Viking warrior from burial in Birka turned out to be a woman

The Valkyries are mythical Viking companions. The key word is mythical. At least, both historians and ordinary people thought so for a long time, representing the harsh northern warriors who were fighting away from home, while faithful wives were waiting for them on the shore. However, recent DNA research has shown that war in the Viking world was not just a matter of men. In addition, women could occupy senior management positions on the battlefield.

Tomb of the Valkyrie

The study was conducted on one of the most iconic graves of the Viking era. The remains of a warrior surrounded by weapons, including a sword and armor-piercing arrows, as well as two horses, are buried in it. Among the objects, a playing board and figures for the game were also found, which indicates the officer rank of the person buried in this grave: he clearly had to understand strategy and tactics and lead troops in the battle.

The warrior was buried in the Scandinavian city of Birka in the middle of the 10th century. Isotope analyzes confirm a wandering way of life, which corresponds to the characteristics of the paramilitary social system, which dominated in the VIII-X centuries in northern Europe. Moreover, the morphology of some parts of the skeleton convincingly testified that a woman was buried in the grave. However, this did not so fit into the usual idea of the Vikings that for more than a century since the discovery of the burial, he served as a model for the burial of a Viking man.

Museum discoveries

That is why, as a result, archaeologists turned to genetics to identify the sex of the warrior based on the X and Y chromosomes. The results showed that a person buried in the grave has X chromosomes, but he did not have a Y chromosome. This completely indicates that a woman was buried.

Scientists note that the burial was opened in the 1880s, and all these years it was believed that we are talking about a man. The use of new research methods, as well as a critical look at what seemed obvious yesterday, can open up many new secrets. At least, researchers see great potential and scientific value in a closer look at the usual museum collections. The development of new technologies increasingly allows you to make interesting discoveries not at the excavation site, but in the usual museum halls.