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They may have had a reputation for trade, braids, and fearsome raids, but the Vikings were far from a single group of blond-haired Scandinavians and sailors.
A genetic study of human remains from the Viking era has not only confirmed that Vikings from different parts of Scandinavia set sail for different parts of the world, but has revealed that dark hair was more common among Vikings than it is among Danes today.
What’s more, while some were born Vikings, others adopted the culture, or perhaps imposed it on them.
“Vikings were not limited to blonde Scandinavians,” said Professor Eske Willerslev, a co-author of the research from the University of Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen.
Writing in the journal Nature, Willerslev and his colleagues report how they sequenced the genomes of 442 humans who lived in Europe between approximately 2400 BC. C. and 1,600 d. C., most of the Viking era, a period that lasted from around 750 AD. C. until 1050 d. C.
The study also drew on existing data from more than 1,000 ancient individuals from non-Viking times and from 3,855 people living today.
Among their results, the team found that from the Iron Age, genes from southern Europe entered Denmark and then spread northward, while, to a lesser extent, genes from Asia entered Sweden.
“Vikings, genetically, are not purely Scandinavian,” Willerslev said.
However, the team found that the Scandinavians of the Viking Age were not a uniform population, but rather clustered into three main groups, a finding that suggests that Vikings from different parts of Scandinavia did not mix much. .
The team found that these groups are roughly mapped to present-day Scandinavian countries, although the Vikings of southwestern Sweden were genetically similar to their counterparts in Denmark. Genetic diversity was higher in coastal regions.
Further analysis confirmed the long-held view that the majority of the Vikings in England came from Denmark, as reflected in the place names and historical records, while the Baltic region was dominated by Swedish Vikings, and Vikings. From Norway they ventured to Ireland, Iceland, Greenland and the Isle of Man.
However, the team says remnants from Russia revealed that some Vikings from Denmark also traveled east.
The study also revealed that the raids were likely a local matter: The team found that four brothers and one other relative were killed in Salme, Estonia, around AD 750, in what is believed to have been a raid, while others in the party were probably from the same part of Sweden.
Additionally, the team found two Orkney individuals, who were buried with Viking swords, did not have Scandinavian genetic ancestry.
“[Being a Viking] It is not a pure ethnic phenomenon, it is a lifestyle that you can adopt regardless of whether you are Scandinavian or Scandinavian, ”Willerslev said, adding that genetic influences from abroad both before and during the Viking era could help explain why the variants Dark hair genetics were relatively common among Vikings.
Dr Steve Ashby, an expert in Viking-age archeology at the University of York, said the study confirmed what was suspected about movement and trade in the Viking-era, but also provided new details.
“The evidence for gene flow with southern Europe and Asia is striking and fits well with recent research advocating large-scale connectivity in this period,” he said.
“[The study] it also provides new information on levels of contact and isolation within Scandinavia and offers interesting insight into the composition of assault groups. ”
But Judith Jesch, a professor of Viking studies at the University of Nottingham, said the study is unlikely to rewrite the history books.
“We have long since abandoned the more colorful folk myths about Vikings, and recent research has focused on the Viking age as a period of mobility, when the people of Scandinavia migrated in various directions, and often back, meeting and interacting with other towns. , languages and cultures in a process that I and others have called diaspora, ”he said.
Still, Jesch said the study offered food for thought. “Archaeologists have long suggested that many cultural ideas came to Scandinavia through the Danish gate, so it will be interesting to further discuss what this gene flow is. [from Denmark to Norway and Sweden] it means in terms of how culture spreads. Did it occur as a result of the movements of people or by some other process? “, Said.
