New study finds Romans were the first to find the Canary Islands

The Romans were the first to discover the uninhabited Canary Islands in the first century of the modern era, according to a new study.

Research from the universities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and La Laguna de Tenerife, led by historian Jonathan Santana, claims that the Romans were the first to discover the islands, but it was North African Berber people who later colonised the islands between the first and third centuries.  

Talking to Canarias7, Santana said that the Romans may have passed knowledge of the existence of the islands on to Amazigh peoples in North Africa, who later arrived to colonise the islands. The first island to be settled was Lanzarote, with the others following over the next 200 years.

Santana claims that the absence of Roman remains on the eastern islands, where Berber remains have been found, shows that the Berber peoples had adapted to coastal living, mastering sailing and fishing.