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When the brand come down upon her head , the blade snub her to the bone . scientist studying theVikingwoman ’s fractured skull 1,000 geezerhood later still are n’t sure whether the blow actually killed her — however , the treasure trove of weapons buried with her make it open that she died a warrior nonetheless .
That Viking , who lived and died around the year 900 , was first excavated from a farm in Solør , Norway , in 1900 . Her head rested on a carapace , a bridled horse skeleton lay wave at her feet , and her soundbox was boxed in by a sword , fizgig , battle - axe and arrow . When a quick analysis disclose the skeletal frame to be female , it was immediately rede as the first strong-arm example of ashield - maiden — a mythical female warrior only reference in medieval school text before then .
This facial reconstruction of a Viking woman’s skull shows a deep head wound, possibly sustained during battle.
Now , for the first time , researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland have used facial reconstruction technology to re - make that maiden ’s appearance — include the wound that may have end her calling .
Related : Viking Warrior Is Actually a Woman
The results , which you may see above and in the novel National Geographic documentary " Viking Warrior Women , " show a cleaning woman of about 18 or 19 years former with a substantial jaw , swollen center and a forehead that ’s check better Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . accord to the squad ’s psychoanalysis of the warrior ’s skull , the maiden over ache a serious head injury reproducible with a sword hit — however , the lesion showed signs of healing and may not have been her ultimate cause of death .
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Whether the wound was fateful or not , the raw reconstruction advise that this skeleton may be " the first evidence ever found of a Viking woman with a battle injury , " archaeologist Ella Al - Shamahi , who hosts the raw documentary , told The Guardian .
That ’s exciting news program , especially for investigator try out to overturn the hundred - sure-enough Assumption of Mary that Viking warriors were exclusively men . This stereotype postulate its own bump in 2017 , when a Viking skeleton presume for the retiring 70 eld to be a man ( because it had been eat up with a trove of weapon system ) wasproven to be a womanfollowing a DNA depth psychology .
Like the shield - maid of Solør , this charwoman was swallow with an array of weapons and horses , plus a readiness of chess - like gaming pieces that suggest a tactical aptitude commensurate with a luxuriously - outrank military functionary , the researchers who made the discoverywrote in a study . Not only is it potential that she was a warrior , but she may also have been a full general .
" Our result monish against wholesale rendition based on … bias , " the investigator wrote in their 2017 newspaper . " Our results … indicate that [ Viking ] womanhood , indeed , were able-bodied to be full member of male dominated spheres . "
If you ’d like to pay court to the buckler - maiden of Solør , you may find her dented skull and well - worn artillery on display at theMuseum of Cultural Historyin Oslo , Norway , until Nov. 22 .
" Viking Warrior Woman " first aired on Nov. 3 on theNational Geographic line .
in the beginning published onLive Science .
