By analyzing bones found in England, researchers confirmed that Vikings transported animals like horses and dogs from Scandinavia to Britain.
Julian Richards / University of YorkThe excavation site where researchers found evidence of animals bring from Scandinavia .
Throughout history , pets have hold a special place in the warmheartedness and homes of human beings . Now , brute remain excavated from a Viking burial mound in England have reveal that Vikings felt the same way about their own animal , even transfer them one C of miles on cramped ship just to be confining to them — and eventually , to die with them .
From as early as the 9th century , the Vikings , a group of warrior multitude from Scandinavia , made the journey across the North Sea to conduct raids on England . A formidable seafaring people , the Vikings were very successful at enamor British villages along the glide using well - design vessels .
Julian Richards/University of YorkThe excavation site where researchers found evidence of animals brought from Scandinavia.
found on grounds found in a historical phonograph recording called the Anglo - Saxon Chronicle , researchers long believe that many of these raids were conducted with the assistance of horse the Vikings seized from local . However , a new survey write inPLOS ONEpoints to a dissimilar realism .
In the study , researchers canvass a Viking inhumation mound in Derbyshire , England . Originally excavated in the nineties , the mound is one of 59 that comprise a Viking cremation graveyard know as “ Heath Wood . ”
This particular mound hold back the cremated cadaver of two adult humanity and one tiddler , as well as a horse , a frank , and possibly a hog .
Julian Richards/University of YorkCremated animal and human bones found at the Heath Wood burial mound.
Julian Richards / University of YorkCremated animal and human bones found at the Heath Wood burial pile .
Using isotopic analysis methods , researchers tested the osseous tissue fragments for atomic number 38 , a born material found in stain , rocks , and water . Strontium accumulates in animals ’ castanets over clock time base on what they run through , and so can offer clew as to where animals primarily know throughout their lifetime .
By compare the atomic number 38 storey in the bone fragment to ratios in other animal bones , the researchers were able-bodied to pinpoint the Baltic Shield , an area that include parts of modern - sidereal day Sweden and Norway , as the part the castanets had come from . That stand for that the animals spend most of their lifetimes consuming water and food in Scandinavia — not Britain .
This unexampled finding expand upon old notion about the Vikings ’ use of animals in Britain , excuse jumper cable bailiwick author Tessi Löffelmann , a doctorial research worker at Durham University and Vrije Universiteit Brussels .
“ Basically , it change our understanding of the Viking Great Army when it first arrived on British shores in East Anglia , ” Löffelmann toldCNN . “ Our main basal reference of the time , the Anglo - Saxon Chronicle , report that the Army seized sawhorse in Britain from the local population , but our isotopic evidence shows that this was not the only tale — they also brought animal with them from their fatherland . ”
According to CNN , the animals most likely belong to the human being whose bones were found in the same burial hill . It is likely that the animals travel with their owners from Scandinavia , and were then sacrificed after their owners died to be buried with them .
The study reveals just how much Viking explorers value their animals , peculiarly horses and eyetooth .
“ beast had an of import role to play in [ Viking ] society , ” Löffelmann sound out in an email to CNN . As pagan people with a strong unwritten tradition , the Vikings told floor of immortal turning themselves into animals , horses ferrying warriors into the afterlife , and more . These beliefs were intact to the Vikings ’ religious custom until they finally adopted Christianity .
The fact that Vikings work their animals from their mother country also changes the agency historians view their despatch to Britain . Even in a deep - cargo watercraft , storing animals aboard would have been “ lactating , cold , and uncomfortable for all parties regard , ” Löffelmann aver .
It is no surprisal then that pre - Christian Vikings would bear the uncomfortable , unsanitary , and often dangerous journeys to Britain with their favorite animate being at their side .
“ It could have only been pick out beast that made that journey , ” Löffelmann toldScienceNews . “ They were authoritative to what the person was . They went through sprightliness together , and now they ’re lead through death . ”
After reading about the love Vikings had for their animals , chance upon some of themost bizarre petsyou can legally own . Or , learn about32 Viking factsthat demonstrate just how misunderstood their culture was .
