1 00:00:03,603 --> 00:00:05,572 ELLA: An ancient grave. 2 00:00:08,408 --> 00:00:12,045 Its occupant surrounded by treasure 3 00:00:12,746 --> 00:00:14,647 and deadly weapons. 4 00:00:17,784 --> 00:00:22,522 The most stunning burial ever found of an elite Viking Warrior. 5 00:00:24,858 --> 00:00:28,728 It's always been assumed that Viking warriors were all men. 6 00:00:28,795 --> 00:00:29,796 (shouting) 7 00:00:29,863 --> 00:00:35,035 But new discoveries on this burial are turning that completely on its head. 8 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:41,441 Because science has revealed that this iconic warrior... 9 00:00:41,508 --> 00:00:43,243 was a woman. 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:48,715 I'm Ella Al-Shamahi, 11 00:00:48,782 --> 00:00:52,185 archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer. 12 00:00:52,952 --> 00:00:56,289 An expert in ancient human remains. 13 00:00:56,356 --> 00:00:57,791 Well, she's female! 14 00:00:57,857 --> 00:01:00,493 Now I'm on a mission... 15 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,229 armed with cutting-edge technology... 16 00:01:03,563 --> 00:01:05,364 That's amazing! 17 00:01:06,433 --> 00:01:09,002 ELLA: ...analyzing brand-new forensic data... 18 00:01:10,470 --> 00:01:12,972 Blood everywhere. Head wounds bleed quite heavily. 19 00:01:13,039 --> 00:01:16,943 ELLA: ...conducting unique scientific experiments. 20 00:01:17,010 --> 00:01:19,379 Oh, my gosh, we've done some damage. 21 00:01:19,446 --> 00:01:24,551 ELLA: And even making my own amazing archaeological discovery. 22 00:01:24,617 --> 00:01:26,519 Is that a cause of death? 23 00:01:26,586 --> 00:01:31,791 To reveal whether Viking women could really have fought alongside men, 24 00:01:32,926 --> 00:01:37,564 and to find out if this one extraordinary burial is unique 25 00:01:37,630 --> 00:01:41,935 or whether there are more Viking warrior women out there. 26 00:01:42,001 --> 00:01:44,571 NEIL: There are so many other burials in the Viking world. 27 00:01:44,637 --> 00:01:47,307 It wouldn't surprise me at all if we find more. 28 00:01:47,372 --> 00:01:51,211 ELLA: What is being revealed right now is transforming 29 00:01:51,277 --> 00:01:56,348 everything we thought we knew about the Vikings. 30 00:01:56,416 --> 00:01:59,252 And how their women might have gone to war. 31 00:02:09,795 --> 00:02:11,164 Northern Europe. 32 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:18,905 What is now modern-day Scandinavia was once the heart of the Viking world. 33 00:02:20,907 --> 00:02:21,975 Look at this place. 34 00:02:22,408 --> 00:02:24,644 You can still imagine the Vikings setting out 35 00:02:24,711 --> 00:02:27,847 on raids of terror 1000 years ago. 36 00:02:29,415 --> 00:02:32,152 Their exploits were legendary. 37 00:02:32,552 --> 00:02:35,421 And their lands still hold secrets. 38 00:02:37,690 --> 00:02:39,526 ELLA (over radio): The clues are down there. 39 00:02:39,591 --> 00:02:41,661 This is Viking country. 40 00:02:47,901 --> 00:02:51,704 My investigation into Viking warrior women begins here 41 00:02:51,771 --> 00:02:54,574 in Sweden's capital, Stockholm. 42 00:02:59,179 --> 00:03:03,149 I've come to the Swedish History Museum to see the Birka warrior, 43 00:03:04,951 --> 00:03:09,589 the skeleton that's causing such controversy in Viking archaeology. 44 00:03:13,993 --> 00:03:17,130 The fragile remains are not on display to the public, 45 00:03:17,197 --> 00:03:19,532 but I've been given special access. 46 00:03:20,433 --> 00:03:22,769 I've definitely got goose bumps right now. 47 00:03:23,970 --> 00:03:27,340 A burial unearthed over a century ago, 48 00:03:27,407 --> 00:03:31,144 surrounded by a rich stash of weapons. 49 00:03:31,211 --> 00:03:33,947 -Oh, my gosh. (laughs) -CHARLOTTE: Some of the weapons... 50 00:03:34,013 --> 00:03:35,215 ELLA: Wow. 51 00:03:36,249 --> 00:03:41,321 At the time, experts hailed the discovery of an elite Viking warrior. 52 00:03:43,289 --> 00:03:46,292 The assumed remains of a man. 53 00:03:47,093 --> 00:03:51,064 But now that assumption turns out to be wrong. 54 00:03:51,831 --> 00:03:54,867 New analysis by a team including archaeologist 55 00:03:54,934 --> 00:04:00,907 Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson has confirmed that this elite warrior 56 00:04:00,974 --> 00:04:02,108 was female. 57 00:04:04,944 --> 00:04:08,014 Oh, um... 58 00:04:08,081 --> 00:04:11,317 There's a different age associated with each of those fusions, 59 00:04:11,384 --> 00:04:12,719 so for example... 60 00:04:12,785 --> 00:04:16,389 So why haven't archaeologists known this all along? 61 00:04:17,957 --> 00:04:21,560 If this is a jigsaw puzzle, um, most of it's missing... 62 00:04:21,628 --> 00:04:22,495 CHARLOTTE: Yes. 63 00:04:22,562 --> 00:04:25,665 ...which makes any determination really, really difficult. 64 00:04:25,732 --> 00:04:27,867 CHARLOTTE: Well, there's lots of information missing 65 00:04:27,934 --> 00:04:31,237 and the quality of the bones, of the preservation is not good. 66 00:04:32,038 --> 00:04:34,340 ELLA: By studying bone growth and tooth wear, 67 00:04:34,407 --> 00:04:38,177 we can tell that this was someone who died in their 30s. 68 00:04:39,445 --> 00:04:43,582 But are there clues to whether they were a man or a woman? 69 00:04:45,585 --> 00:04:50,556 Along with other features, one very important bone is the pelvis. 70 00:04:50,623 --> 00:04:53,793 Now we've only got a teeny, teeny bit of the pelvis... 71 00:04:54,761 --> 00:04:59,432 but we do have the greater sciatic notch and that is actually quite wide, 72 00:04:59,499 --> 00:05:01,768 which is in keeping with a female pelvis. 73 00:05:02,502 --> 00:05:04,971 -Evidence that she's female. -Of course. Of course. 74 00:05:08,608 --> 00:05:10,677 ELLA: But when the grave was excavated, 75 00:05:10,743 --> 00:05:14,681 archaeologists were less interested in these decayed bones 76 00:05:15,682 --> 00:05:18,651 than the buried treasures found alongside them. 77 00:05:19,652 --> 00:05:23,956 These might be the Viking-est of the weapons, 78 00:05:24,023 --> 00:05:25,591 right, the sword. 79 00:05:25,658 --> 00:05:27,360 -I'm so excited. I am sorry-- -(Charlotte chuckles) 80 00:05:27,427 --> 00:05:29,495 I'm not used to wielding swords. 81 00:05:29,562 --> 00:05:30,930 She was a badass. 82 00:05:31,931 --> 00:05:36,102 As well as a sword there was a battle axe and spears. 83 00:05:36,836 --> 00:05:38,871 CHARLOTTE: These are really high-end weapons. 