Even schoolchildren know: in the Middle Ages, Scandinavia was inhabited by Vikings - harsh, fierce warriors, invaders who terrify the ancient cities of Europe. But where did they come from? And who inhabited Scandinavia before - before the Vikings? This question can be answered by the latest studies of Swedish geneticists.
Hunters, relatives of the Aryans from Arkaim
For the first time, primitive hunters appeared on the shores of Scandinavia during the early Mesolithic period - in the 15th – 12th millennia BC, when the mountains and shores of the peninsula began to gradually free themselves from glaciers. Archaeologists know about 100 sites of these hunters. Examination of their remains allowed scientists to determine that on the female line they were relatives of the Finns, Estonians and Sami. These people had to survive in the harsh conditions of the north, so their tools were primitive and simple - stone arrowheads, thick incisors, chops, dolomite and silicon flakes, blade knives and disc-shaped axes.
T. Douglas Price, an authoritative American expert on ancient Scandinavia, believes that the settlement of the peninsula proceeded slowly. In the north, people appeared only IX thousand years ago. Their life was similar to the life of the Sami - people roamed behind herds of wild reindeer, during the spawning of salmon, they moved to the rivers, beat the sea animal on the coast. On the territory of Sweden, they hunted bison, aurochs, and fished. Over time, they began to cultivate the land, molded primitive dishes from clay.
A study of the remains of seven primitive hunters found near Lake Vettern (Sweden) showed that they were genetically related to representatives of the Yamnaya culture, which in the 4th millennium BC occupied the territory from the Dniester to the Southern Urals. And the found haplogroup U-2 (certain genetic marks) was often found among the inhabitants of Sintashta, the Aryan civilization, the most famous city of which was Arkaim. People with such genetic markers lived in the south of the Urals and in the Trans-Urals as early as 3,000 years ago. Consequently, the ancient population of Scandinavia was at least related to the population on the territory of Russia.
Warlike nomads
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At the end of the 3rd millennium BC, peaceful hunters were ousted from the peninsula by more aggressive and organized representatives of the battle ax culture. The civilization of these nomadic warriors quickly spread throughout Europe thanks to their military organization and weapons - stone and bronze axes. Having landed for the first time on the shores of the Oslofjord, the aggressors quickly settled along the southern coast of Scandinavia up to Uppland.
It is with them that the appearance in Scandinavia of petroglyphs, carved on rocks, is associated. The antiquity of the petroglyphs found in the Tanum commune in the Västra Göteland county (Sweden) is estimated at 3,700 years. The Tanum drawings depict scenes of sea hunting, battles, fights, the sun and ancient gods with huge heads, or perhaps people in ritual headdresses. Rock carvings in Norway from this period depicted hunting for animals or everyday scenes such as cutting the carcass of a deer that was killed. In total, at least three thousand burials of this period were found on the peninsula.
Who were these people?
Scandinavia was inhabited from two sides. Modern European linguists recognize these settlers as native speakers of Indo-European languages. But does this mean that they were Aryans? Genetic scientists from the University of Uppsala (Sweden) Matthias Jakobsson and Thorsen Gunther tried to answer this question. They examined the remains of 11 representatives of the battle-ax culture, who lived from 3330 to 1665 BC, and found that some of them came from the Caspian and Black Sea steppes.
So, having studied the genome of a man from the Vergsgraven burial near Stockholm, geneticists discovered that a cattle breeder who lived in 2620 BC turned out to be a real Aryan, a native of the Russian steppes. Marks on his "male" Y-chromosome showed that he had the R1a haplogroup, to which almost 50% of modern Russian males belong. Moreover, he could be an Eastern Slav, since he had a subclade (a branch of the haplogroup) R1a Z283, which is still one of the three most common subclades among Russian men. This means that he and a third of Russian men had one common ancestor.
Swedish geneticists came to the conclusion that in the III-II millennia BC the population of Scandinavia consisted of two groups. Dark-skinned, but light-eyed people lived on the southern coast of the peninsula - most likely, they penetrated the territory of the peninsula from the south, gradually settling in Denmark and the Baltic Sea islands. The population of the north was more diverse - both brunettes and blondes lived here. Eyes varied in color, but the skin was whiter. These people came to Scandinavia from the territory of Russia.
Slavs have been everywhere
The fact that in Scandinavia and even in Iceland were found Slavic dwellings - square semi-dugouts, which the Eastern Slavs built up to the 10th century, is also mentioned by Professor Przemyslav Urbanczyk from the Institute of Archeology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
He points out that such dwellings cannot be confused with the houses of the Germans. The Slavs built square semi-dugouts with narrow entrances throughout their entire territory - from the Dnieper to the Elbe and from the Balkans to the Baltic. Ancient Slavic dwellings, it turns out, are found in Sweden, Denmark and even Norway. Unfortunately, according to the buildings, archaeologists cannot determine which Slavs climbed so far to the north. The Polish professor suggested that, most likely, these were the Polabian Slavs - the Vends, Wagras, or encouraged.
Everything mixed up in the Viking house
But back to the ancient population of Scandinavia. Of course, not only Slavs lived on its territory. For example, when studying the remains of a man from a burial in Rössberg, Sweden, they found haplogroup IJ-M429, characteristic of the pre-Germanic tribes of Europe. Haplogroup H1c, found in the ancient population of the peninsula, is found among the modern peoples of West Africa and in Spain - among the Basques and Andalusians. And the marks K1b1a1 and H6a are found among Ashkenazi Jews.
The haplogroup U5b1d2, found by the Swedes among the ancient nomads, is still widespread in Scandinavia. In the south, it is carried by 30% of the population, and in the north - up to 50%. It has been best preserved where peoples have least mixed. In addition, the haplogroup U4c1a was found, which is preserved in the modern population of the peninsula. Outside Scandinavia, it is found among the Ob Ugrians, the Sami and the peoples of Pakistan.
The Germans were late
Germanic peoples appeared on the peninsula only in the first centuries of our era. They absorbed the natives, learned how to work metals and began to actively trade with the peoples of the Mediterranean Sea, supplying them with amber. By the 5th century, they founded the civilization of the "Iron" age, which for some reason is usually called "Roman".
Biochemist Anatoly Klyosov writes that the men of these peoples were never Aryans. They were carriers of the R1b haplogroup. Having penetrated into Europe through North Africa, they began to actively displace the autochthonous population and adopt Indo-European languages from them. Their descendants still inhabit Scandinavia - they are about a third. Another 40% of Scandinavians are the pre-German population of the peninsula. About 12-18% have haplogroup R1a, but with their own subclade - Z284, which Russians do not have. This means that their ancestors were also Aryans.
