By Dr. Alakananda Dasgupta A new study finds that the key genetic risk factors for Dupuytren’s disease, a crippling hand disorder, are derived from Neanderthals. Neanderthal genes may be one cause of the disorder nicknamed the “Viking disease,” in which fingers become frozen in a bent position, a new study finds.The study, published June 14 inContinue reading “Mysterious ‘Viking disease’ linked to Neanderthal DNA”
Category Archives: old norse blog
Viking Age Iceland: Thórsnes Thing
This 77 of our ongoing series about Viking Age Iceland. For centuries, this island country, unique in Medieval Europe, operated with no king, no great lords, no foreign policy, and no defense forces but which developed legal and judicial systems to limit the violence of bloodfeud and protect the rights of freemen. Far out in the North Atlantic, Iceland was where the famousContinue reading “Viking Age Iceland: Thórsnes Thing”
Seemingly ’empty’ burial mound is hiding a 1,200-year-old Viking ship
By Tom Metcalfe Ground-penetrating radar has revealed the outline of a Viking ship in a mound in southwest Norway that was once thought to be empty. A Viking Age burial mound in Norway long thought to be empty actually holds an incredible artifact: the remains of a ship burial, according to a ground-penetrating radar analysis.The remains,Continue reading “Seemingly ’empty’ burial mound is hiding a 1,200-year-old Viking ship”
1,200-year-old ‘Viking graffiti’ is the oldest drawing ever discovered in Iceland
By Laura Geggel Viking boat graffiti like this record-setting carving are usually “extremely poorly done.” Archaeologists in Iceland have unearthed the country’s oldest known drawing: a scratched-out piece of “Viking graffiti” that looks like a partly drawn boat. The researchers found the graffiti in the remains of a longhouse, said Bjarni F. Einarsson, an archaeologist and managerContinue reading “1,200-year-old ‘Viking graffiti’ is the oldest drawing ever discovered in Iceland”
Giant Viking hall, possibly connected to Harald Bluetooth, unearthed in Denmark
By Jennifer Nalewicki Archaeologists in Denmark have unearthed portions of a massive Viking hall, with more of the structure still buried. Archaeologists in Denmark have unearthed a portion of a massive Viking hall that may be connected to King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, who reigned from A.D. 958 to 986, during the Viking Age.The structure, which is located inContinue reading “Giant Viking hall, possibly connected to Harald Bluetooth, unearthed in Denmark”