Were the Azores home to an ancient civilisation? - BBC REEL

History books tell us that Portuguese navigators found the Azores islands uninhabited in the middle of the Atlantic during the early 1400s. But some intriguing constructions suggest that people occupied this area long before.
So, who was this civilisation, and why did they leave?
Video by: Next Stop Stories
Narrator: Sam Hartford
Executive Producer: Griesham Taan
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[@johnnorth9355]

Excellent - this is the kind of content that the BBC used to be famous for. More please.

[@yt.personal.identification]

Look up Randall Carlson

[@morrisse0_088]

@@yt.personal.identification with all the respect I have for his work, he turned into a firecracker in the past couple of years…

[@travellerstoryteller]

This guy is a charlatan

[@morrisse0_088]

@@travellerstoryteller who? Randal Carlson or the physicist in the video?

[@travellerstoryteller]

@@morrisse0_088 the physicist!!

[@ghomem]

To be honest, I live in this island since I was born and I *never* heard about this *ever* . This was such an interesting video! It changed my mind about Azores prehistoric origins.

[@adriennefloreen]

You must not subscribe to Rare Earth.

[@adriennefloreen]

They should be ashamed of themselves, stealing from a smaller KZbinr.

[@saschamarr495]

Check out Randal Carlsons work

[@TheMariepi3]

There is a documentary of Discovery about Atlantis in which in one of the Azores islands is seen in the so-called "cart ruts", in another a "columbarium" is seen (a special way of burying the ashes of the dead that were burned, typical of Roman times) and Phoenician anchors also appear

[@adriennefloreen]

@@TheMariepi3 Ok so your island was probably inhabited by the phonecians at some point and the vikings later, both who abandoned it after large volcanic eruptions or tsunamis. At least 4 times in the last few thousand years those islands have been settled then abandoned after apocalyptic eruptions and tsunamis, the survivors leaving and telling everyone on whatever mainland they landed on to avoid that place forever, then (after the plants and trees grew back and it looked nice again) ever time hundreds of years later it was "discovered" and settled by another group of people and the Portuguese are the most recent. It's on a list of possible Atlantis locations but that's probably Santorini not the Azores. But the Azores were once hit by a tsunami from La Palma partially collapsing into the ocean, that completely went over the entire islands. I just watched a video about this guy who bought a life boat from an oil rig, the life boat is fireproof, unsinkable, and can be dropped from hundreds of feet up into the ocean without injuring the occupants. I recommend having something like that if you live there, just in case. I am kind of joking, but kind of not. I wouldn't wanna just suddenly loose everything or even die in a natural disaster.

[@lordcommandernox9197]

The best part of this documentary are the subtitles, thank you for letting me hear the Professor's voice.

[@condeuiosandilixtos7858]

Just a random portuguese guy dropping by. I hope I live to see some serious studies and archaeological digs in the Azores. I'm utterly fascinated by ancient cultures, and despite Portugal being so rich in prehistoric sites, they barely receive any attention or care.

[@ems4884]

Yes. Let's see what archeology turns out. At first glance, however... I would be quite skeptical. The Azores are quite remote.

[@karwashblark7499]

@@ems4884 Skeptical about what? The megalithic architecture is clearly not from 1400 thats for damn sure

[@birutybeiruty4469]

Random Portuguese guy?

[@HF06]

Not true, I live in the Minho and we have a ton of dolmens, the municipalities take good care of them, as well as the Bronze Age castros.

[@dixietenbroeck8717]

Even as an "advanced non-speaker of Portuguese," I could actually understand at least 50% of this man's speech due to his excellent enunciation - which made this fascinating piece of pre-history *_EVEN BETTER!_* Thank you very much for this lovely video.

[@KangaRuude]

That would have to come with Pronunciation as well before enunciation

[@adriananovais7240]

It is his cadence of speech, he talks like my old university professors. You could understand them even if you were in the back of a room with 100 people.

[@kikoplaysgames]

@@adriananovais7240 he actually was a teacher at the university of the azores. Prof. Félix Rodrigues, a genius man!

[@adriananovais7240]

@@kikoplaysgames yeah, I found his profile and already got some of his papers!

[@elephantchilds]

What is an advanced non-speaker of Portuguese?

[@JonnoPlays]

The fact that ancient civilizations found places like this and Hawaii (and many others) only proves what capable navigators they were.

[@jaystrickland4151]

Hawaii wasn't settled until 300 to 800 CE.

[@anthonylemkendorf3114]

@@jaystrickland4151 and it’s still controversial as to who the first really were .

[@sl4074]

These people were from North Africa and are called Guanches they settled mostly in canary islands and some reached as far as Bahamas, when Colombus reached Bahamas (Guanahani) The people he first met named Lucayan were Guanches he even wrote in his memoirs that they looked the same. They went extinct one decade after contact with Europeans mostly sold as slaves. The same people reached Azores and also other islands in the carribean where they mixed up with arawak people. This is history and I belive it suppressed by the west as it would show that an African people reached the new world decades before the Spanish. I am writing a book about this called the Real history of america and it will be out in two years. This is the truth and one day we will all know it. Do your research and you can connect the dots

[@spanqueluv9er]

@@sl4074 That stock answer does not work for every post- do you understand? Shut up already.

[@sl4074]

@Andrew who reached canary island first then ?

[@blondie9909]

Im portuguese (although im from porto) but i never heard anything about this, its wonderful to discover new things about the great history of my country. I really wish everyone could understand portuguese and what he is saying because he is not using overly formal language , its all very simple and acessible anyone can understand its like he is having a conversation with you and not a speech or lecture and i think its a nice reflection of our culture

[@sousa5407]

This is truly a masterpiece! Thank you so much for this video. I've been living in S.Miguel Island, part of the Azores archipelago, for 25 years, and it has always baffled me how people are so non-receptive to the possibility that the Portuguese sailors were not the first ones to arrive and populate these islands. Clearly we underestimate the ingenuity and braveness of the ancient sailors.

