Viking warrior of lore were once bury alongside knightly steeds sacrifice in their prime to ensure they the horses would accompany the men into the afterlife , harmonize to a multi - internal genetic analysis guide across multiple Icelandic burial sites .
All but one sawbuck bump at a gravesite was manlike and in its prime , each having been killed either through point-blank force trauma to the head or through decapitation – a clue researchers say suggest they were sacrifice for ceremonial purposes intended to convey status and office .
" It is reasonable to conceive that a Viking who received a horse in the grave accent must have had a certain amount of powerfulness and influence . We would therefore wish to recognize more about these gymnastic horse , for example , of which sex they were , " say Ph.D. student Albína Hulda Pálsdottir in astatement . At the sentence , slaughtering a entire could also have been a way to send it to the afterlife to accompany the warrior it was buried with .
For decade , archaeologist have been working across multiple Icelandic situation , number more than 350 known Viking Age grave , 175 of which had gymnastic horse associated with them . “ Most horse cadaver are understandably consociate with a human skeletal frame and the burials can be either plentiful or poor in other grave goods , ” write the authors in theJournal of Archaeological Science .
This time around , archaeologists teamed up with geneticist to sequence ancient desoxyribonucleic acid from 19 sets of 1,000 - twelvemonth - old horse remains to determine their sex activity and years . Because males and distaff horse are similar in size of it and appearance , zooarchaeologists have antecedently tried to wind up the remains by look at remaining canines ( male person tend to have large one ) and pelvic arch . It turn over out 18 of them were male .
Map indicating the locations of the samples used in this study . letter indicate whetherarchaeological siteswereBurial situation , or aFarm orCave internet site . Samples are discolor agree to genetic sex determination , red for females , blue for males . Journal of Archaeological Science
investigator first cleaned a bone or tooth before cutting out a sample and crushing it into powder from which DNA was extracted from . squad members then analyze the DNA using a method acting called “ shotgun sequence , ” whereby all the DNA in the sample is sequenced .
What ’s perhaps even more surprising is the fact that there are so few graves . At the prime of the 10th C , the universe of Iceland had increase to 9,000 inhabitants . Pálsdottir says there should be “ G of such graves ” and yet there are just a few hundred . It could , in part , be due to the fact that many graves were found during construction projects 50 to 100 years ago before constabulary required archeological resume . irrespective , the researchers say their sketch will give more insight into understand how the Vikings survive and thought , as well as painting a mental picture of their burial rituals .
" It is strike that we detect almost exclusively middle - senior men in the Graf on Iceland . There are almost no infants or children , and very few women . We do n’t know how the rest of the population was buried . Perhaps they were repose in swamps or lakes , or sink in the sea , " said Pálsdottir .
