The Vikings were one of the fiercest seafarers from Scandinavia between the 8th and 11th centuries. However, recent DNA evidence revealed that the term "Viking" was more complicated than that and extends to people beyond the Scandinavians.
A recent publication in the journal Nature reveals that the Viking title may have been for other people beyond Scandanavia as well. In 2008, skeletons of more than 40 men were found in Salme, Estonia, a small nation south of Finland. Experts dated their demise to around 750 C.E. in two ships containing weapons associated with Vikings and treasure that probably came from a raid.
DNA evidence showed that four of the men were brothers. The findings were part of a project to complete the DNA sequence of Vikings from all over Europe and how the influence of the Scandinavians spread throughout the entire continent.
Erika Hagelberg from the University of Oslo shared that the story of the Vikings in general "is in line with what's told by archaeologists and historians," but it's the specific details from "particular sites that are really compelling."
The site in Salme had evidence that the crew was a close group, likely from the same town or village. The four brothers were a particularly unique discovery, shared Cat Jarman from the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.
DNA Evidence of Vikings
For almost an entire decade, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen reviewed samples all over Scandinavia or the Nordic Countries in northern Europe. They analyzed the human remains from other areas in Europe that had Viking-like burials or goods as well.
"We approached every place where we could see there should exist somehow an association with Vikings," said geneticist Eske Willerslev, who led the team. The team sequenced a total of 442 Viking Age genomes between 750 C.E. and 1050 C.E. All the Viking evidence ranged all the way south in Italy, to Ukraine in the east and Greenland.
Evidence of the Viking title spreading throughout Europe is also seen in physical appearances, such as Viking Age Scandinavians most likely having black hair while modern-day Scandinavians have lighter-colored hair. Furthermore, Viking-style burials in the Orkney Islands belonged to people of Irish and Scottish descent instead of Scandinavian DNA.
In Norway, some of the Viking burials were associated with people from Indigenous groups in East Asia and Siberia, with no genetic relations to northern Europeans. The DNA evidence is undeniable.
Read Also: Ancient Viking Helmet is Dated Back to the 10th Century
Vikings Throughout Europe
Historians have also long argued about Vikings favoring certain regions for raiding. Other experts believe that the seafarers gave the people an opportunity for raiding and trade.
There was also more DNA evidence that Vikings from modern-day Sweden had moved east towards the Baltic nations. On the other hand, Danes, a North Germanic ethnic group from Denmark headed west to modern-day England. Norwegian Vikings were likely to head north to Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland.
The team noticed that within Scandinavia, there was very little genetic diversity, especially in inland regions. Archaeologist Søren Sindbæk from Aarhus University shared that they could "separate a Norwegian person from a Swedish person from a Danish person."
Archaeologist Jette Arneborg from the National Museum of Denmark shared that in Greenland, they discovered a variety of genetic evidence not found in the archaeology. Although the burials were Scandinavian, they found traced of British genes and Scandinavian DNA from modern-day Norway. The team's research reveals the power of DNA evidence and the term "Viking" is not exclusive to the Scandinavian people.
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