[@rebjorn79]

Randall Carlson talks a lot about the ancient history of the Azores

[@azorian888]

0:17 pausa olha no fundo do mar um muro 1200 km/5 km

[@azorian888]

@@rebjorn79 i told him exact place where to look

[@duaneelliott5194]

For the same reason they are called "explorers" instead of "invaders".

[@garylake1676]

The Europeans rock up on the America’s and ‘discover’ them, I should just rock up at the local WalMart and ‘discover’ that store and claim all the spoils as my own. Discovery is often theft.

[@cat_pb]

Finally BBC is doing Azores! Whether the Phoenicians or the Vikings it’s a marvellous study!

[@yt.personal.identification]

Atlantians. See Randall Carlson

[@mayanktripathi8726]

Phoenicians..maybe..

[@zendog7212]

Well they traded for tin in Cornwall. And Phoenecia was the Greek name for Canaan. Which leads on to a whole other myth. "And did those feet in ancient times....." .

[@jC-rv5rr]

Or, were Vikings lost Phoenician outposts? If we are to surmise out of Afrika I and II with a Proto European adaption of Neanderthal and Denisovan attributes; a highly adaptable hominid, then perhaps we misinterpret biblical Noah as a fall of the first Phoenician empire, and the tower of Babel becomes the result of climatization isolation, and when those cultures resumed contact when the environment was again hospitable, the morphology of language had splintered humanity into clear clan groups immovable from their own understanding of purpose and creation? That there was a large megalithic culture prior to 10,000 years ago that spanned the world over is in little doubt, what is in doubt how closely those cultures communicated, and when their communications began to drift.

[@sl4074]

These people were from North Africa and are called Guanches they settled mostly in canary islands and some reached as far as Bahamas, when Colombus reached Bahamas (Guanahani) The people he first met named Lucayan were Guanches he even wrote in his memoirs that they looked the same. They went extinct one decade after contact with Europeans mostly sold as slaves. The same people reached Azores and also other islands in the carribean where they mixed up with arawak people. This is history and I belive it suppressed by the west as it would show that an African people reached the new world decades before the Spanish. I am writing a book about this called the Real history of america and it will be out in two years. This is the truth and one day we will all know it. Do your research and you can connect the dots

[@fungaltoe3748]

some of my great grandparents came from the Azores, so it's super cool to finally learn something about the islands

[@GoodtoGaia]

Mine too 🙏🏻

[@blessedwithchallenges9917]

Mine too!

[@deanfirnatine7814]

Two things not mentioned, remains of domestic sheep far older than Portuguese discovery have been found, someone had to bring them there and then there is the statue, when the Portuguese discovered the NW most island in the Azores Corvu they found a statue on the Western rim of the island made of stone, it was a man with a cloak and hat on a horse with no saddle with his right arm out pointing with his index finger Westward towards North America. The statue had undecipherable writing on its base, the statue was eventually disassembled and brought to Lisbon only to with time go missing, only a mural of it on a building in the village on the island remains as a reminder. There is some historical writings that indicate the Carthaginians or their ancestors the Phoenicians before them knew of islands that far out in the Atlantic in that direction but to have remains 4500 years old it would probably have to have been the Minoans, we know of no other great sailors at that time period, then again if the great megalithic builders like those in Malta could create what they did they probably could figure out sailing and navigation.

[@Jennagosu]

it could have been the Tartessians as well

[@zweispurmopped]

There are stories of sea people in ancient scripts. Nobody can tell who they were. There are some guesses, but no evidence for any of them being right.

[@Bongo40]

​@@JennagosuTartesians were an Atlante colony in Spain 🖖🏻😊

[@RoofLight00]

Look at the beautiful carving of the steps in these structures, the rounded entrances and so on. These people were highly technologically advanced for a nearly five thousand year old culture. Amazing

[@jeanjacqueslundi3502]

Minoans i.e. the Atlanteans :)

[@alexgabriel5423]

Many Thanks for the Production! Tracks like the ones shown exist in Anatolia(Turkey), where there are underground cities[Derinkuyu]. The niches for ashes exist in Crete and in S.Thrace[Bulgaria] as well , in Glukhite Kameni[ photo in The Thracians by R F Hoddinott]. The use of the niches was a mystery until the similar site in Crete served for comparison. In Sardinia can be found tombs of the mound or 'tholos' type like in Thrace or the Phrygian Gordion in Anatolia. Dating is of crucial importance to determine who were the builders but unhappily the tracks remain a mystery.

[@TheBlaqOrder]

The ancient Greeks and Phoenicians had overlapping colonies around the Mediterranean so its possible the paid the Azores a visit

[@tiagogomes3807]

Minoans were the ones spreading knowledge, culture and probably the language around our "Middle Earth", the Mediterranean.

[@trickyricky2903]

The KZbin channel Rare Earth has released some fantastic content on this subject.

[@troymueller7747]

Are we going to let him slide on “no four legged animal can drink water below its paws” ?? That is absolutely untrue haha.

[@riograndedosulball248]

Literally. Giraffes drinking water at this very moment be like:

[@sirmiles1820]

Finally after becoming a topic from Rare Earth, Azores got into the spotlight.

[@vice.nor.virtue]

they aren't the first, there's another guy on yt who already made a video about this, and its really well produced.

[@FaughtyEmit]

Going on the fact that the sea level has risen so much globally since the last ice age - I think most of our distant past is underwater. Think about how many millions of people still live next to the sea for all sorts of reasons. It has always been the same, but now the ancient shore lines (and therefore archaeological remains) are completely submerged under tens of meters of water.

[@purplemnkydshwshr]

The flooded Black Sea villages, that's a fun one to read about, also very terrifying.

[@JamesSongCovers]

I'd imagine theres a ton of ancient evidence in places like Doggerland, former land-bridges that are now submerged.

[@YelrahNaws]

@@JamesSongCovers there have been tools and spearheads and such found on the sea bottom where doggerland is

[@no_talking]

I think even thousand of feet of water, check out Randall Carlson if you haven’t

[@ms-jl6dl]

Latest dramatic increase of see levels happened at the end of the glaciacion period ca.12,000 years ago. So any civilisation after that should be visible today.

