AncientPages.com - During the Viking Age females took part in battles and women could become great warriors. Archaeologists have examined an ancient tomb in the Viking town of Birka. The grave contains a skeleton, various weapons, including a sword and armor-breaking arrows, horse and a board game.
The person who was buried in the grave was a person of great military importance. A comprehensive DNA study now reveals the Birka warrior was in fact a woman.
A reconstruction of Birka
As previously discussed on Ancient Pages, established in the middle of the 8th century, Birka was an important trade hub for goods from Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient.
It was also the site of the first Christian gatherings in Sweden, organized in 831 by Saint Ansgar, a noble man, later Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, who preached and made converts for six months at Birka.
Strangely, the town was abandoned and ceased to exist as a manufacturing and commercial center around 960 A.D.
The grave of the Birka warrior was discovered in the late 1800s, but it the first now the trues story about the person who died there can be told.
Scientists from the University of Stockholm and Uppsala University in Sweden have a detailed DNA study of the body. DNA scan show the person buried in the tomb has X chromosomes, but lacks Y chromosomes, which means that the warrior was woman.
This is an important discovery because we are not dealing with a person mentioned in the Sagas, but a real human being who was a great military leader and a woman.
See also:
Viking Children Were Buried With Extremely Sharp Knives – Afterlife Tools To Be Used In Valhalla?
Rollo: Viking Sea Lord, Chieftain And The First Ruler Of Normandy
According to Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson archaeologist and researcher at the Department of Archeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, who was in charge of the research study, the board game place in the tomb shows the woman must have been an officer, someone who worked with tactics and strategy and could lead troops in battle.
Did you know Viking enjoyed a board game called Hnefatafl? Image credit: Photographer: Phil Lacher
“Written sources mention female warriors occasionally, but this is the first time that we’ve really found convincing archaeological evidence for their existence,” says Neil Price, Professor at Uppsala University’s Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.
Interestingly there could be even more evidence that indicates shield-maidens did exist. Some years ago, archaeologists uncovered beautifully preserved, 1,000-year-old Viking boat burial in Scottish Highlands. It is today known as the Ardnamurchan boat burial.
This discovery also suggests that mythical female warriors known as Shieldmaidens may have been the basis for the mythical ‘Valkyries.’
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