Scientists Reconstruct The Mutilated Face Of A 1,000-Year-Old Female Viking Warrior
Scientists Reconstruct The Mutilated Face Of A 1,000-Year-Old Female Viking Warrior
Scientists have recreated the face of a Viking female warrior who lived over 1,000 years ago.
The woman is based on a skeleton found in a Viking Cemetery in Solør, Norway, and is now preserved in the Cultural History Museum in Oslo.
Archaeologist Ella Al-Shamahi said—The remains were already identified as female, but the burial site was not seen as a warrior ‘simply because the occupant was a woman,’
But, now, UK scientists have brought the female warrior to life using cutting-edge facial recognition technology.
And scientists found the woman was buried with a hoard of deadly weaponry including arrows, a sword, a spear and an axe.
Researchers also discovered a dent in her head, which rested on a shield in her grave, that was consistent with a sword wound.
It is unclear whether the brutal injury was the cause of her death however it is believed to be ‘the first evidence ever found of a Viking woman with a battle injury’, according to Ms Al-Shamahi.
She added: I’m so excited because this is a face that hasn’t been seen in 1,000 years… She’s suddenly become really real.’
The expert who is a specialist in ancient human remains is set to present a National Geographic documentary featuring the reconstruction.
The face was built up anatomically working from the muscles and layering of the skin.
Dr Caroline Erolin, a senior lecturer at the University of Dundee in the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification which worked on the reconstruction said: ‘The resulting reconstruction is never 100 per cent accurate, but is enough to generate recognition from someone who knew them well in real life.’
The technology also recreated the woman’s grave showing the placement of the weapons.
The documentary shows Ms Al-Shamahi travelling across Scandinavia examining Viking burial sites and using visualisation techniques to reconstruct the contents.
Ms Al-Shamahi said while women risked being overpowered in hand-to-hand combat, they could have fired deadly arrows from horseback over longer distances making them ‘an equal match for men’.
Viking expert and archaeological consultant on the project Professor Neil Price added: ‘There are so many other burials in the Viking world… It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we find more (female warriors).’