[@FilipeCardoso1]

Finalmente começam a falar sobre isto! Espetacular!

[@luisantos1996]

Nem fazia a mínima ideia que os Açores tinham sidos abitados antes, deve ser a tal Atlântida.

[@RuiPedroRocha]

@@luisantos1996 🤦‍♂️

[@LoveFromAzores]

Fiz alguns episódios com a Senhora Antonieta Costa sobre este assunto 😉

[@isaqueteixeiraobregon]

@@luisantos1996 Claro que não, só pq fica no Atlântico? Que conclusão mais infundada... kkkkkkkkk E ao que se percebe era uma civilização megalítica, os gregos descreviam Atlântida como mais evoluída que eles, então como isso era mais evoluído que as pólis gregas???

[@Yes-gq6rr]

Atlântida é um mito criado pelos os antigos filósofos gregos, acho que foi o Plato. É um mito desde o início.

[@simongross3122]

I like this guy. I can't understand his language, but his passion is obvious.

[@romarioviegas5040]

True

[@jessiecaruana9268]

The parallel canals on the Azores are fascinatingly similar to the ones (called "cart ruts")in Malta where I live! Could there be a link.... I also enjoyed listening to the original language, Portuguese.

[@prsimoibn2710]

What does caruana mean?

[@jessiecaruana9268]

@@prsimoibn2710 As far as I know is derived from the arabic word for "caravan" meaning a camel caravan. The surname seems to exist in Spain too due to Moorish presence in the country. It is rather common in Malta.

[@prsimoibn2710]

@@jessiecaruana9268 I thought you're Maltese, but thanks for the explanation , in Malta there's an even greater Arabic influence on the language and family names..👌

[@tiagogomes3807]

They are the same width, so they are related. By now we can say with a great degree of certainty the Minoan Civilization was the One who spread the knowledge and culture across the Mediterranean and, as it seems, beyond.

[@pedroferrr1412]

@@prsimoibn2710Do you mean "caravana" or "carruagem" , both could mean a car(carriage) pushed by bulls or horses. I do not know "caruana" word, Portuguese here.

[@TheBlaqOrder]

If similar structures are in Malta then my guess is that the Azores were an ancient Phoenician stopping point on their way to the Americas with a small colony there to keep things ticking over.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

Logical. Or a convoy of ships from Malta got stuck there?? The local people probably had legends that are now lost.

[@vyvienvp3413]

I love it when there is a new discovery, a new mystery relating to our planet and humanity. Kept thinking what tools might have been employed to cut all this rock, shape the huge anchors, and rather beautiful round pools?

[@absalomdraconis]

Honestly, probably just other bits of rock. As I recall, "tuff" is _not_ very "tough", but instead quite easy to work.

[@Pistolero007]

Atlantis

[@tiagogomes3807]

​@@absalomdraconisthe anchors are nor turf!

[@_Painted]

I think the Azores were not permanently inhabited, but various ancient peoples had myths of certain "blessed isles" in the Atlantic, where particularly honorable dead went in the afterlife. The Romans, Greeks, and Celts have similar myths. The Romans in particular wrote about these islands as if they were completely real, but required a dangerous several days of sailing in the open Atlantic west of Hispania. I think it's possible that various ancient people, such as the Romans, Greeks, Celts, and possibly Phoenicians and Vikings, visited the Azores but never established lasting settlements. I think some of the ruins may be sites created for the ceremonial interment of honored dead, but that leaves the question of where those remains are now unless if the sites were never used after their construction. [Actually, it makes sense that the remains simply washed/blew away over time if they were cremated.]

[@sl4074]

These people were from North Africa and are called Guanches they settled mostly in canary islands and some reached as far as Bahamas, when Colombus reached Bahamas (Guanahani) The people he first met named Lucayan were Guanches he even wrote in his memoirs that they looked the same. They went extinct one decade after contact with Europeans mostly sold as slaves. The same people reached Azores and also other islands in the carribean where they mixed up with arawak people. This is history and I belive it suppressed by the west as it would show that an African people reached the new world decades before the Spanish. I am writing a book about this called the Real history of america and it will be out in two years. This is the truth and one day we will all know it. Do your research and you can connect the dots

[@_Painted]

@@sl4074 As long as you're motivated by a genuine desire to seek truth, and not hate, I wish you well on your book. Just so you know though, there was a successful genetic testing of Lucayan remains in 2018, and it found that they were closely related to indigenous tribes of Brazil. I think the similarities in appearance to Guanches was likely because they lived at similar latitudes with similar climates and solar exposure, so had similar amounts of skin pigmentation. Columbus was probably not very good at telling non-Europeans apart (he did think he had traveled to the east Indes afterall).

[@philmckenna5709]

@Painted You just laid a large dollop of rationality on this 🤡. He won't be able to handle it.

[@JohnSmith-tl8pq]

@@sl4074 You have no evidence, only conjecture. Also why would Europeans care about this supposed group reaching North America before the Spanish? The Vikings arrived in North America 500 years earlier!

[@sl4074]

@@JohnSmith-tl8pq i know europeans only care about money not history... thats why they destroyed so much of it

[@CursedDepartmentEastOffice]

This reminds me of how the Canary Islands, during the 15th century, was discovered by the Portugese to have a native population called the Guanches. They were related to the mainland Berbers. But 1000 years before that, in the 5th century BCE, the great Carthaginian civilization discovered the islands...but found the islands to be uninhabited. The only thing there was ruins of great buildings. Makes you wonder about the true indigenous peoples in the area, the ones who originally settled there first before everyone else.

[@tiagogomes3807]

How do you know if the Carthagians found it unhabited or not?

[@monorau4888]

Finally this is getting the attention it deserves! There are more studies prooving this. Some published by a large number of Universities. Having read Professor Felix Rodrigues work, witch is truly fascinating (and backed up by other Phds in archaeology like Nuno Ribeiro And Anabela Joaquinito), a lot is not being said here. The evidence is very solid. Look it up.

