A Viking skull revealing marks of blunt force injury to the forehead. (Image credit: Lisa Mariann Strand)
Viking age individuals who resided in what is now Norway were even more most likely to be strongly eliminated than Viking age individuals who resided in Denmark, a brand-new analysis exposes.
The findings were unexpected to the research study group, as “rates of violence in Viking Age Norway and Denmark were long thought to be equivalent,” the scientists stated in a declaration.
For the research study, the group compared 2 groups ofViking Age skeletons: 30 discovered in Norway and 82 discovered in Denmark. They discovered that “11 of the 30 studied Norwegian people, or 37[%]suffered violent deaths, all when being attacked with bladed and/or pointed weapons,” the group composed in a research study released in the September problem of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. In Denmark, by contrast, just 6 people– or about 7%– of individuals fulfilled a violent end, and much of those were carried out by hanging or decapitation.
To examine why more Viking Age individuals in Norway suffered violent deaths, the group took a much deeper take a look at the historical and historic records from that time in Norway and Denmark. The skeletons from Norway are from throughout the nation, although there are no examples from the most northern parts of the nation. A number of the skeletons from Denmark originate from the eastern or main parts of the country.The date of the skeletons vary from the 6th to the 11th centuries. While the specific time frame of the Viking age is disputed by scholars it is frequently dated to around 800-1050, so a few of the skeletons utilized in the research study precede the Viking Age.
Historic and historical records show that Vikings who were eliminated in raids were buried in the lands they assaulted and not brought home, implying the skeletons in these collections were most likely not eliminated on raids abroad, however were rather eliminated in their home locations.
Related: What’s the farthest location the Vikings reached?
Vikings in Norway were much likelier to be buried with weapons compared to Vikings in Denmark, the group discovered.
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“A significant function in Norway was the existence of weapons, especially swords, together with skeletons in tombs,” the scientists stated in the declaration. “The research study determined more than 3,000 swords from the Late Iron Age and Viking durations in Norway, with simply a couple of lots in Denmark. These findings recommend weapons played a considerable function in Norwegian Viking identity and social status– additional stressing the culture’s connection to violence.”
A tibia from the research study revealing hack marks from a weapon.(Image credit: Lisa Mariann Strand)
The group likewise kept in mind that throughout the Viking Age, the federal government in what is now Denmark (a location often called Danmǫrk by the Vikings) appears to have actually been more central than in Norway.