An analysis of the weapons indicates the weapons had been used by a trained warrior and were not ceremonial. And not just any female, but a Viking warrior woman, a shield-maiden, like the ancient Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones." Archaeologist David Zori noted, "numerous Viking sagas, such as the 13th century Saga of the Volsungs, tell of 'shield-maidens' fighting alongside male warriors". The Washington Post reported, "The warrior was, in fact, female. The Guardian reported, "Gaming pieces – perhaps from hnefatafl, a sort of precursor to chess – suggest the female warrior from grave Bj 581 was a battle strategist." According to Kjellström, "Only a few warriors are buried with gaming pieces, and they signal strategic thinking." This may also indicate that she was a member of the military caste. – The Greenlandic Poem of Atli (st. 49) Analysis of grave artifacts Īnalysis of the contents of the grave showed that it contained a game set with a board and pieces, noted as typically symbolizing strategic thinking, which has led to speculation "that she was an officer who could lead troops into battle". She was handy at fighting, wherever she aimed her blows. She took a naked sword and fought for her kinsmen's lives, She resolved on a hard course and flung off her cloak Then the high-born lady saw them play the wounding game, The authors responded to the criticism of their original study in a second article published in Antiquity, which provided additional information about their methodology and reaffirmed their conclusion. This has brought forward the question of whether or not the individual was originally from Birka, or if she had settled there afterwards.Ĭontroversially, the conclusion of the study was that "the individual in grave Bj 581 is the first confirmed female high-ranking Viking warrior". This determined that she has similar markers with present-day people living in areas that were under the sphere of influence of the Vikings. The same study also analyzed Strontium isotopes on the skeleton to determine the geographic profile of the individual. The skeleton had two different X-chromosomes, but no Y-chromosomes, conclusively proving that the bones were that of a female. Hedenstierna-Jonson's team extracted DNA from samples taken from a tooth and an arm bone of the person buried in Bj 581. Ī study led by Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, published in September 2017, noted Kjellström's "osteological analysis triggered questions concerning sex, gender and identity among Viking warriors". A 2014 osteological analysis of the skeleton's pelvic bones and mandible by Stockholm University bioarchaeologist Anna Kjellström provided evidence that the bones were those of a female.
Studies in the 1970s had questioned the assumption the skeleton was male.
The warrior has been compared to "a figure from Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries". For the next 128 years, the skeleton was assumed to be that of a "battle hardened man". The goods found in the grave included "a sword, an axe, a spear, armour-piercing arrows, a battle knife, two shields, and two horses, one mare and one stallion". The body was found collapsed from a sitting position, wearing garments of silk, with silver thread decorations. The grave chamber was made out of wood and it was 3.45 m long and 1.75 m wide. It has been considered "one of the most iconic graves from the Viking Age." The grave was marked by a large stone boulder and was found on an elevated terrace where it was in direct contact with the garrison. In 1889 he documented the grave as Bj 581. 3 Female warriors in other Viking Age sourcesĪrchaeological records Initial excavation Īrchaeologist and ethnographer Hjalmar Stolpe (1841–1905) excavated a burial chamber in the 1870s, as part of his archaeological research at the Viking Age site Birka, on the island Björkö (literally: "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden.