1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren Vogel Bomb. Here a Viking warrior is buried 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: in Sweden in the tenth century CE. The grave is 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: excavated in the eighteen seventies. DNA results are published in 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,319 Speaker 1: sounds like a typical archaeological process of discovery that we 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:25,640 Speaker 1: take for granted. This find, however, has been anything but typical, 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: because this Viking warrior was a woman. Found in an 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: underground chamber in eighteen seventy eight. This warrior had been 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: buried in a seated position with two horses, as well 10 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: as a sword, as knives, spears, shields, and armor piercing arrows. 11 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: In addition, a set of gaming pieces representing military strategy 12 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: was found in the lap of the seated body. Surrounded 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: by such weapons of war and without typical feminine coated 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: items such as jewelry or weaving equipment. This high ranking 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: warrior was assumed to be a man for more than 16 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: a hundred and twenty five years. Though there had been 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: an osteological analysis in nineteen seventies suggesting a slender bone 18 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: structure indicative of a female, conclusive evidence was not presented 19 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: until seventeen Charlotte hins Jerna Johnsen, an archaeologist at Sweden's 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: Upsala University, and her colleagues published their genomic analysis in 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, explaining that ancient DNA 22 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: taken from a tooth and arm bone of the buried 23 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: warrior showed only x X chromosomes with no Y chromosome, 24 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: confirming this Viking warrior was a woman and that she 25 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: was likely more than thirty years old when she died. 26 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: Why did the genetic results take so long? We spoke 27 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: with hidden Dania Johnsen via email, and she explained that 28 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: good science takes time. The project was working with several 29 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: iron and Viking age skeletons, and processing ancient DNA isn't 30 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: as easy as modern DNA. Their findings were initially met 31 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: with questions and criticisms, including suspicions that the wrong bones 32 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: had been tested, but a careful review of the data 33 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: trail confirms that the bones first found in eighteen seventy 34 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: eight were in fact the bones processed and they're definitely 35 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: biologically female. The researchers do acknowledge that the items found 36 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: at the burial site aren't necessarily the possessions of the 37 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: buried Viking, but their opinion is that this was indeed 38 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: the grave of a high ranking warrior. Hiden's Tierna Johnsen 39 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: said most likely she was connected to the troops in 40 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: Byrka and linked to the garrison situated very close to 41 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: the burial. Some modern folks have raised the question as 42 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 1: to whether this biologically female warrior was living as a 43 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: man and whether this might have been as common as 44 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: gender transitions are today, But the researchers caution against applying 45 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: our modern day concepts of gender to an ancient non 46 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: Western people. They do acknowledge that this is just one 47 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: case study and quote there are many other possibilities across 48 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: a wide gender spectrum, some perhaps unknown to us but 49 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: familiar to the people of the time. Alongside these questions, 50 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: the Bierka settlement itself is a fascinating site. Located on 51 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: the island of Bierka in east central Sweden. It was 52 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: the country's first urban center and with Sweden's most important 53 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: trade center with Northern Europe in the eighth through the 54 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: tenth centuries. Today, the Buerka Archaeological Site is a UNESCO 55 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: World Heritage Site. The site contains more than three thousand 56 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: known graves, with only about one thousand, one hundred excavated 57 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: and examined so far, and only seventy five found with 58 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: offensive weapons as opposed to defensive weapons. Though Viking women 59 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,519 Speaker 1: have been found buried with weapons before, nothing compares to 60 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: the objects found at the site from this study. The 61 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: amount and type of items at this site suggests a 62 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: professional fighter, perhaps amounted archer, and the game board and 63 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: associated pieces also suggests a command role. The fact that 64 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: no tools or agricultural equipment were found there reinforces this 65 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: martial role in society. In addition, a tasseled cap reserved 66 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: for leaders of society was found at the burial site, 67 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: and the fact that she was probably not a local 68 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: inhabitant also tells us something about her status. According to 69 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: Hiden's Tiana Jansen, the relatively high level of mobility indicated 70 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: by the variation in strawntium levels between three different teeth 71 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: is in concordance with the itinerant lifestyle of the social elite. 72 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: The placement of the site itself also reflects a certain 73 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: standing both in society and military. It's the westernmost grave 74 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: site found at Berka, prominently situated near the gears and 75 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: located there and had been marked by a boulder, making 76 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: visible both from the settlement and the surrounding lake. Though 77 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: these findings may lead to the re examination of excavated 78 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,159 Speaker 1: graves and bodies to determine sex, Hidden's Dyana Younsen and 79 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: her colleagues are onto new projects and are currently working 80 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: on a study on people buried in so called boat burials. 81 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Jim Marion and produced by 82 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart 83 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots 84 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,720 Speaker 1: of other topics that do some digging, visit our home planet, 85 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. For more podcasts. For my 86 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 87 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.