WEBVTT - Were Some Viking Warriors Women?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren Vogel Bomb. Here a Viking warrior is buried

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<v Speaker 1>in Sweden in the tenth century CE. The grave is

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<v Speaker 1>excavated in the eighteen seventies. DNA results are published in

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<v Speaker 1>sounds like a typical archaeological process of discovery that we

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<v Speaker 1>take for granted. This find, however, has been anything but typical,

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<v Speaker 1>because this Viking warrior was a woman. Found in an

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<v Speaker 1>underground chamber in eighteen seventy eight. This warrior had been

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<v Speaker 1>buried in a seated position with two horses, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as a sword, as knives, spears, shields, and armor piercing arrows.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition, a set of gaming pieces representing military strategy

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<v Speaker 1>was found in the lap of the seated body. Surrounded

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<v Speaker 1>by such weapons of war and without typical feminine coated

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<v Speaker 1>items such as jewelry or weaving equipment. This high ranking

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<v Speaker 1>warrior was assumed to be a man for more than

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and twenty five years. Though there had been

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<v Speaker 1>an osteological analysis in nineteen seventies suggesting a slender bone

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<v Speaker 1>structure indicative of a female, conclusive evidence was not presented

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<v Speaker 1>until seventeen Charlotte hins Jerna Johnsen, an archaeologist at Sweden's

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<v Speaker 1>Upsala University, and her colleagues published their genomic analysis in

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<v Speaker 1>the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, explaining that ancient DNA

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<v Speaker 1>taken from a tooth and arm bone of the buried

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<v Speaker 1>warrior showed only x X chromosomes with no Y chromosome,

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<v Speaker 1>confirming this Viking warrior was a woman and that she

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<v Speaker 1>was likely more than thirty years old when she died.

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<v Speaker 1>Why did the genetic results take so long? We spoke

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<v Speaker 1>with hidden Dania Johnsen via email, and she explained that

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<v Speaker 1>good science takes time. The project was working with several

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<v Speaker 1>iron and Viking age skeletons, and processing ancient DNA isn't

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<v Speaker 1>as easy as modern DNA. Their findings were initially met

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<v Speaker 1>with questions and criticisms, including suspicions that the wrong bones

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<v Speaker 1>had been tested, but a careful review of the data

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<v Speaker 1>trail confirms that the bones first found in eighteen seventy

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<v Speaker 1>eight were in fact the bones processed and they're definitely

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<v Speaker 1>biologically female. The researchers do acknowledge that the items found

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<v Speaker 1>at the burial site aren't necessarily the possessions of the

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<v Speaker 1>buried Viking, but their opinion is that this was indeed

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<v Speaker 1>the grave of a high ranking warrior. Hiden's Tierna Johnsen

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<v Speaker 1>said most likely she was connected to the troops in

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<v Speaker 1>Byrka and linked to the garrison situated very close to

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<v Speaker 1>the burial. Some modern folks have raised the question as

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<v Speaker 1>to whether this biologically female warrior was living as a

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<v Speaker 1>man and whether this might have been as common as

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<v Speaker 1>gender transitions are today, But the researchers caution against applying

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<v Speaker 1>our modern day concepts of gender to an ancient non

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<v Speaker 1>Western people. They do acknowledge that this is just one

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<v Speaker 1>case study and quote there are many other possibilities across

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<v Speaker 1>a wide gender spectrum, some perhaps unknown to us but

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<v Speaker 1>familiar to the people of the time. Alongside these questions,

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<v Speaker 1>the Bierka settlement itself is a fascinating site. Located on

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<v Speaker 1>the island of Bierka in east central Sweden. It was

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<v Speaker 1>the country's first urban center and with Sweden's most important

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<v Speaker 1>trade center with Northern Europe in the eighth through the

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<v Speaker 1>tenth centuries. Today, the Buerka Archaeological Site is a UNESCO

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<v Speaker 1>World Heritage Site. The site contains more than three thousand

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<v Speaker 1>known graves, with only about one thousand, one hundred excavated

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<v Speaker 1>and examined so far, and only seventy five found with

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<v Speaker 1>offensive weapons as opposed to defensive weapons. Though Viking women

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<v Speaker 1>have been found buried with weapons before, nothing compares to

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<v Speaker 1>the objects found at the site from this study. The

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<v Speaker 1>amount and type of items at this site suggests a

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<v Speaker 1>professional fighter, perhaps amounted archer, and the game board and

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<v Speaker 1>associated pieces also suggests a command role. The fact that

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<v Speaker 1>no tools or agricultural equipment were found there reinforces this

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<v Speaker 1>martial role in society. In addition, a tasseled cap reserved

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<v Speaker 1>for leaders of society was found at the burial site,

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<v Speaker 1>and the fact that she was probably not a local

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<v Speaker 1>inhabitant also tells us something about her status. According to

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<v Speaker 1>Hiden's Tiana Jansen, the relatively high level of mobility indicated

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<v Speaker 1>by the variation in strawntium levels between three different teeth

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<v Speaker 1>is in concordance with the itinerant lifestyle of the social elite.

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<v Speaker 1>The placement of the site itself also reflects a certain

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<v Speaker 1>standing both in society and military. It's the westernmost grave

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<v Speaker 1>site found at Berka, prominently situated near the gears and

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<v Speaker 1>located there and had been marked by a boulder, making

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<v Speaker 1>visible both from the settlement and the surrounding lake. Though

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<v Speaker 1>these findings may lead to the re examination of excavated

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<v Speaker 1>graves and bodies to determine sex, Hidden's Dyana Younsen and

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<v Speaker 1>her colleagues are onto new projects and are currently working

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<v Speaker 1>on a study on people buried in so called boat burials.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Jim Marion and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots

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<v Speaker 1>of other topics that do some digging, visit our home planet,

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