84 00:05:39,572 --> 00:05:43,109 ELLA: Even an entire cache of arrows. 85 00:05:45,345 --> 00:05:47,547 This is all about being a warrior. 86 00:05:47,613 --> 00:05:50,216 ELLA: But while the weapons fascinated archaeologists 87 00:05:50,283 --> 00:05:55,521 a century ago, there was little to learn by studying ancient bones. 88 00:05:57,623 --> 00:06:01,861 Even the skull of the Birka Warrior has been lost since excavation, 89 00:06:01,928 --> 00:06:03,563 leaving only her jaw. 90 00:06:05,665 --> 00:06:10,770 Today, though, science can make incredible discoveries from skeletons. 91 00:06:11,971 --> 00:06:17,443 And DNA analysis has proved what examination of the pelvis suggests, 92 00:06:17,510 --> 00:06:21,748 that these remains are biologically female. 93 00:06:24,917 --> 00:06:29,789 The results have sent shockwaves through the world of archaeology. 94 00:06:29,856 --> 00:06:32,158 So what was the initial reaction? 95 00:06:32,525 --> 00:06:36,095 Everything and anything from "You must have the wrong bones", 96 00:06:36,162 --> 00:06:38,498 to "I have a gut feel that you're wrong, actually". 97 00:06:38,564 --> 00:06:39,465 Right. 98 00:06:40,867 --> 00:06:45,304 Some experts still doubt that Viking women could have fought like men. 99 00:06:45,938 --> 00:06:50,009 And others have started to ask whether this biological female 100 00:06:50,076 --> 00:06:53,079 might have chosen to identify as a man. 101 00:06:53,746 --> 00:06:58,084 The Birka warrior is really challenging what a lot of archaeologists 102 00:06:58,151 --> 00:06:59,652 have always believed. 103 00:06:59,719 --> 00:07:02,422 It is a massive upset. 104 00:07:02,488 --> 00:07:05,691 You've got this grave that everybody has always agreed 105 00:07:05,758 --> 00:07:09,395 was a really significant Viking warrior grave, 106 00:07:09,462 --> 00:07:13,132 now, we know it's female. 107 00:07:13,199 --> 00:07:18,070 And the real question for me is, if archaeology got one grave wrong, 108 00:07:18,137 --> 00:07:24,110 how many more female Viking warrior graves are there out there? 109 00:07:31,951 --> 00:07:35,221 If there are others, I'm determined to find them. 110 00:07:37,423 --> 00:07:41,093 But first, I need to know what to look for, 111 00:07:41,159 --> 00:07:44,163 so I'm heading to where our warrior was discovered. 112 00:07:48,067 --> 00:07:52,638 Twenty miles west of Stockholm is the ancient Viking settlement of Birka. 113 00:07:54,907 --> 00:07:58,511 Today it's uninhabited, but 1200 years ago, 114 00:07:58,578 --> 00:08:01,881 this was a thriving hub of the Viking world. 115 00:08:09,489 --> 00:08:12,992 And its landscape is shaped by its Viking past. 116 00:08:13,860 --> 00:08:16,629 There are burial mounds everywhere. 117 00:08:18,798 --> 00:08:22,268 Archaeologist Neil Price has been fascinated by the secrets 118 00:08:22,335 --> 00:08:26,472 of this vast Viking graveyard for 25 years. 119 00:08:27,907 --> 00:08:31,444 This is amazing. Every single one of these mounds, 120 00:08:31,511 --> 00:08:33,346 these tiny little hills is a grave. 121 00:08:33,412 --> 00:08:35,748 Yeah, um, on the island as a whole 122 00:08:35,815 --> 00:08:40,019 you've got about 3,000 visible burial mounds like this. 123 00:08:40,086 --> 00:08:44,123 It's the landscape of the dead surrounding the town of the living. 124 00:08:45,825 --> 00:08:50,630 ELLA: Our Viking warrior was buried on the very furthest edge of the island. 125 00:08:53,032 --> 00:08:56,602 And so would this have been a significant location for a Viking? 126 00:08:56,669 --> 00:09:00,006 Absolutely. I-I don't think it's an accident that--that she's buried 127 00:09:00,072 --> 00:09:03,075 on the most prominent position on the island. 128 00:09:03,142 --> 00:09:05,711 Everything about this, even if we hadn't excavated it, 129 00:09:05,778 --> 00:09:10,182 I-I think it really emphasizes the importance of this person. 130 00:09:11,651 --> 00:09:15,454 ELLA: For the first time, by using the original excavation data, 131 00:09:15,521 --> 00:09:18,624 combined with cutting-edge computer graphics, 132 00:09:18,691 --> 00:09:22,595 we can recreate the grave as never seen before. 133 00:09:32,905 --> 00:09:36,576 Our warrior was buried in a chamber grave, 134 00:09:36,642 --> 00:09:40,846 an entire underground room reserved only 135 00:09:40,913 --> 00:09:43,783 for the most important Vikings. 136 00:09:45,151 --> 00:09:48,588 It was large enough to contain her body, 137 00:09:48,654 --> 00:09:51,657 a lavish array of grave goods, 138 00:09:51,724 --> 00:09:56,529 and even at her feet, a pair of horses. 139 00:09:56,596 --> 00:09:59,565 There's a mare and a stallion, they're packed very close together. 140 00:09:59,632 --> 00:10:02,268 Then you got the weapons grouped around the body. 141 00:10:02,335 --> 00:10:05,871 ELLA: Precisely placed. A sword by her left hand... 142 00:10:08,541 --> 00:10:10,977 and an axe next to her right. 143 00:10:12,578 --> 00:10:15,514 Two shields, one at the head, one at the foot of the grave. 144 00:10:16,382 --> 00:10:19,619 ELLA: Nearby, a number of arrows. 145 00:10:19,685 --> 00:10:21,621 That's a lot of grave goods. 146 00:10:21,687 --> 00:10:23,089 Particularly a lot of weapons. 147 00:10:24,090 --> 00:10:27,393 ELLA: Alongside the weapons, something intriguing, 148 00:10:27,460 --> 00:10:30,529 small fragments of whalebone... 149 00:10:30,596 --> 00:10:35,201 identified as counters in a Viking game of strategy. 150 00:10:37,536 --> 00:10:40,072 The grave's position, all its rich contents, 151 00:10:40,139 --> 00:10:44,944 and these counters have led to an extraordinary suggestion... 152 00:10:45,011 --> 00:10:48,681 that this warrior, as well as being female, 153 00:10:48,748 --> 00:10:52,084 could have been a military commander. 154 00:10:53,386 --> 00:10:57,890 Everything about this woman, this grave, this location, 155 00:10:57,957 --> 00:11:01,293 indicates that she was someone really, really significant. 156 00:11:02,528 --> 00:11:06,198 The discovery that our woman could have been a military leader 157 00:11:06,265 --> 00:11:07,733 is remarkable. 158 00:11:08,567 --> 00:11:12,204 Asking some big, new questions of sex and gender 159 00:11:12,271 --> 00:11:15,174 in the Viking world. 