A recent scientific study showed that the examination was able to confirm the sex of the body, found near the Swiss settlement of Birka, where the Vikings once settled.
The man was buried in a warrior's grave, which dates back to the Viking Age around the middle of the 10th century and contains a wide variety of relics associated with the war. The tomb was supplemented with a number of historically important items: a sword, an ax, a spear, arrows, a combat knife, two shields, two horses and a board game for developing war tactics.
Analysis of skeletal fragments
“The morphology of some of the skeletal fragments strongly suggests that these were female bones, which is why it was necessary to confirm gender in some way,” Anna Kjellström, one of the project's researchers, said in an official statement.
To dispel doubts, the researchers decided to turn to genetics. They extracted DNA from the bones of the skeleton and found that the person had two X chromosomes and no Y chromosome. This result is a sure scientific confirmation that the Viking was a woman.
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“This is the first official genetic confirmation that the warrior was female,” Professor Matthias Jakobsson said in a separate statement.
Convincing evidence
"There are occasional written references to the existence of female warriors, but this is the first time scientists have found compelling arguments for this view," added Neil Price, professor in the Department of Archeology at Uppsala University.
Judith Yesh, professor of Viking studies at the University of Nottingham, argues on her blog that a woman's rich grave does not necessarily symbolize that she belonged to the military. It is worth noting, she writes, that the skeleton showed no signs of any trauma or "wear" of the bones from the battle.
The importance of discovery
Nevertheless, researchers seem adamant in their belief that this discovery means a lot to history.
“This burial was excavated in the 1880s and since then the remains have been a model of the professional Viking warrior. In particular, burial objects have served as a reflection of the history of more than one century, - added senior author Jan Stora. - The use of new methods, as well as the renewal of critical perspectives, again, reveals the research potential and scientific value of our museum collections."
Maya Muzashvili