Viking Shield Maidens were real. DNA proof.

[Steve James]

Scientists have confirmed that human remains interred in a prominent Viking warrior grave in Sweden were those of a woman and not a man, a discovery that raises provocative questions about gender roles and limitations in the male-dominated ancient society.

The woman's remains were entombed in a "well-furnished" grave in the Viking-age town of Birka and were excavated in the 1880s, but it was only through DNA testing that her sex was determined, according to findings published Friday in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Not only was she a warrior, but the grave suggests she was a high-ranking one. Along with her remains, archaeologists found a sword, an ax, a spear, armor-piercing arrows, a bottle knife, two shields and two horses – the complete equipment of a professional warrior. Furthermore, a full set of gaming pieces with the remains implied she had knowledge of tactics and strategy and confirmed her role as a high-ranking officer, the findings state.

"Aside from the complete warrior equipment buried along with her... she had a board game in her lap, or more of a war-planning game used to try out battle tactics and strategies, which indicates she was a powerful military leader. She's most likely planned, led and taken part in battles," Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, an archaeologist at Uppsala University told The Local.

The remains had been assumed to have been those of a man because of the armor found with them. However, Anna Kjellstrom, an osteologist at Stockholm University, began studying them in 2016 and noticed feminine qualities, such as thinner cheekbones and "typically feminine" hips, according to The Local.

"This image of the male warrior in a patriarchal society was reinforced by research traditions and contemporary preconceptions. Hence, the biological sex of the individual was taken for granted," Hedenstierna-Jonson, Kjellstrom and the eight other researchers behind the study, wrote in their report.

Hedenstierna-Jonson told The Local it was uncommon for women to hold high roles in the Viking military and the woman would have needed to have battle experience to get there. Although there had been stories of female warriors, the finding marks the first confirmation.

Hedenstierna-Jonson added that this was a "fantastic find," but "unlikely to completely up-end historians' view of the Viking society as being patriarchal, mainly constituting of male warriors."

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https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-09-08/dna-confirms-viking-remains-found-in-sweden-are-female

[Trick]

It sure seem that women and men where on a more equal standard in the pre Christian Scandinavia, it is not exactly a new view it has been pointed out for some time. But as the report 'in Swedish" also reports, back then a widow also inherits not only the belongings but the status of her dead husband, and the report give a small hint that this could also be the answer to this archeology find.

[Steve James]

Frankly, I've no clue about the specifics. It's unlikely that Viking men and women went on raids together or were all trained to be warriors. That wasn't sexism; it was that someone had to do the day to day village stuff. I.e., a division of labor. I mean; there had to be babies and toddlers.

However, there's plenty of evidence in Britain and elsewhere of women warriors. They were just the exceptions in most cultures. There were also many who dressed as men and fought with them. So, this woman might have been one of the exceptions. Maybe she was of high rank and buried as a warrior because she was a chief. Or, she was a combination of Ronda Rousey and Boadicea.