Oseberg Ship - Human Remains

Human Remains

The skeletons of two women were found in the grave. One, aged 60–70, suffered badly from arthritis and other maladies; the second was aged 25–30. It is not clear which one was the more important in life or whether one was sacrificed to accompany the other in death (see human sacrifice). The opulence of the burial rite and the grave-goods suggests that this was a burial of very high status. One woman wore a very fine red wool dress with a lozenge twill pattern (a luxury commodity), and a fine white linen veil in a gauze weave, while the other wore plainer blue wool dress with a wool veil, showing some stratification in their social status. Neither woman wore anything entirely made of silk, although small silk strips were appliqued onto a tunic worn under the red dress.

Dendrochronological analysis of timbers in the grave chamber dates the burial to the autumn of 834 A.D. Although the high-ranking woman's identity is unknown, it has been suggested that it is the burial of Queen Åsa of the Yngling clan, mother of Halfdan the Black and grandmother of Harald Fairhair. Recent tests of the women's remains suggest that they lived in Agder in Norway, just as Queen Åsa of the Yngling clan. This theory has been challenged, and some think that she may have been a völva. There were also the skeletal remains of 14 horses, an ox and three dogs found on the ship.

According to Per Holck of Oslo University, the younger woman's mitochondrial haplogroup was discovered to be U7. Her ancestors came to Norway from the Pontic littoral, probably Iran. Examinations of fragments of the skeletons have provided more insight into their lives. The younger woman had a broken collarbone, initially thought to be evidence that she was a human sacrifice, but a closer examination showed that the bone had been healing for some time. Her teeth also showed signs she used a metal toothpick, a rare 9th century luxury. Both women had a diet composed mainly of meat, another luxury when most Vikings ate fish. However, there was not enough DNA to tell if they were related, for instance a queen and her daughter.