Brown-haired and Scottish - the real Vikings

Genetic studies of our invasive friends from Scandinavia show history books may need a rewrite

BLOND and burly, the Vikings are commonly viewed as a Scandinavian warrior-race who traversed the seas to raid and colonise distant lands.

However, a study of skeletons from archaeological sites in Europe and Greenland has shown that they were less of a race and more of an idea, with some even hailing from Scotland.

DNA analysis from bones at burial sites in Orkney has found that the remains were of Scottish locals who had adopted Viking identities. Skeletons with British heritage were also found in Norway, while other Vikings had ancestors from Asia and southern Europe. Many were found to have dark, not blond, hair.

Prof Eske Willerslev, of St John’s College at Cambridge University, said: “This study changes the perception of who a Viking actually was.

“We have this image of well-connected Vikings mixing with each other, trading and going on raiding parties to fight kings across Europe, because this is what we see on television and read in books – but genetically we have shown that it wasn’t that kind of world. The history books will need to be updated.”

The Viking Age is generally acknowledged to have run from around 800 until the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Although the Vikings gained infamy raiding monasteries and sacking towns and cities, they also traded goods and settled, spreading their language, beliefs and politics.

The results of the six-year genetic project, published in the journal Nature, show that in England their genetic legacy has left the population with up to 6 per cent Viking DNA. In fact, the Vikings were so popular that it now appears that Britons chose to assimilate with their culture and practices. Celtic Picts of Scotland “became” Vikings without ever genetically mixing with them.

The team found that two men buried with swords and other Viking memorabilia in Orkney, were locals who had adopted Norse traditions.

The team found distinct populations travelled to different locations: the Vikings from what is now Norway went to Ireland, Scotland, Iceland and Greenland. Vikings from what is now Denmark came to England. And Vikings from what is now Sweden went to the Baltic countries on all-male “raiding parties”.

Prof Martin Sikora, of Copenhagen University, a lead author on the paper, said: “Many Vikings had high levels of non-scandinavian ancestry, which suggests gene flow across Europe.”

Prof Willerslev added: “We didn’t know, genetically, what they actually looked like until now. We found differences between different populations within Scandinavia, which shows Viking groups in the region were far more isolated than previously believed.

“Our research even debunks the image of Vikings with blond hair.

Many had brown hair and were influenced by genetic influx from outside Scandinavia.”