Greenland, around 980. The telltale signs: identifiable fragments of sheep DNA, and two distinctive types of lipids produced in sheep digestive systems — so-called fecal biomarkers. Sedimentary DNA and molecular evidence for early human occupation of the Faroe Islands.

Source: Ethiopian News December 30, 2021 16:23 UTC