Authentic Viking DNA Retrieved From 1,000-year-old Skeletons

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 21:35 in Paleontology & Archaeology

Although "Viking" literally means "pirate," recent research has indicated that the Vikings were also traders to the fishmongers of Europe. Stereotypically, these Norsemen are usually pictured wearing a horned helmet but in a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen, investigated what went under the helmet; the scientists extracted authentic DNA from ancient Viking skeletons, avoiding many of the problems of contamination faced by past researchers.

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