[@prsimoibn2710]

Have someone traced the link between Dilmun and Azures yet?

[@ProfessorTravis]

I need more convincing. A physicist trying to convince me of archaeological prehistory without isotopic dates is definitely a red flag. And if they've got them, why in the world wasn't it talked about in this video. This smells of a conclusion looking for evidence. Instead of evidence, providing a conclusion.

[@donaldbaker1554]

having been to the Azores in 1958, I found it a Fascinating place The Stone shown was more than likely an Anchor for a very small fishing Boat Then The Main crop to support their Society was the Pineapple. I have some wonderful pictures of the Island and for heating and Lighting they had been using Whale oil The Women stood on the Coastal hills and made Wailing noises as well as pointing in the Direction the Whales were moving from and to while the Whale Hunters took directions to follow the Whales and Spear them. Once Harvested the Whales were Flenced. They were then boiled down for their Oil I have pictures of the cliffs and can remember the Bus Driver when he told us the Story of the process

[@ValdemarDeMatos]

Maybe you could publish these photos with the comments somewhere

[@breezybeautiful34]

My ancestors were whale hunters, PICO and FAIAL. :)

[@tiagogomes3807]

Wow. That should have felt as time travel!

[@christiandaly4281]

The rabbit hole of Graham Hancock-Esque ancient history has just kept getting deeper

[@dido.the.side.h0646]

its not that ground breaking to suggest people lived on the azores before the 15th century... there's more isolated islands in the pacific inhabited at that time

[@drdrai7479]

The Azores is such a fascinating place, I really hope I get a chance to visit.

[@GVUEpi]

At times I feel like we are the only civilization in history that was lost while it still exists.

[@Jetmab04]

❤ Exactly - well written 🤗

[@aaronjennings8385]

The fact that the Portuguese got there by boat suggests others from Portugal got there by boat... only much earlier.

[@cholst1]

I read about this about a decade ago, so weird that it's suddenly popping up everywhere now.

[@manukumsharma2812]

Great insight.I hope further research will enable us to understand more about the civilisation indepth.

[@brianvittachi6869]

Fascinating. Thank you for the upload.

[@Ollie2846]

Once again we learn how little we know about the planet we live on. Why is it so difficult for people to understand the planet was inhabited long before written history. They probably were to busy trying to survive to write anything down. Or it was lost or destroyed over the years by other civilizations who inhabited the area. As with most origins it's all just speculation. Super interesting. I'd watch a full length documentary on the island.

[@jeanlundi2141]

We are raised ti never question academia, and academia control what is taught in school. That's how these taboos are created. A kid can't question what he learns in school a young man or woman can't question what they learn in college. Not 'really'. We just calcify our data thinking it's actual facts.

[@sarahstrong7174]

It took some time to develop the art of writing & longer for the art to spread to more than very few academics.

[@invictusfarmer7188]

its called....learning.

[@miguel23fev]

Man be smoking weed all day

[@topcatcoast2coast579]

Maby a populace moved up to the mountains and made caves when the lowlands became uninhabitable? What about hydrostatic pressure and land bridges? Talk about voyages, not all are by sea. Makes you wonder about My.Olympus and the older pantheons, Mediterranean burial practices and anthropology.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Fascinating! I had read something but I was not aware of the wealth of the findings, which seem overwhelming and not just some random unexplained item. The dolmens are very characteristic and should date to at least c. 1000 BCE (i.e. 3000 years ago), when Dolmenism basically disappears in Western Europe (it may have lingered for longer in parts of North Africa, unsure), replaced by Iron Age (mostly cremation) new forms of individualized burials (which may or not be represented by the columbaria (I'm aware of Roman columbaria but not aboriginal West European ones).

[@stephanieyee9784]

This was a very interesting and informative video. I love this type of content and could happily watch stories like this all day.

[@d.mac-6193]

My family comes from the Azores, and I have visited many times over the years. I have seen the "cart ruts" described in this video on the island of Pico as well. I always thought it was odd when I saw them as they don't seem to serve any modern purpose.

[@samfibrofox]

Randall Carlson says the azores is the most likely location for atlantis love this insight into the fact that most of our world history is forgotten x fascinating more pls 😍

[@tiagogomes3807]

Randall Carlson is a dumbass. Greeks called the Ocean the River Okeanus. So the sea in wich Atlantis lies can not be the Ocean.

[@iainsutherland1113]

The caves with the square recesses cut into the walls look more like they were used to encourage nesting birds. You see similar type things in Italy and France and were used to collect eggs or the birds themselves as a food source.

[@tamerebel]

In Cappadocia, Turkey holes like that were used for pigeons which fertilised the land. But since they used typological methods they probably know better what they were used for.

[@Heopful]

Great observation!

[@tiagogomes3807]

That's where the name comes from. But it's known they are much older and had other purpose.

[@ayachan7]

"I can't live with doubts. I need to answer them." - Dr. Rodriguez These simple words are the reason for my admiration for this type of people, an inspiration i find daily from people. I hope he lives longer with good health.

[@HF06]

Rodrigues*

[@Nilguiri]

Muito interesante. I had no idea about this; really fascinating. More like this from the BBC, please!

[@sandiicx3]

I was in Madeira last year which is close to the Azores. It is such a magical and lush place. I mean we never ate at restaurants because the vegetables and fruits that we bought there were the best we ever had. Everything grows there. From bananas to Papayas to even Avocados. Not to mention all the waterfalls and mountains/hills... If there ever was a place like Atlantis, it must have been in that region for sure.

[@ivosilva8747]

I think you're confused about the location. Madeira is to the south near the African coast. Azores is located thousands of miles away from everything, between the Iberian peninsula and the Americas.

