The Azoreans Are Not Who You Think They Are (DNA Evidence)
Blonde hair, blue eyes, Flemish surnames, a stone statue pointing west, and cattle on the islands six centuries before the first Portuguese ship. The Azores and Madeira come with some of the best origin stories in Europe. This video tests every one of them against the genetics.
What we cover:
• Sediment cores from the Azores that show livestock, burning and deforestation around 700–850 AD, and why that finding is contested
• The house mice whose mitochondrial DNA pointed the same way
• The legendary horseman statue of Corvo, and the Carthaginian coins reported in 1778
• The "Flemish Azores": what the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial studies actually show
• How Willem van der Haegen became Silveira, and why surnames and genes tell different stories
• Where the names went: the Azorean diaspora in New England, Ontario and southern Brazil (Santa Catarina, from 1748)
• Madeira's West African maternal lineages, which arrived directly by ship, not through mainland Portugal
• New Christians, Sephardic ancestry estimates, and what a consumer DNA percentage can and cannot tell you
• Madeira compared with the Canary Islands
The Azores and Madeira are not a mirror of Portugal. They are the closest thing Europe has to a genetic laboratory.
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• Santos C. et al. (2003). Mitochondrial DNA patterns in the Macaronesia islands. Annals of Human Genetics.
• Pacheco P.R. et al. (2005). The Y-chromosomal heritage of the Azores Islands population. Annals of Human Genetics.
• Brehm A. et al. (2003). Mitochondrial portraits of the Madeira and Açores archipelagos. Annals of Human Genetics.
• Lima M. et al. (1997). Machado-Joseph disease in the Azores (Flores prevalence).
• Raposeiro P.M. et al. (2021). Climate change facilitated the early colonization of the Azores Archipelago during medieval times. PNAS
. • Gabriel S.I. et al. (2015). House mouse mitochondrial DNA in the Azores.
• Adams S.M. et al. (2008). The genetic legacy of religious diversity and intolerance. American Journal of Human Genetics.
• Damião de Góis, Chronica do Principe Dom Ioam (1567).
• Podolyn J.F. (1778), report of the Corvo coins (seven Carthaginian, two from Cyrene).
Video
The video mentioned a few cultures that discovered the Azores before the Portuguese arrived there in the early 1400's such as the Flemish people, Spaniards, Carthaginians, Vikings, Berbers, etc. There were also other early arrivals to the islands that were contemporaneous with the Portuguese settlers or even before them that were not mentioned in the video.
One example were the people that constructed over 100 pyramids that some scholars attributed to an unknown seafaring culture while others suggest that early Portuguese farmers built them.
Basque fishermen and whalers found their way to the Azores around the same time as the Portuguese.
Greeks, Romans and Tartessians discovering the islands requires more research.
While conventional history says Portuguese sailors found the Azores uninhabited in the 1400s, some researchers and striking site discoveries hint at an earlier, pre-Portuguese human presence. [1, 2]
Controversial Structures and Findings
Pyramidal Structures: Over 100 pyramid-like stone structures, locally called moroi or maroi, exist across the islands. While standard history attributes these to early Portuguese farmers stacking field stones while clearing land, some independent archaeologists argue their shapes and placements suggest an older origin.
Rock-Cut Sanctuaries and Hypogea: Excavated rock structures carved into volcanic tuff—resembling Mediterranean-style columbaria (burial or cremation urn chambers) dating back 2,000+ years—have been found alongside potential bone-cremation ovens. [1]
Rock Basins and Petroglyphs: Man-made rock basins, stone arrangements mimicking megaliths, and inscriptions resembling ancient petroglyphs have been documented on islands like Terceira (such as near Grota do Medo). Carbon and mass spectrometry testing on organic materials or associated finds at certain sites have yielded dates suggesting activity predating the 15th century. [1, 2]
Artifacts: Unidentified pottery fragments and stone anchor designs resembling ancient Roman types have added fuel to theories of early mid-Atlantic navigation. [1]
Mainstream Scientific View
Most mainstream historians and archaeologists remain deeply skeptical of pre-Portuguese civilizations in the Azores. They generally explain the stone pyramids as agricultural clearance piles (paredes or morais) built post-settlement, and attribute unusual rock marks or basins to natural erosion or later farming utility rather than ancient lost societies or unrecorded antiquity. [1]
To give you the exact details you need, are you interested in learning more about the scientific pushback and skepticism regarding these sites, details on specific islands where they are found (e.g., Terceira, Pico, São Miguel), or theories on who might have visited (e.g., Carthaginians, Romans, Norse)?
Basque people played a notable role in the early settlement and maritime history of the Azores during the 15th and 16th centuries. [1]
Historical Ties
Early Settlers: When the Portuguese first colonized the uninhabited Azorean archipelago in the 1400s and 1500s, Basque settlers were part of that wave. [1]
Whalers and Nobility: Many Basque arrivals worked as skilled whalers or came as part of the nobility, bringing their seafaring expertise to the mid-Atlantic. [1]
Surnames: This historical presence is why many modern Azorean families carry Basque surnames like Garmendia, Arriaga, or Ugarte. [1]
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