Better Identification of Viking Corpses Reveals: Half of the Warriors Were Female

[riderinthestorm]

21. I just sent this to my daughter the Viking expert and this is what she replied...

I agree with the comments more than the article. It's been known since UK excavations in the 1970's discovered female skeletons with Scandinavian build/bone ratios buried in mass graves with male Scandinavians. A lot of 'warrior' graves discovered pre-1960's were automatically assumed to be male, but with the rise of forensics and osteological examination, 'gendered' burials are getting re-examined. 50% is way too high and is nowhere near proven, but women did participate in Viking expeditions. Also, almost all of the rape/pillaging/village burning records are written by Christian monks, and while there is a small amount of evidence that a few locations were pillaged/burned, the majority have no archaeological record of such destruction. There are a lot of Anglo-Saxon women buried with spear heads too, which are usually of an earlier date than most of the known Viking burials outside of Scandinavia.

Interesting stuff!