[@essential.technology]

Only 960km of distance. Both places could have been once part of the same island nation.@@ivosilva8747

[@Jetmab04]

😊 Next time, you should definitely visit the Azores. They are wonderful and yes, kind of magic. Everything in this documentary makes so much sense - thanks!! I was there twice this year, managed to visit 4 of 9 islands and, I'll be back...probably many times...so, so much to be discovered in these islands and yes, all the fruit and vegetables - absolutely perfect 💓!!

[@tiagogomes3807]

Atlantis, if it existed, wasn't in the Ocean. It would have been in the Atlantio Sea. Wherever that was. But definitely not in the Ocean as greeks used Okeanus River to refer to the open ocean wich they knew circled the planet.

[@essential.technology]

@@tiagogomes3807 Incorrect. Do not make up things and read Plato.

[@wetbobspongepants]

There was also a story of a statue found by the first explores of someone on a horse pointing towards the west.

[@tiagopaim3060]

There was not

[@tiagogomes3807]

​@@tiagopaim3060the history exists. Told by Damião de Góis, the official historian of the portuguese crown. He tells the King sent an "expert" to the island to study the statue. It was decided to transport the statue to the mainland, it broke in pieces before being put in a ship sailing to Lisbon and was presented to the King. What happened afterwards no one knows. Damião de Góis was an extremely reputed man. There is no reason to doubt what he wrote. He built the crown archives!! Which sadly burned during the 1755 earthquake.

[@markusmeldre]

6:40 Azores looks so lush, beautiful and lively.

[@michelemarr76]

Wow! This is amazing! I'm fascinated by this! Thank you from US.

[@markeddowes1467]

As an archaeologist more detail of the horizontal stone stacking in the megaliths would have been interesting…..

[@luism.raposo5138]

My dear Mom was born in Açores and my dad in São Miguel. Me? I was born in South Africa Angola Malanje in 1971. I'm proud to be Portuguese and living in my beautiful California, U.S.A. Good video. I subscribed to your channel. I been learning a lot from your channel. Thank you and God bless.

[@RuiPedroRocha]

Well, which is it? South Africa or Angola?

[@HF06]

​@@RuiPedroRochaHe's quantic, he was born in two places at the same time.

[@RuiPedroRocha]

@@HF06 😅

[@antonioazevedo2363]

The quality of BBC is unquestionable! They actually did a report on azorean archeology and they didn't interview a single Azorean archaeologist. Bravo!

[@grammarlings6517]

It's an 8 minute piece on Félix Rodrigues of the University of the Azores's theory.

[@snailrancher]

@@grammarlings6517 He’s a physicist, not an archaeologist. Yes, he’s asking some interesting questions and making some reasonable conclusions, but he’s no more qualified to properly investigate this than an archaeologist is qualified to go research physics. For example, an archaeologist would know that a piece of ceramic could be investigated as to where it was made based on its fabric (local? Import?), perhaps identify the culture (or its relatives) that made it, and also know about techniques for dating it, and that’s just a start. Did he compare any of this material besides the anchors to sites in the Canaries, Iberia, or North Africa? Does he know about the relevant publications? He may, but an archaeologist certainly would.

[@grammarlings6517]

@@snailrancher I think that's a very reasonable criticism - but there are also some counterbalances. He might be very good at dating given that he is a physicist - I don't know. He also is in the agriculture department?? so perhaps he does have an idea of archaeology. But I agree that his findings are purely anecdotal so far - it all should be thoroughly peer reviewed. As for him not being an archaelogist... there is actually a hidden benefit here - sometimes fields get caught in established 'facts'. I wonder about these stone anchors because sure the big ships use metal anchors, but what about the smaller boats for landing. The whole thing might be total nonsense. I'd look forward to the findings.

[@007LvB]

Most archeologists would deny these theories as hogwash - would they not?

[@ProfessorTravis]

@@grammarlings6517 " he might be very good at dating" Yes, he should be very aware of isotopic dating. Yet we have none in this whole video.

[@bungeechord1]

We sometimes underestimate the abilities of our distant relatives.

[@philbowflaggon8363]

Those "basins" remind me of Roman latrines. And they flush to the sea as the gentleman pointed out.

[@LuisAldamiz]

I thought the same but almost certainly not. The ritual libation space sounds very likely.

[@philbowflaggon8363]

@@LuisAldamiz I agree.

[@MrPortugal871]

There are similar structures like these on the azorean Island of São Miguel. Félix Rodrigues says it is from Phoenician architecture

[@LuisAldamiz]

Phoenicians did not build dolmens. The columbaria might be (or not) but the dolmens are of West European (Vasconic) or NW African (Berber) origin.

[@bottytoohotty]

@@LuisAldamiz Korea have an extraordinary amount of dolmens . Its too hard to say where they originate from .

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@bottytoohotty - The closest links are in Caucasus, Syria and India (the former two are older, the latter contemporary). I have some blurry memories of reading something about a possible trail of some sort via Central Asia but don't take my word on this.

[@jeksixten5751]

@@LuisAldamiz Berber maybe

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@jeksixten5751 - It's a possibility but I lean for a more maritime oriented group: the (proto-)Tartessians of SW Iberia, incl. most of modern mainland Portugal, who had civilizations in Portugal itself (VNSP and others) first and later in West Andalusia (Tartessos, documented by the Phocaeans/Massilians and probably destroyed by the Phoenicians) and who reached history as semi-civilized "tribes" (Turdetani, Turduli, Conii, etc.) Dolmens and other megalithic structures (tholoi very notably) in Tamazgha (NW Africa, ancient Lybia) are mostly found in what is now Algeria (although this may be a research bias), which is not so directly oriented to the Ocean. Also we don't see historically (or even in prehistory, with the Canarian exception) Berbers being very active at seafaring, not until the (ethnically complex) Barbary Pirates period (Modern Age). When they are accounted for among the "Sea Peoples" in Egypt, they always seem to invade via land, the strict "sea peoples" are others (anyhow "sea peoples" is a modern moniker, Egyptians did not use that expression: even if *some* "sea peoples" are described as coming from "the sea" or from "their islands").

