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Link to original content: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28884802
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. 2017 Dec;164(4):853-860.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23308. Epub 2017 Sep 8.

A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics

Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson  1   2 , Anna Kjellström  1   3 , Torun Zachrisson  1 , Maja Krzewińska  1 , Veronica Sobrado  1 , Neil Price  2 , Torsten Günther  4 , Mattias Jakobsson  4 , Anders Götherström  1 , Jan Storå  3
Affiliations

A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics

Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson et al. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study has been to confirm the sex and the affinity of an individual buried in a well-furnished warrior grave (Bj 581) in the Viking Age town of Birka, Sweden. Previously, based on the material and historical records, the male sex has been associated with the gender of the warrior and such was the case with Bj 581. An earlier osteological classification of the individual as female was considered controversial in a historical and archaeological context. A genomic confirmation of the biological sex of the individual was considered necessary to solve the issue.

Materials and methods: Genome-wide sequence data was generated in order to confirm the biological sex, to support skeletal integrity, and to investigate the genetic relationship of the individual to ancient individuals as well as modern-day groups. Additionally, a strontium isotope analysis was conducted to highlight the mobility of the individual.

Results: The genomic results revealed the lack of a Y-chromosome and thus a female biological sex, and the mtDNA analyses support a single-individual origin of sampled elements. The genetic affinity is close to present-day North Europeans, and within Sweden to the southern and south-central region. Nevertheless, the Sr values are not conclusive as to whether she was of local or nonlocal origin.

Discussion: The identification of a female Viking warrior provides a unique insight into the Viking society, social constructions, and exceptions to the norm in the Viking time-period. The results call for caution against generalizations regarding social orders in past societies.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map showing the location of Birka and grave Bj 581
Figure 2
Figure 2
Illustration by Evald Hansen based on the original plan of grave Bj 581 by excavator Hjalmar Stolpe; published in 1889 (Stolpe, 1889)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proportion of reads aligning to chromosomes X and Y indicating biological sex in the canine (*) and humerus (**) from Birka warrior compared with sexing results from number of published ancient individuals: Cassidy et al. (2016) (•), Gamba et al. (2014) (¤), Keller et al. (2012) (‡), Raghavan et al. (2014) (†). The biological sex is given in parenthesis
Figure 4
Figure 4
Maps visualizing the results of f3‐statistic in which the individual from grave Bj 581 was compared to (a) Human Origins population reference panel (Lazaridis et al., 2014; Patterson et al., 2012) and (b) Population Reference Sample (POPRES) (Nelson et al., 2008). (c) The Birka warrior plotted against PC1 values for 21 Swedish subpopulations representing all counties and the total of 1525 individuals (Salmela et al., 2011). The three colours represent the conventional regional division to the southern Götaland (red), central Svealand (blue), and northern Norrland (green). Abbreviations for the different counties are as follows: BL—Blekinge län, GT—Gotlands län, HL—Hallands län, JN—Jönköpings län, KL—Kalmar län, KR—Kronobergs län, ÖS—Östergötlands län, SK—Skåne län, VG—Västra Götalands län, ÖR—Örebro län, SÖ—Södermanlands län, ST—Stockholms län, VL—Värmlands län, DL—Dalarnas län, UP—Uppsala län, VM—Västmanlands län, GV—Gävleborgs län, JM—Jämtlands län, VN—Västernorrlands län, NR—Norrbottens län, VB—Västerbottens län
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