(Iceland)—It has long been believed that the first people to inhabit Iceland were the Norse settlers who arrived around the year 874 AD. However, the discovery of Christian crosses carved into man-made caves in the southern part of the island is offering evidence that Celtic-speaking people from Scotland and Ireland had come to Iceland around the beginning of the ninth century. (Photo: Seljalandshellar cave in the Westman Islands/by Kristjan Ahronson/via The Medievalists)

The research, according to a report in Medievalists News, is revealed in the book, Into the Ocean: Vikings, Irish, and Environmental Change in Iceland and the North, recently published by University of Toronto Press. Written by archaeologist Dr. Kristján Ahronson of Bangor University, it shows he found these cross markings in these caves which are very similar found in Scotland and Ireland.

Read the article “Early Iceland Settlers May Have Been Christians, Not Vikings” on believersstandunited.com.