Researchers Found Nearly 200 Medieval Skeletons In A Cemetery That Are Helping Them Better Understand What Viking Lives Were Really Like
Recently, a team of researchers analyzed a set of skeletons belonging to nearly 200 individuals who were buried in a large Viking cemetery.
The investigation found that the people from the Viking Age suffered from dental issues and tried to treat them with various methods.
The Viking Age began in the eighth century and ended in the eleventh century. It was a period in medieval history when seafaring Norsemen, known as Vikings, undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, and trading across many areas of Europe. They even reached territories as far as North America, North Africa, and the Middle East.
In 2005, archaeologists in Varnhem, Sweden, were conducting excavations when they unearthed the ruins of a stone church built in the eleventh century.
They also found a large cemetery near the church. The cemetery contained thousands of graves dating back to somewhere between the tenth and twelfth centuries. Out of all the graves, only a few hundred have been examined.
The burial practices at the site indicated that people in the Viking Age acted in accordance with Christian tradition as early as the tenth century.
This was much sooner than previously thought, especially since the first Christian monarch of Sweden was not baptized until the beginning of the eleventh century. As a result, the site has been deemed one of the earliest Christian settlements in Sweden.
More than 2,300 teeth from 171 bodies buried at the cemetery were studied. Findings showed that tooth decay and infections were common in the Viking community.
Over sixty percent of the adults had signs of tooth decay that occurred mostly on the surface of the roots.
selenit – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
However, none of the younger individuals had any tooth decay. Researchers also learned that the Vikings tried to treat their dental issues by filing down teeth.
“I was surprised to see that in two individuals, teeth with infections had been manipulated with an opening to the pulp chamber, perhaps in an attempt to relieve the pain from these teeth,” said the study’s lead author, Carolina Bertilsson from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
She added that while the method may have been effective for pain relief, it was also a magnet for bacteria to enter and cause further infections.
Furthermore, there was evidence of the individuals using some type of toothpick to remove food that had gotten stuck between their teeth.
Before these findings, it was thought that the only dental treatments Vikings utilized were tooth extractions. But it turns out that their practices were much more sophisticated.
Overall, the study has shed light on the everyday life of Vikings, providing a closer look into their diet, habits, and ailments.
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