160 00:11:15,241 --> 00:11:20,246 But if archaeology has got one grave so wrong for over a century, 161 00:11:20,312 --> 00:11:22,248 could there be more? 162 00:11:22,314 --> 00:11:25,284 Is she alone, was she really the only one? 163 00:11:25,351 --> 00:11:29,388 If we look, say, at warrior burials all over the Viking world, 164 00:11:29,455 --> 00:11:31,824 most of them aren't sexed at all, 165 00:11:31,891 --> 00:11:33,926 some of those are going to turn out to be female. 166 00:11:33,993 --> 00:11:36,896 There are so many other burials in the Viking world. 167 00:11:36,962 --> 00:11:39,331 so many more questions left to ask, 168 00:11:40,099 --> 00:11:42,868 it wouldn't surprise me at all if we find more. 169 00:11:46,605 --> 00:11:50,309 ELLA: How many Viking warrior women could be out there? 170 00:11:50,376 --> 00:11:54,480 And how could this change what we know about the Viking world? 171 00:11:57,349 --> 00:12:00,953 Leaving my female warrior behind in Sweden, 172 00:12:01,020 --> 00:12:03,656 I'm heading south to Denmark 173 00:12:03,723 --> 00:12:06,625 in search of what could be another. 174 00:12:07,460 --> 00:12:11,130 Following a lead, I'm linking up with Polish archaeologist, 175 00:12:11,197 --> 00:12:12,932 Leszek Gardela. 176 00:12:14,366 --> 00:12:17,903 ELLA: Do you think it would have been common for women to be warriors? 177 00:12:17,970 --> 00:12:20,072 LESZEK: I don't this was very common. 178 00:12:20,139 --> 00:12:21,841 I think they certainly existed, 179 00:12:21,907 --> 00:12:26,078 but there were much fewer female warriors than male warriors. 180 00:12:29,749 --> 00:12:34,086 ELLA: Leszek's brought me to a rural Danish island called Langeland. 181 00:12:36,889 --> 00:12:41,427 All these wheat fields grow over an ancient Viking cemetery, 182 00:12:42,361 --> 00:12:46,398 where 49 graves were excavated in the 1980s. 183 00:12:47,533 --> 00:12:50,970 I've come to investigate one in particular. 184 00:12:53,239 --> 00:12:57,510 Using original excavation data combined with computer graphics, 185 00:12:57,576 --> 00:13:00,045 we can recreate the grave, 186 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:05,451 allowing us to explore it in a completely new way. 187 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:09,421 Unlike the Birka warrior, 188 00:13:09,488 --> 00:13:14,493 this Danish burial has always been identified as female 189 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:17,062 but never as a warrior. 190 00:13:18,664 --> 00:13:22,501 Leszek, though, thinks that that could be wrong. 191 00:13:23,936 --> 00:13:27,206 It was one of the few chamber graves in--in the cemetery, 192 00:13:27,273 --> 00:13:32,077 and chamber graves are something that immediately suggest high status. 193 00:13:34,313 --> 00:13:38,217 ELLA: Nail fragments are evidence that there was once a wooden coffin. 194 00:13:38,984 --> 00:13:42,021 LESZEK: The deceased person was buried within the coffin... 195 00:13:42,087 --> 00:13:42,988 Hmm. 196 00:13:43,055 --> 00:13:44,857 ...with several objects. 197 00:13:46,325 --> 00:13:50,362 ELLA: Within the grave, mysterious treasures that make it unique. 198 00:13:51,230 --> 00:13:53,332 On her chest, a knife. 199 00:13:53,399 --> 00:13:57,336 At her hip, an ornate metal fire striker. 200 00:13:57,403 --> 00:13:59,972 And, also, a silver coin. 201 00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:04,677 An Arabic dirham, dated to the year 945, 202 00:14:04,743 --> 00:14:08,280 so this gives us a very nice date for the entire burial. 203 00:14:08,347 --> 00:14:09,715 Wow, OK. 204 00:14:10,950 --> 00:14:15,087 But there's no array of weapons like the Birka burial. 205 00:14:15,154 --> 00:14:17,990 Just one very special discovery 206 00:14:18,057 --> 00:14:22,761 that Leszek believes makes this woman a crucial clue in my hunt 207 00:14:22,828 --> 00:14:25,531 for another Viking warrior woman. 208 00:14:25,598 --> 00:14:27,900 There's one other thing that's really interesting. 209 00:14:27,967 --> 00:14:30,369 Um, there was also an axe, 210 00:14:30,436 --> 00:14:34,106 and this axe was buried to the right knee of this person. 211 00:14:35,941 --> 00:14:40,145 ELLA: Axes are rarely found in female Viking graves. 212 00:14:40,946 --> 00:14:44,850 When they are, they're usually regarded as domestic tools. 213 00:14:46,285 --> 00:14:49,455 But Leszek thinks this one is different. 214 00:14:58,364 --> 00:15:00,065 Ever since its discovery, 215 00:15:00,132 --> 00:15:02,668 the ancient axe head has been carefully preserved, 216 00:15:02,735 --> 00:15:06,071 deep within the stores of Langeland's Museum. 217 00:15:13,012 --> 00:15:18,050 -It should be here... one-one-two-eight. -One-one-two-eight. 218 00:15:18,617 --> 00:15:20,719 LESZEK: Five, six, seven... 219 00:15:20,786 --> 00:15:23,589 ELLA: And Leszek has never seen it for real. 220 00:15:26,592 --> 00:15:30,062 One-one-two five, six, seven... 221 00:15:30,129 --> 00:15:32,298 one-one-two-eight, here we go! 222 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,803 OK, that's the one. Exciting moment. 223 00:15:39,171 --> 00:15:40,039 OK. 224 00:15:44,910 --> 00:15:46,745 OK, so it's the moment of truth. 225 00:15:46,812 --> 00:15:48,614 The moment of truth, let's have a look inside. 226 00:15:48,681 --> 00:15:49,949 You haven't seen this before, right? 227 00:15:50,015 --> 00:15:51,817 No, no. It's my first time. 228 00:15:52,952 --> 00:15:55,521 Could be a crucial part of the puzzle. 229 00:15:55,587 --> 00:15:58,457 Absolutely. OK, are you ready? 230 00:15:58,524 --> 00:16:00,092 -Let's do this. -Let's do this. 231 00:16:05,564 --> 00:16:06,699 LESZEK: So this is the axe. 232 00:16:08,434 --> 00:16:12,271 ELLA: My hunt to uncover evidence of a second Viking warrior woman 233 00:16:12,338 --> 00:16:15,607 has led me into the storeroom of a Danish museum. 234 00:16:15,674 --> 00:16:18,377 LESZEK: It's nicely wrapped. 235 00:16:18,444 --> 00:16:20,679 -This is real archaeology. -It is real archaeology. 236 00:16:20,746 --> 00:16:21,847 Everything just-- 237 00:16:21,914 --> 00:16:24,383 And a mysterious ancient axe head. 238 00:16:24,450 --> 00:16:25,951 -Wow. -Uh-huh. 239 00:16:28,187 --> 00:16:32,124 Uh, it's a fine piece of Viking age craftsmanship. 240 00:16:33,459 --> 00:16:34,793 I'll try and lift it. 241 00:16:37,229 --> 00:16:38,731 What do you think? 242 00:16:39,665 --> 00:16:42,468 LESZEK: Yeah, it's a beautiful axe. 243 00:16:42,534 --> 00:16:45,738 Um, you can see the blade is asymmetrical 244 00:16:45,804 --> 00:16:48,440 and it has a very narrow neck as well. 245 00:16:48,507 --> 00:16:50,142 What's your impression of this? 246 00:16:50,209 --> 00:16:51,944 This axe is unlike any axe, 247 00:16:52,011 --> 00:16:56,415 uh, that we commonly find in Viking age Denmark. 248 00:16:56,482 --> 00:16:57,616 ELLA: Right. 249 00:16:57,683 --> 00:16:59,952 There's something that-- that makes this axe 250 00:17:00,019 --> 00:17:03,489 -a foreign object on Danish soil. -Right. 251 00:17:04,757 --> 00:17:07,259 ELLA: Crafted hundreds of miles to the East, 252 00:17:07,326 --> 00:17:11,130 the blade of this axe isn't the right weight or shape 253 00:17:11,195 --> 00:17:12,798 for household use. 254 00:17:14,032 --> 00:17:15,334 So it is lighter. 255 00:17:15,401 --> 00:17:16,667 LESZEK: It is very light. It is very light. 256 00:17:16,734 --> 00:17:19,271 Now wh-what does that mean, the lightness? 257 00:17:19,338 --> 00:17:21,839 It's not a working tool. 258 00:17:21,906 --> 00:17:24,143 You need a heavy axe to chop wood. 259 00:17:24,943 --> 00:17:28,347 This particular example is definitely a weapon, 260 00:17:28,414 --> 00:17:29,581 it's a battle axe. 261 00:17:31,917 --> 00:17:37,356 Its particular design makes it a perfect killing device essentially. 262 00:17:38,057 --> 00:17:40,225 So this is quite similar to the case from Birka. 263 00:17:40,292 --> 00:17:41,727 Yeah. 264 00:17:41,794 --> 00:17:45,197 The discovery of a battle axe in this female burial 265 00:17:45,264 --> 00:17:48,967 makes me think that we've found a second warrior woman. 266 00:17:50,869 --> 00:17:52,471 From Sweden to Denmark, 267 00:17:52,538 --> 00:17:53,739 two graves. 268 00:17:53,806 --> 00:17:59,044 And now, perhaps two Viking warrior women. 269 00:18:00,879 --> 00:18:04,616 But this woman's axe is so unusual, 270 00:18:04,683 --> 00:18:10,222 I want to take a closer look to see what it might have looked like when new... 271 00:18:15,561 --> 00:18:18,597 and how it might have been used. 272 00:18:21,366 --> 00:18:25,037 Forging is like sculpting in clay, you sculpt with hammer. 273 00:18:26,605 --> 00:18:29,708 ELLA: I've commissioned expert weapon-maker, Tord Bergelin, 274 00:18:29,775 --> 00:18:32,010 to make an exact replica. 275 00:18:34,179 --> 00:18:37,182 It's only the edge that is really polished. 276 00:18:37,249 --> 00:18:40,752 The smoother it is the better it cuts. 277 00:18:42,054 --> 00:18:44,256 If it doesn't shave, it's not sharp enough. 278 00:18:44,323 --> 00:18:47,593 Actually, this is how I try all my blades. 279 00:18:47,893 --> 00:18:51,330 If I've been working a lot, I have to go look for hair on my arms 280 00:18:51,396 --> 00:18:54,233 because it's almost shaved clean. 281 00:19:07,679 --> 00:19:09,581 ELLA: Armed with this razor-sharp weapon, 282 00:19:09,648 --> 00:19:12,818 I arrive at Denmark's Trelleborg fortress. 283 00:19:17,756 --> 00:19:21,994 A thousand years ago, this Viking fort was a major military settlement. 284 00:19:23,128 --> 00:19:28,367 An ideal place to test my new axe in the hands of a local female fighter. 285 00:19:30,335 --> 00:19:33,839 Sandra Bohr is a Viking combat specialist. 286 00:19:33,906 --> 00:19:38,043 With her, archaeologist and weapons expert, Rolf Warming. 287 00:19:38,610 --> 00:19:40,045 And, essential to our test... 288 00:19:40,946 --> 00:19:42,648 a pig carcass. 289 00:19:43,315 --> 00:19:46,518 So why are we using a pig as target practice? 290 00:19:46,585 --> 00:19:49,621 ROLF: Well, uh, it resembles human flesh. 291 00:19:49,688 --> 00:19:52,758 It's quite standard for--for practicing with different sharp weapons. 292 00:19:54,826 --> 00:19:58,630 ELLA: Before Sandra tries it out, I'm keen to have a go myself. 293 00:19:59,798 --> 00:20:01,433 And then it's like that. 294 00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:03,569 -SANDRA: Yes. -ELLA: There we go. 295 00:20:03,635 --> 00:20:07,706 With an axe sharp enough to shave the hairs of a blacksmith's arm, 296 00:20:07,773 --> 00:20:10,042 any slip could be dangerous. 297 00:20:10,108 --> 00:20:11,577 -I'm nervous. -Yeah? 298 00:20:11,643 --> 00:20:12,744 Um, yeah, I'm nervous. 299 00:20:12,811 --> 00:20:15,414 But do you feel safe with the axe and ready for it? 300 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:16,982 -ELLA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. -SANDRA: So you're ready? 301 00:20:17,049 --> 00:20:18,283 I'm just going to step out. 302 00:20:24,890 --> 00:20:26,058 You made a big cut. 303 00:20:26,124 --> 00:20:27,159 That's quite a bit of damage. 304 00:20:27,859 --> 00:20:30,062 ELLA: Even in the hands of a first-time warrior, 305 00:20:30,128 --> 00:20:33,232 the blade slices into flesh like butter. 306 00:20:37,502 --> 00:20:41,406 But in the hands of Sandra, this light axe is a fast, 307 00:20:41,473 --> 00:20:43,775 one-handed killing machine. 308 00:20:54,519 --> 00:20:57,022 I think a lot of guys, they underestimate me 309 00:20:57,089 --> 00:20:58,056 because I'm a--a woman, 310 00:20:58,123 --> 00:21:00,692 and I'm short and I don't look that fierce. 311 00:21:00,759 --> 00:21:04,863 And my fighting style is very masculine 312 00:21:04,930 --> 00:21:07,699 which also, uh, surprises them. 313 00:21:12,938 --> 00:21:16,108 ELLA: If Sandra can be deadly with this battle axe today... 314 00:21:19,177 --> 00:21:23,115 then so could a Viking woman a thousand years ago. 315 00:21:24,750 --> 00:21:28,020 And all this begs another huge question. 316 00:21:29,121 --> 00:21:32,491 If we are finding women warrior burials, 317 00:21:32,557 --> 00:21:37,195 then might women have taken part in front-line combat? 318 00:21:40,299 --> 00:21:45,604 To explore that means leaving Scandinavia for Britain. 319 00:21:49,775 --> 00:21:52,144 I'm heading to the heart of England 320 00:21:52,210 --> 00:21:54,813 and a rural village in Derbyshire. 321 00:21:56,515 --> 00:22:00,352 Repton was a base for an entire Viking army 322 00:22:00,419 --> 00:22:03,422 that set out from Denmark to conquer England 323 00:22:03,488 --> 00:22:08,360 in a campaign that was waged for more than 13 years. 324 00:22:08,727 --> 00:22:12,931 Archaeologist Cat Jarman is unearthing its remains. 325 00:22:12,998 --> 00:22:15,067 CAT: This is our current ongoing trench. 326 00:22:15,133 --> 00:22:18,770 We've found Viking artifacts, weapon fragments, ship nails, 327 00:22:18,837 --> 00:22:21,873 real evidence that the Vikings were definitely here. 328 00:22:23,575 --> 00:22:28,013 ELLA: As well as a camp, Repton was also a burial site... 329 00:22:30,482 --> 00:22:34,619 where archaeologists discovered a mass deposit of bones. 