In the shadows of York’s storied walls, an ancient Roman skeleton has revealed an astonishing secret: Scandinavian heritage predates the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons in Britain. Long before the fabled longships docked on these shores, people from northernmost Europe had already made their mark.
This revelation recently emerged from a new study that used advanced DNA analysis to explore migrations across Europe during the first millennium. Among the remains unearthed at a Roman cemetery in York, one individual stood out—a man who lived between the second and fourth centuries AD, possibly a soldier or even a gladiator. Remarkably, 25% of his DNA is traced back to Iron Age Scandinavia.
Scandinavian blood in Roman Britain — centuries before the Vikings
The study pushes the boundaries of what we know about migration patterns in ancient Europe. Using a novel genetic analysis technique called Twigstats, researchers examined over 1,500 genomes from first-millennium Europeans. Instead of focusing on all genetic differences, the method hones in on relatively recent mutations, providing unprecedented insights into the movement of populations. The result? A tenfold increase in resolution for tracing ancestry.
The scientists’ work offers an unprecedented look at the migrations, minglings, and disappearances of genetic lineages across Europe between 500 BCE and 1000 CE.
“This documents that people with Scandinavian-related ancestry already were in Britain before the fifth century,” the study noted, shedding new light on migrations that shaped the continent.
Dr. Leo Speidel, first author of the study and a group leader at Riken, a national scientific research institute in Japan, described the findings as a breakthrough. “The ancestry that we thought would come in [with] Anglo-Saxons maybe in some parts was already there,” he told The Guardian.
The research revealed two significant streams of Scandinavian-like ancestry that surged across Europe during the early centuries CE. One moved westward, the other eastward, blending with local populations in Germany, Poland, and Hungary. This genetic fingerprint aligns intriguingly with the spread of the Goths and other Germanic tribes documented in Roman histories.
But the Viking Age (750–1050 CE) brought a twist. The team discovered that by the 8th century, a wave of central European ancestry had swept into Scandinavia. This influx reshaped the genetic landscape of the Norse, whose seafaring raids would soon ripple across the continent.
These findings challenge the idea of a homogenous Viking population. They were a genetically diverse group, shaped by centuries of migration. Even culturally, we can’t speak of a single Viking people. They spoke different languages and were organized into hundreds of “petty kingdoms”, usually run by a local warlord. It wasn’t until the time of Harald Fairhair, for instance, that Norway became united under a single ruler around the year 885.
Rewriting History’s Margins
York’s Roman cemetery, where the Scandinavian-linked skeleton was found, is now helping scientists uncover lost history thanks to DNA. Excavated decades ago, the site revealed 56 skeletons, 30 of them decapitated adult males—a stark reminder of the violence of Roman Britain. The genetic evidence breathes new life into these remains, linking their stories to a vast, interwoven network of ancient migrations.
Dr. Pontus Skoglund of the Francis Crick Institute emphasized the significance of ancient DNA in uncovering untold stories: “The idea is that we can now investigate history with ancient DNA,” he told The Guardian.
The study’s findings also reframe our understanding of the Viking Age. It was not simply a period of outward expansion but a culmination of centuries of migration and exchange. The genetic diversity of Vikings, long observed but little understood, now has a clearer origin. “Previously, people had noticed that they were relatively diverse, but it was kind of hard to know why,” Speidel explained. “The main explanation was that these Vikings would go to places and then bring back people, perhaps.”
This research also casts a critical eye on historical sources, often biased or incomplete. As Peter Heather, a co-author and professor of medieval history at King’s College London, noted for The Times, “The nature, scale, and even the trajectories of the movements have always been hotly disputed. Twigstats opens up the exciting possibility of finally resolving these crucial questions.”
Connecting Past and Present
The discovery of Scandinavian ancestry in Roman Britain challenges entrenched narratives about the origins of modern Europe and highlights the complexity of human migration. For centuries, Scandinavian influence in Britain has been tied to the Vikings. This study shifts the timeline back by hundreds of years.
From the windswept coasts of Scandinavia to the bustling towns of Roman Britain, people have always moved, bringing with them their cultures, languages, and genes. This movement, long before written history recorded it, shaped the world we inhabit today.
The findings appeared in the journal Nature.
