Genetic testing of human remains unearthed at a medieval cemetery in central Poland has revealed the presence of Scandinavians in the region. Given the time in which these individuals lived and died, the researchers who uncovered this information believe the skeletons are evidence of a Viking settlement, which is eye-opening because it is the first such evidence to have ever been recovered in this part of Poland.
The researchers responsible for what they call a “remarkable” find included geneticists and anthropologists from the University of Lodz, who performed a fresh scientific examination of skeletal remains that were first discovered almost eight decades ago. The cemetery was found in the small village of Lutomiersk (population 2,000), approximately 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the regional capital of Lodz in the 1940s, and the newly released genetic results confirm that Vikings once resided in this area.
The presence of Vikings in Poland’s interior had long been suspected but not proven conclusively until now, and the research team is curious about what the relationship might have been like between these Vikings and the Polish state. The latter had just come into being around this time—Poland was officially recognized as a distinct political entity in 966 AD, when the leadership of its ruling Piast dynasty receiving the blessings of the Roman Catholic Church.
One of the researchers responsible for this surprising discovery, Dr. Paulina Boyrówka from the University of Lodz’s Department of Anthropology at the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protections, noted there were multiple waves of Scandinavian peoples who settled in Poland during the Viking Age (800-1050 AD). But this is the first time a Viking presence had been found in this particular interior, suggesting that Vikings were moving into and around Poland more widely and freely than had previously been believed.
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While obtaining proof that Vikings had occupied central Poland was significant, for the researchers involved in this new genetic study this may only be the beginning.
"The most important mystery is how these settlers got here, and my task is to solve it—not based on indirect archaeological data, but genetic data,” Dr. Boyrówka explained in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Central Poland’s Mecca of Viking Age Research
For medieval researchers, the quiet and unassuming village of Lutomiersk, Poland has become something of a mecca. The cemetery where the Scandinavians were buried was first discovered in the World War II period, and eventually dated to the early part of the 11th century.
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In addition to excavating dozens of uncremated bodies, the archaeologists who’ve dug there over the years have found burial goods that seem to be of Scandinavian and Russian origin. This was the first clue that suggested Vikings might have lived in the area.
"It was the first archaeological site of this type in this part of Poland, which was interpreted as direct evidence of the presence of Scandinavians, and specifically—the Varangians, i.e. Scandinavians who settled in the areas of Kievan Rus, in the state of the first Piast dynasty," Dr. Boyrówka said. "The Vikings in Poland and the role they were supposed to [have played] in the creation of the Polish state ... have been talked about for over a hundred years.”
Recreation of a tomb in a Viking Age cemetery, designed with a strong Viking influence, unearthed in Bodzia, Poland. (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences/CC-BY-SA 3.0).
There are other archaeological sites linking Scandinavian people to the development of the original Polish state, she noted. But the Viking cemetery at Lutomiersk is unique, because of how many Scandinavian burials it contained. This ultimately provided the large sampling of data needed to establish how large the Viking footprint in central Poland really was.
Ancient DNA Solves Another Unsolvable Mystery
The first study of the skeletal remains discovered in the Lutomiersk cemetery was completed in the 1970s. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like the bones would produce much more useful information in the years to come.
"The bone remains were very poorly preserved due to the unfavorable ground conditions in this region,”said Prof. Wiesław Lorkiewicz, another scientists affiliated with the University of Lodz’s the Department of Anthropology at the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection. “A dozen or so years ago, when we started to be interested in aDNA research, I expressed the opinion that due to their poor state of preservation, it was impossible to conduct genetic research. Fortunately, in science you should never say 'never'."
Painting from 1894 of Viking warriors charging into battle, painted by Jef Louis Van Leempatten. (Public Domain).
In fact the rate of progress in ancient DNA research in recent years has been extraordinary, and it turns out the remains from Lutomiersk weren’t finished producing interesting results after all—one of which was the discovery of just how genetically diverse the local medieval population had been.
"There were burials of people of Scandinavian and Slavic origin, as well as people of mixed origin in relation to both of these groups,” Dr. Boyrówka said, running down the highlights of her team’s findings.
Notably, Scandinavian DNA was detected in different parts of the cemetery, which were used at different times in history. Finding Vikings everywhere showed they had been there long enough to put down roots and leave their mark on the region.
The question now is, where exactly was the Viking settlement (or settlements?) that used the Lutomiersk cemetery 1,000 years ago? Another interesting question is about the precise Scandinavian origin of the Viking settlers; in other words, from which Scandinavian country or countries did they actually migrate?
“We are planning several more analyses that may shed even more light on the observations made so far,” Dr. Borówka commented, outlining the strategies she and her fellow researchers will rely on to answer such questions. “Isotope studies would also be helpful, as they would help confirm or reject some theories about the direct geographical origin of the people from whom the bones come. In addition, research technology is constantly developing and who knows what we will be read from the remains in the next few, a dozen or several dozen years?”
Top image: Painting from 1909 by Charles Ernest Butler, entitled ‘Death of a Viking Warrior.’
Source: Public Domain
By Nathan Falde