330 00:22:35,787 --> 00:22:38,156 There was an axe, there were fighting knives. 331 00:22:38,223 --> 00:22:42,461 It was presumed that this was the burial of the Viking war dead. 332 00:22:44,096 --> 00:22:50,102 ELLA: Along with the weapons, the jumbled remains of over 250 bodies... 333 00:22:50,669 --> 00:22:54,306 some carrying the marks of violent injury. 334 00:22:55,474 --> 00:22:59,778 But close examination revealed something extraordinary. 335 00:22:59,845 --> 00:23:02,948 Not all these skeletons were male. 336 00:23:10,188 --> 00:23:13,225 ELLA: In an English village, I could have hit the motherlode 337 00:23:13,291 --> 00:23:15,994 in my search for Viking warrior women. 338 00:23:16,061 --> 00:23:19,364 A burial pit of suspected war dead. 339 00:23:19,431 --> 00:23:22,300 CAT: About 80% of those buried there were men, 340 00:23:23,468 --> 00:23:25,237 but 20% were women. 341 00:23:26,171 --> 00:23:28,807 If this really was the war cemetery of the great army, 342 00:23:28,874 --> 00:23:31,910 the assumption was that that would only have men in it. 343 00:23:31,977 --> 00:23:33,245 So who were these women? 344 00:23:34,646 --> 00:23:38,417 ELLA: Even though the Viking army was on campaign for years, 345 00:23:38,483 --> 00:23:42,621 it's previously been thought that Viking women were left at home. 346 00:23:43,822 --> 00:23:47,159 The assumption was that women had no roles in these armies. 347 00:23:47,225 --> 00:23:51,062 They stayed at home as nice housewives when their men went--went abroad. 348 00:23:51,463 --> 00:23:54,966 One of the early suggestions was that perhaps these were Viking men 349 00:23:55,033 --> 00:23:58,937 with local Anglo-Saxon wives who'd come along. 350 00:23:59,004 --> 00:24:00,305 So they "married locally." 351 00:24:00,372 --> 00:24:01,239 CAT: Yeah. 352 00:24:03,975 --> 00:24:08,213 ELLA: The dead women were assumed to be locals picked up by the army. 353 00:24:09,214 --> 00:24:13,618 But using cutting edge science, Cat is revealing something unexpected. 354 00:24:13,685 --> 00:24:15,554 One of the things I've been looking at is 355 00:24:15,620 --> 00:24:19,991 Strontium isotope analysis, which is a way of looking at tooth enamel. 356 00:24:20,058 --> 00:24:23,695 It's a-- Enamel preserves chemical signatures. 357 00:24:23,762 --> 00:24:27,632 So the idea being that your teeth tell you where you grew up. 358 00:24:27,699 --> 00:24:29,768 Yeah. Essentially they lock in a chemical signal 359 00:24:29,835 --> 00:24:31,503 that relates to geography. 360 00:24:31,870 --> 00:24:34,606 And so these people, were they from Repton 361 00:24:34,673 --> 00:24:36,341 based on this isotope analysis? 362 00:24:36,408 --> 00:24:39,010 The ones I've been looking and analyzing, 363 00:24:39,077 --> 00:24:40,178 they're certainly not local. 364 00:24:40,245 --> 00:24:41,346 But they are from all sorts of places 365 00:24:41,413 --> 00:24:44,583 which could be completely consistent with parts of Scandinavia. 366 00:24:46,251 --> 00:24:47,853 ELLA: The new evidence suggests 367 00:24:47,919 --> 00:24:51,823 that these women might have been part of the Viking invasion force. 368 00:24:53,024 --> 00:24:56,361 So far, no one is claiming that any of them fought 369 00:24:56,428 --> 00:24:58,530 and died in battle. 370 00:24:58,597 --> 00:25:01,967 But I'm wondering if it must be a possibility? 371 00:25:02,934 --> 00:25:08,039 There is now enough evidence to show that at least women were part of this. 372 00:25:08,106 --> 00:25:10,408 They were in some way part of moving out of Scandinavia, 373 00:25:10,475 --> 00:25:13,078 they weren't just sitting at home, looking after the farm. 374 00:25:13,144 --> 00:25:14,946 So we need to start questioning those roles. 375 00:25:17,649 --> 00:25:21,219 ELLA: But could our women have really fought alongside men, 376 00:25:21,286 --> 00:25:22,287 in battle? 377 00:25:23,722 --> 00:25:26,391 On average, men are bigger and stronger than women. 378 00:25:27,425 --> 00:25:31,129 So, in hand-to-hand combat, my two potential warrior women 379 00:25:31,196 --> 00:25:33,765 would have risked being over-powered. 380 00:25:36,935 --> 00:25:42,107 But there was another Viking weapon that was deadly, at a distance. 381 00:25:42,874 --> 00:25:45,076 The bow and arrow. 382 00:25:47,546 --> 00:25:51,049 And buried with the Birka warrior in Sweden 383 00:25:51,116 --> 00:25:53,952 was that cache of arrow-heads. 384 00:25:57,856 --> 00:26:03,194 So I want to take a closer look at my first Viking warrior woman again 385 00:26:03,261 --> 00:26:08,934 to search for forensic evidence of whether she might have fought in battle. 386 00:26:11,236 --> 00:26:16,808 We're using cutting-edge technology to scan the remains of the Birka warrior. 387 00:26:18,877 --> 00:26:23,582 Thousands of individual images are used to build up a detailed 3-D model. 388 00:26:25,383 --> 00:26:28,486 Detecting critical details that might tell us more 389 00:26:28,553 --> 00:26:32,023 about our warrior woman and her life. 390 00:26:34,693 --> 00:26:37,195 Forensic archaeologist, Carolyn Rando, 391 00:26:37,262 --> 00:26:40,498 is examining this new data from the Birka warrior 392 00:26:40,565 --> 00:26:42,701 for the very first time. 393 00:26:43,635 --> 00:26:45,837 Beginning with her arms. 394 00:26:45,904 --> 00:26:49,708 CAROLYN: So this is her left humerus, this from the back side. 395 00:26:49,774 --> 00:26:53,445 The left side is slightly bigger and slightly more robust as well. 396 00:26:53,511 --> 00:26:57,449 So it's being pulled or possibly even ripped in this area. 397 00:26:58,183 --> 00:27:02,921 ELLA: On the ball of the shoulder joint, Carolyn detects something unusual. 398 00:27:02,988 --> 00:27:04,789 CAROLYN: This could be from repetitive stress, 399 00:27:04,856 --> 00:27:08,226 so overuse of the joint again and again and again, 400 00:27:08,293 --> 00:27:10,328 using one arm much more than the other. 401 00:27:11,596 --> 00:27:14,332 ELLA: It's a conclusion that could be explained 402 00:27:14,399 --> 00:27:17,268 by her using a weapon in her left hand. 403 00:27:19,037 --> 00:27:22,307 But can our new scans provide any other clues 404 00:27:22,374 --> 00:27:25,577 to what sort of weapon it may have been? 405 00:27:27,746 --> 00:27:32,651 Archaeologists have previously identified something unusual about her spine. 406 00:27:34,886 --> 00:27:39,024 But no one has ever carried out a detailed examination before. 407 00:27:41,893 --> 00:27:46,631 What I noticed the most was how diseased her spine looked. 