The results provide light on the patterns of migration and gene flow that occurred during the Viking era, when Norsemen travelled from Scandinavia on wooden longships, conducted raids and monastic looting throughout a vast area, and even made it as far as North America.
Jan 06 2023 16:49 IST
By Reuters
According to researchers who also recorded the disproportionate genetic effect of women who came in the area during Norsemen's invasions of Europe, the Viking period, which lasted from the eighth to the eleventh century AD, left a permanent impression on the genetics of today's Scandinavians.
Based on data from 16,638 contemporary Scandinavian men and women and 297 ancient human genomes, a research released on Thursday examined the genetic patterns of individuals in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark stretching back two thousand years.
The results provide light on the patterns of migration and gene flow that occurred during the Viking era, when Norsemen travelled from Scandinavia on wooden longships, conducted raids and monastic looting throughout a vast area, and even made it as far as North America.
According to the study, females from the east Baltic region and, to a lesser degree, the British and Irish islands made more genetic contributions to Scandinavia at this time than did their male counterparts.
According to lead author and molecular archaeologist Ricardo Rodriguez-Varela of Stockholm University's Center for Palaeogenetics, "We have no way to know with our data the number of women involved or if these women with east Baltic and British-Irish ancestries were in Scandinavia voluntarily or involuntarily." The study was published in the journal Cell.
As the Vikings expanded their commercial networks and seized control of several lands, historians have found evidence of their slave trade.
"There are a number of groups that might explain the patterns, including slaves. Anders Gotherstrom, a molecular archaeologist at the Center for Palaeogenetics and study co-author, continued, "We simply do not know exactly who these individuals were.
Aproximate dates for the Viking era are 750–1050 AD. The devastating Viking raid on a Christian monastery on the English island of Lindisfarne in 793 was a significant early event. Later attacks followed, including ones on Paris and Constantinople and trade connections all the way to the Middle East.
The research revealed that Scandinavians of British-Irish descent have been present since the Viking era. It was discovered that central Sweden and Gotland, Sweden's largest island, have the highest concentrations of ancestry from the eastern Baltic area, which includes contemporary Lithuania and maybe parts of western Russia and Ukraine. People in southern Scandinavia have a high concentration of ancestry from southern European regions like Sardinia.
The movement of commodities, customs, technology, and people into and out of Scandinavia was significantly increased during the Viking period, according to Rodriguez-Varela.
Small farms, domestic and international trade, and pillaging were the economic foundations of Scandinavian communities, which were initially pagans but later became Christian. The first humans to go to all four continents were the Vikings, said Gotherstrom.
After the Viking period, it was discovered that foreign genetic influences on Scandinavians began to decline.
The data provided "tentative evidence that gene flow into Scandinavia of eastern Baltic ancestry and, to a lesser extent, also British-Irish ancestry was female skewed," the researchers stated in their study.
"Historical data attesting to interactions like tributary relations and treaties are compatible with the growth of eastern Baltic heritage in these territories throughout the Viking age. Because of this, Rodriguez-Varela stated, "we do not find any proof with the current data to suggest that women were abducted and brought back during raids.
The researchers also speculated that around this time, men who were acting as Christian missionaries or monks may have arrived in Scandinavia, albeit they might not have made significant genetic contributions.
The study examined ancient genomes from as far back as the first century AD and as recently as the nineteenth century. Some ancient genomes originated from persons who perished on the substantial Swedish vessel Kronan, which was lost in a fight in 1676. Others came from Viking ship ceremonial burials as well as from Sandby borg, a stronghold on the Swedish island of Oland where a slaughter is thought to have taken place in the fifth century.
According to Gotherstrom, "Vikings were an intriguing set of people, surviving for around two and a half centuries and having an influence on the globe in ways we still need to comprehend.
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