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VIKINGS

Why not all Vikings were blond-haired and blue-eyed

In the popular imagination, the Viking warriors who plundered northern Europe from the 8th century were as tall, fair and Scandinavian as they were murderous. In fact, according to a new study, they were far more diverse than previously thought.

Published: 18 September 2020 09:30 CEST
Why not all Vikings were blond-haired and blue-eyed
People at a recreation of Viking games in Denmark in 2013. Photo: Torkil Adsersen/Ritzau Scanpix

The study, published in the journal Nature this week, highlights the genetic diversity found in Scandinavia at the time of the Vikings who hailed from present-day Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Ashot Margaryan, a lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, who co-authored the study, told AFP that they had also found that the seaborne raiders “were not all of them Scandinavian.”

Owing to migration from mainly southern and eastern Europe, “Viking Scandinavia had more dark-haired people than present-day Scandinavia,” he explained, while adding that Vikings were indeed blond in their majority.

The researchers analysed 442 bone fragments from between the 8th and 12th century from all over Europe.

The data showed that there was a significant intermingling of bones in southern Scandinavia at that time, in part as a result of trade but, according Margaryan, also slavery, according to the researcher.

The study also confirmed previous research on where the Vikings and their ancestors settled overseas.

The ancestors of the Norwegians mainly went to Ireland, Iceland and Greenland, those of the Swedes to the current Baltic countries, while the Danes at the time showed up in Scotland and England.

READ ALSO: The Anglo-Saxons were more menacing than the Vikings, and the English language can prove it 

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VIKINGS

Danish treasure discovery could yield new knowledge of pre-Viking people

An amateur archeologist has found 22 gold objects with sixth century symbols that could yield new details about pre-Viking peoples in Denmark, the museum that will house the treasure said on Monday.

Published: 6 September 2021 16:53 CEST
Danish treasure discovery could yield new knowledge of pre-Viking people
An unrelated illustration photo from an earlier discovery showing Saxon, Ottonian, Danish and Byzantine coins. STEFAN SAUER / DPA / AFP

Some of the objects have runic motifs and inscriptions which may refer to the rulers of the time, but also recall Norse mythology, Mads Ravn, director of research at the Vejle museums in western Denmark, told AFP.

“It is the symbols on the items that makes them unique, more than the quantity found,” according to Ravn, who said the treasure weighed about one kilogram.

One piece even refers to the Roman emperor Constantine from the early 4th century, said Ravn.

“The find consists of a lot of gold items, including a medallion the size of a saucer,” Ravn added.

According to initial examinations, the treasure could have been buried as an offering to the gods at a chaotic time when the climate in northern Europe dramatically turned colder after a volcanic eruption in Iceland in 536 sent ash clouds into the sky.

“They have many symbols, some of which have not been seen before, which will enable us to enlarge our knowledge of the people of this period,” he said.

The treasure was found near Jelling in southwestern Denmark, which historians say became a cradle for kings of the Viking-age which lasted between the 8th and 12th centuries.

The treasure will be on display at the museum in Vejle from February 2022

The amateur archeologist using a metal detector found the treasure about six months ago but the news was only disclosed now.

READ ALSO: DNA analysis reunites Viking relatives in Denmark after 1,000 years 

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