408 00:27:46,698 --> 00:27:49,000 The joint surface is hugely enlarged. 409 00:27:49,067 --> 00:27:52,904 She probably has some sort of oesteo-arthritis developing in her spine 410 00:27:52,971 --> 00:27:54,439 already in her 30s. 411 00:27:54,506 --> 00:27:59,344 It kinda switches right, left, right, left, all the way down, 412 00:27:59,411 --> 00:28:02,714 suggesting that this bone growth is trying to compensate 413 00:28:02,781 --> 00:28:05,817 for some sort of behaviors of the individual. 414 00:28:05,884 --> 00:28:09,087 ELLA: Forensic data reveals specific damage 415 00:28:09,154 --> 00:28:11,890 to the Birka Warrior's spine, 416 00:28:11,956 --> 00:28:14,459 indicating years of twisting. 417 00:28:16,895 --> 00:28:19,230 The evidence is stacking up. 418 00:28:22,033 --> 00:28:25,704 In her grave, two horses... 419 00:28:27,138 --> 00:28:29,774 and all those arrows... 420 00:28:30,375 --> 00:28:34,379 all pointing to one form of combat on the battlefield, 421 00:28:34,446 --> 00:28:38,750 where women might have been an equal match for men. 422 00:28:44,589 --> 00:28:47,759 ELLA: Studying the Birka Warrior's grave in forensic detail 423 00:28:47,826 --> 00:28:51,196 is leading to a remarkable conclusion. 424 00:28:51,262 --> 00:28:55,934 There is some suggestion that some similar types of pathological changes to the spine 425 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,203 could be found in horseback riders. 426 00:28:58,269 --> 00:29:00,905 Mounted archer could have been a good match for her. 427 00:29:01,673 --> 00:29:03,541 ELLA: Staying clear of slashing blades, 428 00:29:03,608 --> 00:29:07,979 the new evidence suggests that she could've been a long-distance killer. 429 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,983 Firing deadly arrows from horse-back. 430 00:29:15,153 --> 00:29:18,089 So, just how effective were the archery weapons 431 00:29:18,156 --> 00:29:20,725 found in the Birka warrior's grave? 432 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,496 I've recruited top archer, Kate Dunnighan, 433 00:29:24,562 --> 00:29:27,499 in a unique experiment to test... 434 00:29:28,533 --> 00:29:30,001 these. 435 00:29:31,770 --> 00:29:35,573 Exact replicas of the arrows found with the Birka Warrior 436 00:29:36,641 --> 00:29:38,777 I'm so excited to show you these. 437 00:29:41,146 --> 00:29:43,314 And, you can see, they've even got the grooves. 438 00:29:43,381 --> 00:29:44,516 KATE: Mm-hmm. 439 00:29:44,582 --> 00:29:46,785 But what do you think the purpose of them is? 440 00:29:46,851 --> 00:29:48,853 I feel like, if anything, it might do more damage 441 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,755 when it actually hits that target. 442 00:29:50,822 --> 00:29:53,291 The weight of this, it's all based at the front 443 00:29:53,358 --> 00:29:55,293 to carry it basically to your target. 444 00:29:57,695 --> 00:30:00,865 ELLA: Kate will shoot them from a replica Viking bow, 445 00:30:00,932 --> 00:30:03,268 designed to be fired from horseback. 446 00:30:04,235 --> 00:30:09,174 Her target, a ballistics torso, clad in chainmail armor, 447 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,609 just like the Vikings would've been used to. 448 00:30:17,982 --> 00:30:22,754 Our experiment will be monitored by ballistics expert, Paul Everington. 449 00:30:24,055 --> 00:30:27,892 His specialist equipment will determine the arrow's velocity. 450 00:30:29,527 --> 00:30:33,565 While a high-speed camera will capture the moment of impact. 451 00:30:33,631 --> 00:30:35,733 So what we would measure is the velocity, 452 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:37,869 and from that we calculate the energy 453 00:30:37,936 --> 00:30:40,338 and we see the total effect on the human body. 454 00:30:44,576 --> 00:30:46,778 All right this has never been done before. 455 00:30:46,845 --> 00:30:51,449 We are scientifically testing if her arrow is deadly. 456 00:30:58,323 --> 00:30:59,958 ELLA: Oh, my God. 457 00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:02,861 Oh, my gosh, we've done some damage. 458 00:31:02,927 --> 00:31:04,963 -It's so perfect. -KATE: Yeah, it is very straight. 459 00:31:05,029 --> 00:31:06,965 I am surprised at how straight it went in. 460 00:31:09,334 --> 00:31:12,503 ELLA: Traveling at more than 70 miles an hour... 461 00:31:15,306 --> 00:31:18,776 Kate's arrow easily pierces the chainmail. 462 00:31:18,843 --> 00:31:21,079 -Congratulations, you're a murderer. -Thank you! (laughs) 463 00:31:21,145 --> 00:31:27,151 Uh, this has proved that the-the arrowhead that's in her grave 464 00:31:27,218 --> 00:31:30,555 is completely capable of being fatal. 465 00:31:30,622 --> 00:31:32,123 Yeah, absolutely. 466 00:31:32,624 --> 00:31:34,759 What kind of damage are we looking at? 467 00:31:34,826 --> 00:31:36,594 That was the extent of the damage. 468 00:31:36,661 --> 00:31:40,565 That amount of the arrow went through the mail and into the body. 469 00:31:40,632 --> 00:31:43,935 If it hit a vital organ, they would be dead by now. 470 00:31:45,570 --> 00:31:48,373 ELLA: With a deadly range of up to 700 feet, 471 00:31:48,439 --> 00:31:52,644 launched from horseback, these arrows would have been devastating. 472 00:31:54,112 --> 00:31:56,147 To me, its proof these weapons 473 00:31:56,214 --> 00:32:00,485 could have given the Birka Warrior a killer role on the battlefield... 474 00:32:01,586 --> 00:32:04,522 even against the strongest of men. 475 00:32:09,594 --> 00:32:11,262 So far on my quest, 476 00:32:11,329 --> 00:32:16,501 I've discovered a potential axe-wielding woman warrior in Denmark, 477 00:32:17,402 --> 00:32:20,571 and revealed that the occupant of an iconic warrior grave 478 00:32:20,638 --> 00:32:24,175 could have been a female mounted archer. 479 00:32:25,810 --> 00:32:30,148 But there's one more Viking burial I want to explore. 480 00:32:30,214 --> 00:32:32,417 This time, in Norway. 481 00:32:39,357 --> 00:32:42,493 I've been told that there's one grave north of Oslo, 482 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,097 that bears similarities to the Birka burial. 483 00:32:52,003 --> 00:32:56,140 Traveling with me is Norwegian archaeologist, Marianne Moen. 484 00:32:57,041 --> 00:32:59,477 MARIANNE: This is Norway and all of Norway is sparsely populated. 