Vikings & Mice in the Azores

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

The Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal in the middle of the Atlantic, was said to be discovered in 1427 by Portuguese explorer Diogo de Silves. However, new studies of the land suggest the Portuguese may not have been the island's first inhabitants. The key to these studies? Mice. Similarities have been found between Azorean and northern European mice. In this episode, Cat is joined by Ecology and Evolutionary Biologist Dr. Jeremy Searle from Cornell University. We delve into this unexpected location of Viking occupancy, exploring Jeremy's research on the land and the mice who can tell us more about our complex history. What can mice tell us about the movement of people in the past?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever wondered why one of Ruan Cathedral's towers is called the Tower of Butter, or what
0:06.2	animals have faced trials in courts for, or even how the black country got its name?
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0:29.8	book.
0:34.6	Hello, welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit. I'm Dr Cat Jarman and I'm delighted to have
0:40.0	you joining me today. Now, it might not surprise you too much that we're going to be talking about
0:44.8	the Vikings again, and as you probably all know, the Vikings are known for being in
0:50.5	chaphead explorers and their journeys are pretty well documented both through historical sources
0:55.6	and ecological evidence. But now, an increasing number of studies suggest they may have trouble
1:00.9	to other and rather unexpected locations, such as the Azores and Archipelago in the middle of
1:08.3	the Atlantic, and some of this evidence actually comes from some rather unexpected sources.
1:14.1	To tell me more about this today, I've invited an evolutionary biologist, Professor Jeremy
1:18.9	Seal from Cornell University. Thank you so much for joining me, Jeremy.
1:22.5	Oh, it's great to be here. Thanks very much.
1:24.6	Now, I'm going to get on to a bit later on why we have a biologist talking about this today,
1:30.4	but Jeremy, so you've been working in this area for a little while. I was hoping that maybe
1:35.4	just to introduce our listeners a little bit to the location, it might not be that familiar to
1:39.8	everyone. Could you start with a bit of background of the Azores and their islands and their history,
1:44.5	like, you know, actually where they are and when we think they were first settled originally?
1:49.6	Yes, I'm very happy to do that. So the Azores, as you said, are an Archipelago of a number of
	...

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