The Vikings have a reputation as a hardy and healthy people. But a new study suggests this conception may be a myth, at least with respect to the Viking-Age inhabitants of one Scandinavian country.
According an extensive new study, Sweden's Viking Age population appears to have suffered from severe oral and maxillofacial disease, sinus and ear infections, osteoarthritis, and much, much more. This is shown in a study from the University of Gothenburg, in which Viking skulls were examined using modern X-ray and CT scanning techniques. These tests revealed the grim truth about how hard life really was during Scandinavia’s most legendary era, when the Vikings were traveling broadly and putting the fear of God into the peoples they encountered and often conquered.
Technology Tells the Tale
About a year ago, researchers published a report based on the examination of a large number of teeth from the Viking Age population of Varnhem in the Swedish province of Västergötland. Varnhem is known for its thousands of ancient graves and excavations of well-preserved skeletons. Now, odontologists at the University of Gothenburg have taken this research further, looking at not only teeth but also entire skulls, by using modern computed tomography, also known as CT scans.
Skulls of Viking-era individual to be examined with modern computed tomography, in the search for infections, inflammations and other diseases. (Carolina Bertilsson).
The results, presented in BDJ Open, suggest that the 15 individuals whose skulls were examined suffered from a broad range of diseases. The CT scans show pathological bone growths in the cranium and jawbone, revealing infections and other conditions.
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Several individuals showed signs of having suffered from sinus or ear infections that left traces in the adjacent bone structures. Signs of osteoarthritis and various dental diseases were also found. All the skulls came from adults who died between 20 and 60 years of age, which represented a normal age distribution for surviving adults in the Viking Age.
The study lead, Carolina Bertilsson, is an assistant researcher at the University of Gothenburg and a dentist within Sweden's Public Dental Service. The study was performed with specialists in dental radiology at the University of Gothenburg and an archaeologist from Västergötlands museum.
Together, they conducted the examinations and analyzed the images. CT scans provide three-dimensional images that enable researchers to study in detail the various types of skeletal damage, layer by layer, in the different parts of the skull.
"There was much to look at. We found many signs of disease in these individuals. Exactly why we don't know. While we can't study the damage in the soft tissue because it's no longer there, we can see the traces left in the skeletal structures," Bertilsson stated. "The results of the study provide a greater understanding of these people's health and well-being. Everyone knows what it's like to have pain somewhere, you can get quite desperate for help. But back then, they didn't have the medical and dental care we do, or the kind of pain relief—and antibiotics—we now have. If you developed an infection, it could stick around for a long time."
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The study is described as a pilot study. One important aspect was to test CT as a method for future and more extensive research into the state of health of the ancients.
"Very many of today's archaeological methods are invasive, with the need to remove bone or other tissue for analysis. This way, we can keep the remains completely intact yet still extract a great deal of information," says Bertilsson.
Viking skull undergoing CT scanning procedure. (Carolina Bertilsson).
Maybe That’s Why the Vikings Were So Grouchy
This is not the first research that has contradicted the common misconceptions about Viking sturdiness.
For example, a 2015 study of 27 bodies excavated from an 11th century cemetery in the Skagafjörđur region of northern Iceland found that survival beyond the age of 30 was difficult in this particular Viking outpost. A high rate of infant mortality was discovered, while the deceased adults were plagued with porotic hyperostosis, which is evidenced by the presence of spongy or porous bone tissue and holes in the cranium, and is a result of suffering from anemia. The archaeologists concluded that this couldn’t have been iron-deficiency anemia since the people here typically had a diet high in meat. This meant they must have had other gastrointestinal conditions or dietary deficiencies, and in fact one individual was found to have suffered from scurvy.
And that’s far from all. In 2020 a study was published showing that many Viking skeletons unearthed across Europe had been carriers of the smallpox virus. This deadly disease was found in 11 Viking burial sites in Denmark, Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom and on the island of Öland off Sweden’s east coast. They likely spread the disease around Europe and other areas during their journeys, spreading the misery they were experiencing far beyond their own borders.
1,200-year-old smallpox-infected Viking skeleton discovered in Öland, Sweden. (The Swedish National Heritage Board / Science News)
The Vikings had a reputation for fierceness that reflected an angry and aggressive people. While the disease and pain they suffered may not have been the motivation for their predatory activities, in surely guaranteed that they would be in a bad mood wherever they went.
Top image: Painting by Charles Ernest Butler, 1909: ‘Death of a Viking Warrior.’
Source: Public Domain.
This is an edited version of an article that was published as a press release by the University of Gothenburg, entitled ‘Viking Skulls Reveal Severe Morbidity.’