[@thecrazygamer333]

I really believe this is clues to more subtle evidence of prehistorical human civilizations that were advanced in thought,culture,agriculture,sea navigation, and spanned globally. The thoughts on Malta connect much with Graham Hancock and his theories

[@doomsdaybooty1072]

Similar ancient cart ruts in Malta, running from land under water, implying potentially that they were made when sea level was lower

[@CrackinJacks138]

Those same rock anchors with the holes are all over the coasts of florida as well

[@udontknowme7798]

The Vikings must have been in the Azores, I saw some old maps from the Norse Viking era 793- 1066, and 7 Islands was far out in the Atlantic on the oldest map, two was probably not found from the map dated around 800. But on a map from 1030, then 9 islands did show, plus Madeira that also was on the first one. But Madeira is closer to the mainland

[@persimmontea6383]

The Viking presence has pretty much been confirmed. They even have shown that the wild mice on the islands have DNA most like Scandinavian mice!

[@tiagogomes3807]

Wich map?!... I would like to see a viking map 😂😂

[@havingalook2]

Fascinating. Well done.

[@benmckinney2941]

Really interesting and the Azores look amazing.

[@4npushap352]

Now that I live in Terceira, I plan to visit those unique locations 😁

[@roses9339]

We of the modern world believe the ancients were uncivilized and ignorant. With all the knowledge that exists now, experts still can't work out how megalithic rocks were moved, carved etc. It's an extremely interesting subject, I'm 72 yrs and I don't think I'll see the answers before I leave this earthly plain. Rosemary

[@slugogoodrich5573]

I lived on terceria island for a few years, my dad was stationed at lajes field AFB. Beautiful place, awesome video ❤️

[@mariadaluzmoutinho5701]

E incrível ..conheço os Açores possuidora de deslumbrantes paisagens naturais enquadradas entre a paisagem terrestre e marítimas, mas não conhecia estes mistérios em volta desta ilha...Este investigador é uma fonte de procura e de conhecimento ...Estes quebra cabeças das civilizações antigas ...dão ânimo para a busca do saber do que os moveu para serem tão precisos e concisos nas suas formas de vida!! Excelente aprendizagem e o escrutínio do culto ao sol a água às pedras e à morte!! Mais uma civilização perdida... cheia de enigmas por encontrar!!

[@davidpulidomendoza1026]

Doesn't it look like the ancient structures and caves found in the Canary Islands?

[@emanubiz2040]

Also in Italy!

[@jeanlundi2141]

Atlantis colonies?

[@LuisAldamiz]

Not really. There's no dolmenism in Canary Islands.

[@-Vektron]

This is incredible!

[@tepidtuna7450]

How much we think we know, and as we learn more, we discover how much we do not know. Fascinating.

[@Miamcoline]

Very cool. Well done and thank you for this.

[@this-abledtheextravertedhe5299]

I can’t believe it’s taken this long for people to pay attention 🤷‍♀️

[@Rodrigues-xg3ln]

Igreja católica é a resposta para a seu comentário

[@HM-mw7cg]

Particularly interesting in light of Graham Hanckock's ideas

[@hthring]

yes , likely why trending

[@droomonsta]

Malta has carved tracks as well, with the sides measuring 110-140 cm, so the centres would be almost identical to these. Dated 3800-2500BC.

[@sugarfree1894]

These structures can't have been constructed by people merely passing through. This must have taken, literally, ages.

[@taterkaze9428]

Never underestimate the ancients. They were more sophisticated than we think. If they weren't, we wouldn't be here.

[@nick_0]

Yes, from 2000 years from now they might say the same about us

[@PedroOrtega1993]

@@nick_0 Provided we humans last for another 2000 years or more.

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

...because all the non-sophisticated species died out. Wait, what? Moron.

[@007LvB]

​@@PedroOrtega1993 We are nearing a tipping point, with the progress in technology and artificial intelligence. A great cataclysm could set us back. If there are people in 2000 years pondering this question, that would indicate a cataclysm. Otherwise, given the rate of growth, humans will probably merge with AI to create a new species of hybrid biology and machine, and the contributions of our current civilization would be so small and meaningless that they wouldn't even be considered. I think.

[@IrinaSilveira]

Fascinating video! I'm azorean, but I had no idea. I always had some questions about our past!

[@morgan97475]

On Malta, I understand that some of those mysterious tracks continue into the sea. Is that case on this island as well? Has any research been done just off the coasts of the Azores islands to see if any tracks/ structures can be identified...? Very interesting video.

[@elizabeth_777]

There is no way the Mediterranean was as busy as it was to not have someone venture out to see what was beyond the straights of Gibraltar. My Grandson’s father’s family is from the Azores as was my mother in law. ………..beautiful people 🥰

[@alexanderren1097]

There's mounting evidence that most of the Azores Plateau (currently underwater) was above sea level during the last Ice Age. This means the Azores would have been a significantly larger island/island complex compared to what's left of it today. This was nearly all submerged around 9600 B.C. at the end of the Younger Dryas and last stages of the Ice Age when sea levels rose by approx. 300m. Coincidentally, 9600 B.C. is the date Plato gives for the subsidence of Atlantis but I'm sure that's completely unrelated...

[@PK1312]

you're right! it IS completely unrelated. good job using basic critical thinking skills

[@alexanderren1097]

@@PK1312 Ok bot

[@007LvB]

I don't think it's unrelated. Graham Hancock is likely right, and I think he will be proven right as more and more people are beginning to ponder his findings and perform excavations instead of being in denial. Let's entertain the thought that there was an advanced civilization that abruptly ended 12800 years ago. How did humanity recover so fast, basically going from primitive hunter-gatherers to doing advanced masonry, without the help of this ancient civilization? And if that is the case, how did that ancient civilization help humanity if it was completely extinct? Okay so it did not go completely extinct. Clearly a small part of it survived, and then gradually died out, or spent their remaining energy merging together with the rest of humanity. As an ending note: There is NO way that Plato would have been aware of an ice age, or of comets from outer space. The date is too much of a coincidence to be pure imagination. Btw. the ancient greeks also measured the circumference of our planet - was it also coincidence that they managed to get really close? And how would they suddenly get the means and the knowledge to do so, when in the rest of the world people were hitting each other with wooden branches?