485 00:32:59,544 --> 00:33:02,380 It's a very large country with not a lot of people in it. 486 00:33:05,316 --> 00:33:07,185 ELLA: Are there a lot of excavations in the area? 487 00:33:07,251 --> 00:33:12,423 No, all the Viking graves that we have in Norway number about 8000. 488 00:33:12,490 --> 00:33:14,759 You get scattered graves more than anything else. 489 00:33:19,931 --> 00:33:22,100 ELLA: I'm looking for the grave of a Viking 490 00:33:22,166 --> 00:33:24,502 who was always thought to be a woman. 491 00:33:25,403 --> 00:33:27,839 But never a warrior, 492 00:33:29,574 --> 00:33:33,277 despite the astonishing contents of her grave... 493 00:33:34,345 --> 00:33:37,582 that's utterly packed with weapons. 494 00:33:44,389 --> 00:33:47,392 ELLA: An ordinary Norwegian hillside 495 00:33:47,458 --> 00:33:50,428 and a very special Viking burial. 496 00:33:53,264 --> 00:33:57,402 Norwegian archaeologist Marianne Moen has never been here before. 497 00:34:00,805 --> 00:34:03,141 So this is your first time visiting the grave? 498 00:34:03,207 --> 00:34:04,242 It is. 499 00:34:04,642 --> 00:34:06,010 -ELLA: Are you excited? -MARIANNE: Very. 500 00:34:06,077 --> 00:34:09,147 It's so important to see where things are placed really 501 00:34:09,213 --> 00:34:11,949 to understand the landscape around them. 502 00:34:12,016 --> 00:34:13,818 ELLA: OK, so it's right on a cliff edge? 503 00:34:13,885 --> 00:34:14,952 MARIANNE: Yeah, it really is. 504 00:34:17,621 --> 00:34:21,391 ELLA: It immediately reminds me of the Birka warrior site. 505 00:34:22,193 --> 00:34:26,397 It's overlooking water in a prominent position in the landscape. 506 00:34:26,464 --> 00:34:28,533 They're showing off power and status. 507 00:34:28,599 --> 00:34:30,400 They're showing that this person is important, 508 00:34:30,467 --> 00:34:32,235 they're so important in death we're making them visible. 509 00:34:33,237 --> 00:34:38,009 ELLA: Using new technology, we can recreate her grave. 510 00:34:40,344 --> 00:34:41,478 MARIANNE: That's amazing! 511 00:34:47,885 --> 00:34:50,588 ELLA: Placed all around our Viking woman, 512 00:34:50,655 --> 00:34:54,425 an entire arsenal of weapons. 513 00:34:54,492 --> 00:34:56,494 What can you tell us about the positioning of them? 514 00:34:56,994 --> 00:34:58,629 MARIANNE: What's interesting is that the grave goods 515 00:34:58,696 --> 00:35:01,132 are quite clearly, sort of, connected to the body as you can see. 516 00:35:03,868 --> 00:35:06,938 ELLA: There are arrows, a sword... 517 00:35:09,941 --> 00:35:12,610 a spear and an axe. 518 00:35:12,677 --> 00:35:15,546 And her head rests on a shield. 519 00:35:15,613 --> 00:35:17,548 MARIANNE: You know the--the sword, at the left-hand side, 520 00:35:17,615 --> 00:35:21,018 you've got the spear alongside on the right-hand side. 521 00:35:21,085 --> 00:35:24,222 And then you've got most probably her head resting on the shield. 522 00:35:25,456 --> 00:35:30,828 ELLA: To me, it looks remarkably similar to the burial of the Birka warrior. 523 00:35:30,895 --> 00:35:35,666 And yet this site has never been categorized as a warrior grave, 524 00:35:35,733 --> 00:35:38,936 simply because the occupant was a woman. 525 00:35:40,738 --> 00:35:41,806 Could you tell me what's written? 526 00:35:41,873 --> 00:35:45,476 MARIANNE: It says "Where in August 1900 527 00:35:45,543 --> 00:35:48,079 was found a female skeleton 528 00:35:48,146 --> 00:35:52,083 with male equipment from the '900s." 529 00:35:53,518 --> 00:35:55,419 ELLA: To me, all the evidence suggests 530 00:35:55,486 --> 00:35:59,257 this is the grave of a third female fighter. 531 00:35:59,323 --> 00:36:01,092 And just like the Birka warrior, 532 00:36:01,159 --> 00:36:04,529 she was also someone who was very important. 533 00:36:06,731 --> 00:36:07,765 This is quite clearly 534 00:36:07,832 --> 00:36:11,903 a very high-status grave for somebody special definitely. 535 00:36:11,969 --> 00:36:13,538 So in your mind, who is she? 536 00:36:13,871 --> 00:36:16,974 This is a person of the ruling class, 537 00:36:17,041 --> 00:36:18,376 of warrior status 538 00:36:18,442 --> 00:36:20,711 who had the power to rule, and who had the ability to rule, 539 00:36:20,778 --> 00:36:23,080 and who did rule, and that's why she was buried as she was. 540 00:36:24,482 --> 00:36:27,218 ELLA: Not everyone agrees. 541 00:36:27,285 --> 00:36:30,521 So, there's a theory that she was a slave and she was a sacrifice. 542 00:36:30,588 --> 00:36:31,956 I don't think it's likely. 543 00:36:32,023 --> 00:36:34,592 There's quite a strong link between the body and the grave goods. 544 00:36:34,659 --> 00:36:36,794 Like her head resting on a shield for example, 545 00:36:36,861 --> 00:36:38,963 the sword by her side. 546 00:36:39,030 --> 00:36:41,966 One of the other theories that-- that's been put forward is that 547 00:36:42,033 --> 00:36:44,535 there was actually a man here somewhere and that the man has disappeared. 548 00:36:44,602 --> 00:36:45,603 (chuckles) Disappeared. 549 00:36:46,737 --> 00:36:47,605 MARIANNE: Very unlikely. 550 00:36:47,672 --> 00:36:50,241 Because again, the grave goods show quite clearly 551 00:36:50,308 --> 00:36:51,409 that they are associated with her. 552 00:36:51,475 --> 00:36:53,077 I think it doesn't hold up. 553 00:36:53,144 --> 00:36:56,681 And I find it problematic that there is a need to explain this grave 554 00:36:56,747 --> 00:36:58,649 that we don't have for similar graves. 555 00:37:00,084 --> 00:37:02,520 ELLA: For me, I'm convinced that this grave 556 00:37:02,587 --> 00:37:06,123 should be accepted as a third female Viking warrior. 557 00:37:07,959 --> 00:37:11,128 I want to see if I can discover more about her. 558 00:37:18,369 --> 00:37:21,639 I'm heading to Oslo's Museum of Cultural History, 559 00:37:24,775 --> 00:37:28,613 where this Viking woman's remains have been carefully preserved. 560 00:37:34,051 --> 00:37:35,186 I'm really excited. 561 00:37:39,090 --> 00:37:42,526 It's really humbling to be-- to be face-to-face with her. 562 00:37:45,896 --> 00:37:48,699 But as someone used to studying ancient bones, 563 00:37:48,766 --> 00:37:51,936 there's something I find striking about this skull, 564 00:37:52,470 --> 00:37:56,674 that, incredibly, no one has ever explored before. 565 00:37:56,741 --> 00:37:58,743 I'm quite excited about this as well, 566 00:37:59,877 --> 00:38:04,448 because there's a dent on her forehead. 567 00:38:07,852 --> 00:38:10,221 Evidence of an injury, 568 00:38:10,288 --> 00:38:13,424 serious enough to have damaged the bone. 569 00:38:15,993 --> 00:38:19,363 Now the question is, when did that dent happen? 