Results from a Viking DNA study suggest a job description rather than a heredity

[Bob Eisenman]

There was a recently published study of Viking DNA ("the Viking Age, from about 750 C.E. to 1050 C.E., as well as some earlier and later samples.) from 40+ genomes and grave sites.

Google 'Viking DNA' to read various summaries of the publication found recently in the prestigious journal 'Nature'.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2688-8

The results suggest that the term Viking was likely more of a job description than an ethnic heredity.

"The researchers write that this unexpected discovery suggests that complex settling, trading, and raiding networks during these times resulted in communities of mixed ancestry.

Even more, the study's analysis shows that this mixed ancestry was taking place even before the so-called Viking Age, explains Martin Sikora, a lead author on the study and associate professor at the Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen.

https://www.inverse.com/science/viking-dna-study/amp

"We found that Vikings weren't just Scandinavians in their genetic ancestry, as we analyzed genetic influences in their DNA from Southern Europe and Asia which has never been contemplated before," said Sikora. "Many Vikings have high levels of non-Scandinavian ancestry, both within and outside Scandinavia, which suggest ongoing gene flow across Europe."

Quote:

"They found that Vikings from what is now Sweden moved east to the Baltics, Poland, and the rivers of Russia and Ukraine, whereas Danes were more likely to head west to what is today England. Norwegians were most likely to set sail for the North Atlantic Ocean, colonizing Ireland, Iceland, and eventually Greenland (see map, above). “This is detail one couldn’t do based just on archaeology,” Willerslev says."

"The genetic details may also rewrite popular perceptions of Vikings, including their looks: Viking Age Scandinavians were more likely to have black hair than people living there today. "

 

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/viking-was-job-description-not-matter-heredity-massive-ancient-dna-study-shows

 

 

"Viking ships sailed forth from Scandinavia, traversing the waterways of Europe and reaching across the Atlantic Ocean. Vikings from different homelands preferred certain destinations; for example, men from Norway settled Greenland, DNA data now show."

"Viking-style graves excavated on the United Kingdom’s Orkney islands contained individuals with no Scandinavian DNA, whereas some people buried in Scandinavia had Irish and Scottish parents. And several individuals in Norway were buried as Vikings, but their genes identified them as Saami, an Indigenous group genetically closer to East Asians and Siberians than to Europeans. “These identities aren’t genetic or ethnic, they’re social,” Jarman says. “To have backup for that from DNA is powerful.”

 

I read about river trade routes from the Baltic sea to the Greeks (Varangians to the Greeks)...perhaps fitting the job description of ' Viking'...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_route_from_the_Varangians_to_the_Greeks#:~:text=The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was,and the Eastern Roman Empire.&text=Along the Dnieper%2C the route,its west coast to Constantinople.

in the 8th to 11th centuries, some involving long portage's to connect between at least 2 specific rivers.

"the Kunya River and possibly the Seryozha River [ru]. From there, a portage led to the Toropa River [ru] and downstream to the Western Dvina River. "

They are mapped as shown below showing connections to Scandanavia.

https://www.google.com/search?q=varangians+definition&oq=varangians&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3j69i60.4359j0j7&client=ms-android-motorola-rev2&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

"Va·ran·gi·an

/vəˈranjēən/

Learn to pronounce

 

noun

plural noun: Varangians

1. any of the Scandinavian voyagers who traveled by land and up rivers into Russia in the 9th and 10th centuries AD, establishing the Rurik dynasty and gaining great influence in the Byzantine Empire."

 

Although a bit off the topic of 'Viking' I once used Google Earth to create a map of a number of rivers and trade routes (including the Varangians to the Greeks) plus several major rivers in Russia, while rehabbing a sore shoulder following a few bad golf swings years ago.

My KML/kmz for the Google Earth depiction of the rivers (and portage areas) can be downloaded (and displayed on Google Earth) from my Google Drive at the link

Map plus terrain overlay:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B07we0osMR1zMjdjY2FlOTktZjFkNy00M2FmLWFjOWEtOWU0MTdlZjFhNWVm/view?usp=drivesdk

Map without overlay (more precise pin positioning to the rivers)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B07we0osMR1zVkJwRmZwUExKZVE/view?usp=drivesdk

 

"From the Western Dvina (aka. Duagava river), the ships went upstream along the Kasplya River and were portaged again to the Katyn River, a tributary of the Dnieper. "

Note: the Kasplaya river is a left tributary of the Duagava river between (pink) pin positions #13 & #14 for the Duagava river pin set, at the town of Suraz.

Edited September 18, 2020 by Bob Eisenman