[@PK1312]

@@007LvB it is an allegory

[@007LvB]

@@PK1312 You make a case, but not an argument. Progress requires two components: Rational thought, and an open mind.

[@antimatterhorn]

"No four-legged animal can drink water below its paws." Say what now? *Every* four-legged animal drinks water at a level below its feet. And besides, those pools look almost exactly like latrines and that they empty out into the ocean is pretty good evidence that's exactly what they were.

[@brierobinson194]

Im originally from sao miguel azores. I live now in florida! These islands are beautiful Simply breathtaking!!

[@augustwolf_2256]

This was an amazing video! I had always wondered if the ancients had managed to get to the Azores or were at least aware of the islands, the Gauche people got the Canaries, while the Carthaginians exploration of the Atlantic went as far south as Guinea. I suspect the islands may have been settled by the Phoenicians at some point as that structure that the scientist believed was funery in nature is similar to the ones built by the Phoenicians in Carthage and elsewhere, who cremated their dead. this video is so though provoking, wonderful stuff.

[@monty58]

It's unfortunate that Rome so thoroughly destroyed the Phoenicians, because it seems like they were an incredibly advanced maritime culture for the time. They could've had expeditions way farther than our current estimates, and we have no real way of knowing anymore.

[@absalomdraconis]

@@monty58 : The Phoenicisns proper had been done in before Rome got to them, as they were actually from the Fertile Crescent. Carthage was really more of a child civilization by that point.

[@monty58]

@@absalomdraconis the second punic war is why they became a child empire. They had an army running around Rome's door step sacking villages. The romans forbidding their possession of a navy after they won the 2nd was probably what killed their off shore territories, if I were to hazard a guess.

[@TheBlaqOrder]

That's what I thought too

[@therealunclevanya]

The "relheiras" are found all over the World, in Malta, Turkey and as far as China. Nobody can explain them in those locations either. The Maltese ones are both above water and well below in area not above the Sea since the Younger Dryas Extinction Level Event some 12000 years ago.

[@jennymay4720]

Could they have been to do with water:?

[@StuffandThings_]

@@jennymay4720 Huh, now I'm wondering if ancient peoples noticed the sea level rising and tracked it. After all, in Japan people marked out tsunami high water lines to warn future generations of the danger. I'm sure the ones above water could be explained by tracking river levels or rain or something else.

[@Liethen]

@@jennymay4720 I always figured they were to channel rainwater to a cistern. Though if that were the case someone would probably have found such a hole. But getting a reliable source of fresh water on an island can be tricky, so maybe?

[@asinelliplatamona8348]

Fascinating 🙌

[@Benjamin-mh8ei]

"halls of amenti" is described as having tiny flames all up in the wall. Looks like what that room could have been. A room filled with candles on the wall seems to pop in many stories.

[@1ACL]

Someone needs to dive in the surrounding ocean. If there was an ancient civilization there, there might be evidence under the sea (due to "recent" sea level rise).

[@LuisAldamiz]

Not likely at all. Atlantis was in what is now Portugal (mainland, just west of Torres Vedras).

[@JesseValentine]

This has been done, and there is some evidence.

[@1ACL]

@@LuisAldamiz there are many remains of civilizations under the sea all over the world, not just about Atlantis. Off the coast of India, Cuba, S. America, Japan.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@1ACL - All of them are not just dubious but fake news. I'm familiar with some like the Bimini "highway" and it's nothing but a natural formation. It's like imagining the Everest is a "pyramid"...

[@Adil_Turysbek]

@@LuisAldamiz Well, Atlantis was an Empire (Plato said there were 10 kingdoms). But we are really interested in the Capital city.

[@luisoutono2633]

Uma dica a uma questão do Dr. Félix Rodrigues : Sítios como o de Açores são encontrados iguais (como Malta) ou semelhantes, em (América)Brasil , Perú, Bolívia, Guatemala, México, (Europa) Inglaterra, França, Portugal, Italia , Turquia (Médio Oriente) Iraque, Irã, (Ásia) Vietnam, China, India, Coreia do Sul, (África) Sudão, Egito, Moçambique e também lugares muito remotos como Eastern Islands ou Ilha de Páscoa. Ou seja, quem detinha o conhecimento do fácil corte de pedras e a capacidade de erguer e transportar imensas rochas, tinha também a condição de estar em diferentes pontos do planeta a ponto de poderem executar tais tarefas. Quem teria esta capacidade há pelo menos 4, 5 ou 10 mil anos atrás ?

[@tiagofreitas1976]

O que é um irã ?

[@alexandrehermano1610]

Atlântida, supostamente.

[@FelipeDacalFragoso]

@@tiagofreitas1976 Irã seria o país Irão. Em português do Brasil escreve-se Irã. :)

[@tiagofreitas1976]

@@FelipeDacalFragoso ou seja... Continuam a ir buscar ao inglês as palavras... Iran =irã... É como dizer corner em vez de canto ou dizer celular etcetc. Imitam os americanos que sempre os vão lixar porque não querem deixar o Brasil crescer e tornar se um rival geoestratégico. Nisso o Brasil e o seu fascínio pelos EUA é simplesmente um comportamento de corno manso.

[@luisoutono2633]

@@tiagofreitas1976O país. Escreve-se de maneiras diversas. Iran, Irão, etc....

[@ILoveEvadingTax]

there's still so much we don't know about Iberian bronze-era civilisations, but what they find always seems to be so advanced

[@zaaohound4055]

Wow. This is amazing

[@mnk9073]

The Azores were repeatedly sighted by sailors who did the so called "Volta do mar" exploiting the North Atlantic Gyre to quickly return from the west African coast and the canary islands back to the Iberian peninsula. Earlier arrivals must have been largely accidental since the navigational knowledge to reliably and repeatedly reach a location as remote as the Azores is realtively young. Since there are Phoenician activities recorded on the Canaries and the West African coast it is possible that some of their ships got caught in the North Atlantic Gyre leading to the temporary population of the islands, if I am not mistaken some punic coins have been found on the Azores dating to the 4th or 3rd century BC but those could as well be just from shipwrecked sailors.

