Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogel Bomb. Here a Viking warrior is buried in Sweden in the tenth century CE. The grave is excavated in the eighteen seventies. DNA results are published in sounds like a typical archaeological process of discovery that we take for granted. This find, however, has been anything but typical, because this Viking warrior was a woman. Found in an
underground chamber in eighteen seventy eight. This warrior had been buried in a seated position with two horses, as well as a sword, as knives, spears, shields, and armor piercing arrows. In addition, a set of gaming pieces representing military strategy was found in the lap of the seated body. Surrounded by such weapons of war and without typical feminine coated items such as jewelry or weaving equipment. This high ranking warrior was assumed to be a man for more than
a hundred and twenty five years. Though there had been an osteological analysis in nineteen seventies suggesting a slender bone structure indicative of a female, conclusive evidence was not presented until seventeen Charlotte hins Jerna Johnsen, an archaeologist at Sweden's Upsala University, and her colleagues published their genomic analysis in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, explaining that ancient DNA taken from a tooth and arm bone of the buried
warrior showed only x X chromosomes with no Y chromosome, confirming this Viking warrior was a woman and that she was likely more than thirty years old when she died. Why did the genetic results take so long? We spoke with hidden Dania Johnsen via email, and she explained that good science takes time. The project was working with several iron and Viking age skeletons, and processing ancient DNA isn't
as easy as modern DNA. Their findings were initially met with questions and criticisms, including suspicions that the wrong bones had been tested, but a careful review of the data trail confirms that the bones first found in eighteen seventy eight were in fact the bones processed and they're definitely biologically female. The researchers do acknowledge that the items found at the burial site aren't necessarily the possessions of the buried Viking, but their opinion is that this was indeed
the grave of a high ranking warrior. Hiden's Tierna Johnsen said most likely she was connected to the troops in Byrka and linked to the garrison situated very close to the burial. Some modern folks have raised the question as to whether this biologically female warrior was living as a man and whether this might have been as common as gender transitions are today, But the researchers caution against applying our modern day concepts of gender to an ancient non
Western people. They do acknowledge that this is just one case study and quote there are many other possibilities across a wide gender spectrum, some perhaps unknown to us but familiar to the people of the time. Alongside these questions, the Bierka settlement itself is a fascinating site. Located on the island of Bierka in east central Sweden. It was the country's first urban center and with Sweden's most important trade center with Northern Europe in the eighth through the
tenth centuries. Today, the Buerka Archaeological Site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site contains more than three thousand known graves, with only about one thousand, one hundred excavated and examined so far, and only seventy five found with offensive weapons as opposed to defensive weapons. Though Viking women have been found buried with weapons before, nothing compares to
the objects found at the site from this study. The amount and type of items at this site suggests a professional fighter, perhaps amounted archer, and the game board and associated pieces also suggests a command role. The fact that no tools or agricultural equipment were found there reinforces this martial role in society. In addition, a tasseled cap reserved for leaders of society was found at the burial site, and the fact that she was probably not a local
inhabitant also tells us something about her status. According to Hiden's Tiana Jansen, the relatively high level of mobility indicated by the variation in strawntium levels between three different teeth is in concordance with the itinerant lifestyle of the social elite. The placement of the site itself also reflects a certain
standing both in society and military. It's the westernmost grave site found at Berka, prominently situated near the gears and located there and had been marked by a boulder, making visible both from the settlement and the surrounding lake. Though these findings may lead to the re examination of excavated graves and bodies to determine sex, Hidden's Dyana Younsen and her colleagues are onto new projects and are currently working on a study on people buried in so called boat burials.
Today's episode was written by Jim Marion and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other topics that do some digging, visit our home planet, how stuff works dot com. For more podcasts. For my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.