Official history speaks of the Portuguese mariner Diogo de Silves who is said to have discovered the islands in 1427. However, the archipelago appeared on portolan maps as early as the 14th century, the first known being the 1351 Atlas of the Medici.
“It is plausible that people settled on the islands at least some 700 years before that, they would have been Vikings probably, but possibly even much earlier.”
It is plausible that people settled on the islands at least some 700 years before that, they would have been Vikings probably, but possibly even much earlier. Sediment cores have been collected from several lakes and, in a layer dated between AD 700 and 800, compounds associated with cows and sheep have been discovered in them. An increase in charcoal particles and a decrease in native tree pollen in the same layer could indicate the clearing of land for cattle grazing.
Archaeologists have further discovered, among other things, rock art and possibly Carthaginian and megalithic structures, which would have been built according to an oriented plan, aligned with the summer solstice and related to structures also found in Sicily, North Africa and the Canary Islands.
Further scientific research is needed to be conclusive on this. But at least it suggests that a civilization existed that was advanced enough to travel this far and colonize these remote islands from quite early on.
Because of the many settlers who came over from Flanders starting from the 15th century, the so-called flamengos, the Azores for a long time were also nicknamed the Flemish Islands.
Nevertheless, the islands have always remained firm under Portuguese rule. Yet specifically the mills on some islands, as well as the preparation of a certain type of local cheeses on Pico and Sao Jorge, among others, are reminders of this part of history.