[@samuranga8537]

I think ancient sea travel was a more advanced than we think. Have you seen maps before the 1600s that have Antarctica in its exact location along with other maps show islands that have not been above water since the ice age

[@mnk9073]

@@samuranga8537 That has been debunked 100 times by now...

[@mnk9073]

@Proteuzeumzone Sailing up and down the coast as Hanno did is something completely different than hitting a needle in a haystack like the Azores. Also Heyerdahl proved it was theoretically possible to reach Polynesia from Peru (by drifting, the Kon Tiki was literally unsteerable) but his theory of the settlement has nontheless been refuted by recent genetical analysis.

[@HawaiiLimey]

The immediate assumption is that the tracks were caused through wear. I have a different hypothesis in that they may have been formed to accommodate the insertion of rails made of a dense wood meaning that they were replaceable.

[@HawaiiLimey]

Also Graham Hancock will once again be talking to Joe Rogan on the 11th November together with Randall Carlson.

[@deedorothypapineau6920]

Archeology has always fascinated me. What a beautiful place to be.

[@don_peter]

Looks like he found an ancient cemetery. That's pretty crazy and awesome

[@tylerweston7981]

Everyone of those islands. All the way from the coast of California even off the coast of Florida. Allllllll the wayyyyyyyy to easter Island. Seriously. Look into all the islands of Oceania independently and you will find some crazy stuff..

[@LS-kg6my]

Definitely think there were ancient mariners who reached the island. However, the reset of his interpretation of an elaborate funerary and sacred waters doesn’t hang together. I would look for a much more pragmatic reason for all this work

[@jamespaw742]

This documentary provides some groundwork for this enigmatic site. Perhaps BBC should organized a multidisciplinary scientific team to investigate the site so that its real historical significance can be revealed and appreciated.

[@GreggsOverEZ]

There's a Nat Geo doc that theorizes the Atlantis myth is derived from a near stone age sea faring people from the island of Sardinia. The buildings of concentric circles, stone anchors, and some ruins still remain while some remnants are found under water near the coast. The Azores were the furthest west area that similar features.

[@Psionetics]

During the Bronze Age collapse one of the groups of Sea People was described by the Egyptians as the "Sherden" which many scholars believe implies Sardinia was their homeland. Don't overlook the Phoenicians either, they founded Carthage after all and very likely visited the Canary Islands. The Canaries sit at the entrance to the trade winds that carry ships Westward across the Atlantic.

[@MarcosOliveira-kq6it]

As ilhas dos Açores são os cumes mais altos da grande massa terrestre que era o centro da antiga civilização chamada Atlantida. Existe já muita investigação séria e científica sobre isto. Por exemplo aqui no KZbin : "The Empires of Atlantis/ Marco Vigato".

[@JAG8691]

Mid Atlantic Ridge - MAR.

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

Yes, I was looking for this comment.🐝🤗❤️

[@brunoromeu1483]

Lolol

[@ALV000]

LOL

[@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus]

Complete and utter nonsense. Tinfoil hat levels of science. Um completo e absoluto absurdo. Níveis de chapéu de papel alumínio da ciência.

[@TheQuangBang]

My first thought was it reminds me of the structures on Malta, could not believe it when they showed the tracks later in the video!

[@hardtohandle850]

My ancestors are from the Azores, I recently had my DNA analyzed and I have traces of DNA from Egypt and the Levant. So this is extremely interesting!

[@davehayes5969]

i lived in terceira for 5 years in the 70's because my father was in the c.i.a. and the island has a lot of gov. sneaky crap going on... my bros and sister found theses buildings and explored most of them.... just thought i would share that... so yeah...

[@nickisashkir]

This is so cool! Also it makes me wonder when the Portuguese found the islands if natives still existed. Records get lost easily. Things as simple as disease could've killed them off, or a rogue group that killed them off as well and destroyed what remained of them. I'm going to visit the Azores next year! Looking forward to it!

[@redtobertshateshandles]

I'm a white Australian. No, they murdered and enslaved them. That's what humans do.

[@HF06]

No, the islands were uninhabited when the Portuguese settled them. If there was a civilisation or some sort of settling before the Portuguese, it seems that they had an unfortunate brutal end.

[@Xanaseb]

Surprised basically no one has mentioned Graham Hancock's series Ancient Apocalypse. Connects quite nicely

[@robertwood9939]

Very nice! Thank you!

[@paulorrmorais3697]

Azores! Is the evidence of the big island of Atlantida, that Plato wrote in Timeu and Critias.

[@crazyjay6331]

If you want to know how the Azores could relate to the story of Atlantis then look up Randall Carlson.

[@EpicNinjaSkillzz]

I second this - he is a Geologist who has studied the Azores as the location of Atlantis for 25+ years, also analysing Plato's dialogues 'Timaeus and Critias' to backup the geological evidence. He has over 10 hours of videos covering the topic on his channel, as well as a condensed playlist of the key parts! Definitely worth a watch, his theory is utterly compelling

[@lausdeo4944]

This 100%

[@userytx]

It's pseudo history

[@crazyjay6331]

@@userytx only to people who are brainwashed into believing there were no civilisations back then. Even though there is a tsunami of undeniable proof to the contrary, and riding the tsunami is an army of scientists, geologists, stone mansions, historians etc... that I trust far more than those government funded smithsonian shitpeddlers that spit lies to continue receiving a paycheck.

[@lausdeo4944]

@@userytx That's an unfair assessment. It's speculative, and Carlson himself acknowledges that. There are problems with our understanding of ancient history, and there are people trying to correct said problems. But they keep getting shot down as "pseudo historians."