570 00:38:22,133 --> 00:38:23,701 Is that a cause of death? 571 00:38:26,270 --> 00:38:30,908 It might just be possible that I've discovered the very first evidence 572 00:38:30,975 --> 00:38:35,746 ever found, of a Viking woman with a battle injury. 573 00:38:40,985 --> 00:38:43,054 ELLA: More than 1000 years old, 574 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:46,424 the skull of a Viking woman is set to be analyzed 575 00:38:46,490 --> 00:38:49,593 by 21st century technology 576 00:38:49,660 --> 00:38:53,431 to examine a previously unexplored injury. 577 00:38:54,699 --> 00:38:57,802 Using a state-of-the art CT-Scanner, 578 00:38:57,868 --> 00:39:01,906 X-rays from all angles produce a detailed 3D image. 579 00:39:02,907 --> 00:39:05,209 Could this data help me solve the mystery 580 00:39:05,276 --> 00:39:10,414 of my latest potential warrior woman and her strange head wound? 581 00:39:16,721 --> 00:39:20,057 Back in London, forensic archaeologist Carolyn Rando 582 00:39:20,124 --> 00:39:22,993 examines the new data for evidence. 583 00:39:27,298 --> 00:39:30,267 CAROLYN: Looking through the CT scan of the skull, 584 00:39:30,334 --> 00:39:32,937 we're able to notice there's this little dip, 585 00:39:33,003 --> 00:39:36,006 kind of right here in the forehead. 586 00:39:36,974 --> 00:39:39,944 Could it maybe have been something like a sword or something like that? 587 00:39:40,010 --> 00:39:40,945 Possibly. 588 00:39:41,011 --> 00:39:44,115 Kind of like shaving off a little bit of bone. 589 00:39:44,181 --> 00:39:46,450 It would have had a really massive scalp laceration, 590 00:39:46,517 --> 00:39:47,385 blood everywhere. 591 00:39:47,451 --> 00:39:49,453 Head wounds bleed quite heavily 592 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:51,589 because there's a lot of blood vessels up there. 593 00:39:52,623 --> 00:39:55,793 ELLA: This was trauma on a massive scale. 594 00:39:55,860 --> 00:39:58,896 And we can explore what might have happened. 595 00:40:03,634 --> 00:40:06,337 Using the very latest in criminal forensics, 596 00:40:06,404 --> 00:40:11,542 we can reconstruct the effect a blow like this might have had 597 00:40:11,609 --> 00:40:13,644 on our Viking woman's face. 598 00:40:15,212 --> 00:40:19,917 First, we need to rebuild her appearance before the injury. 599 00:40:21,085 --> 00:40:22,653 Using our detailed scan, 600 00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:25,790 ligaments and muscles are placed over the bone. 601 00:40:28,359 --> 00:40:32,663 Before skin, detailed facial features, and hair can be added. 602 00:40:37,134 --> 00:40:41,071 I'm so excited because this, 603 00:40:41,138 --> 00:40:45,676 this is a face that hasn't been seen in a thousand years! 604 00:40:47,211 --> 00:40:51,582 The forensic reconstruction reveals our suspected Viking warrior. 605 00:40:53,651 --> 00:40:55,019 Oh, my gosh! 606 00:40:55,085 --> 00:40:58,789 We've put a face to her and she's suddenly become really real. 607 00:40:58,856 --> 00:41:02,293 Just to think that her and women like her, 608 00:41:02,359 --> 00:41:04,628 have just been ignored by us for so long, 609 00:41:04,695 --> 00:41:07,498 we've come up with every single excuse under the sun 610 00:41:07,565 --> 00:41:10,267 to explain away what they were buried with. 611 00:41:11,001 --> 00:41:14,905 But what about that terrible blow to her head? 612 00:41:17,908 --> 00:41:20,244 From Carolyn's evidence, we can recreate 613 00:41:20,311 --> 00:41:23,881 what she might have looked like when it was inflicted. 614 00:41:25,783 --> 00:41:28,752 It is a brutal injury... 615 00:41:30,855 --> 00:41:32,923 and I wonder if she survived it? 616 00:41:37,161 --> 00:41:41,332 But our CT scan highlights a second remarkable secret. 617 00:41:42,867 --> 00:41:46,904 Carolyn spots an unexpected detail in the skull, 618 00:41:47,538 --> 00:41:49,807 signs of healing. 619 00:41:49,874 --> 00:41:52,877 CAROLYN: It actually just has puckering around this area, 620 00:41:52,943 --> 00:41:54,745 where it's all kind of joining back together. 621 00:41:54,812 --> 00:41:56,947 Internally everything is perfectly healed. 622 00:41:58,215 --> 00:42:02,019 ELLA: Incredibly, our woman survived her injury. 623 00:42:02,086 --> 00:42:05,789 She definitely lived through it and lived quite a long time after it. 624 00:42:05,856 --> 00:42:07,858 She probably would have had quite a nice scar. 625 00:42:10,227 --> 00:42:12,396 I-I keep looking at this thinking... 626 00:42:13,931 --> 00:42:18,936 nobody commented on this injury until, 627 00:42:19,003 --> 00:42:20,738 well, basically until I did. 628 00:42:20,804 --> 00:42:25,209 How--How do you look at all that evidence, and not think, 629 00:42:25,276 --> 00:42:31,181 "Yeah, female Viking warrior is probably our best and most educated guess." 630 00:42:41,625 --> 00:42:46,597 My investigation has taken me right across Viking Scandinavia and beyond, 631 00:42:48,399 --> 00:42:52,503 examining ancient graves with the latest technology... 632 00:42:52,570 --> 00:42:54,705 and making new discoveries. 633 00:42:54,772 --> 00:42:56,073 That's gorgeous, isn't it? 634 00:42:56,140 --> 00:43:00,177 Scientific evidence from an elite warrior grave. 635 00:43:00,244 --> 00:43:03,447 CAROLYN: It kinda switches right, left, right, left. 636 00:43:03,514 --> 00:43:06,917 ELLA: A Danish woman buried with a battle axe, 637 00:43:07,818 --> 00:43:13,390 and finally, the remains of a woman who'd suffered a terrible head injury. 638 00:43:14,091 --> 00:43:15,726 She probably would have had quite a nice scar 639 00:43:19,496 --> 00:43:21,498 ELLA: This has been incredible, 640 00:43:21,565 --> 00:43:24,368 and we've also made new discoveries that I really hope 641 00:43:24,435 --> 00:43:27,738 will challenge what some people still refuse to believe, 642 00:43:27,805 --> 00:43:29,540 that there's evidence out there, 643 00:43:29,607 --> 00:43:33,077 that not only did elite female Viking warriors exist, 644 00:43:33,143 --> 00:43:36,046 but that they had the skills and the weapons 645 00:43:36,113 --> 00:43:39,316 to fight on the battlefields alongside men. 646 00:43:40,784 --> 00:43:45,255 Right now, we're writing a whole new chapter in Viking archaeology, 647 00:43:45,956 --> 00:43:49,293 in which traditional ideas about men and women's roles, 648 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:51,996 are being explored with fresh eyes. 649 00:43:52,062 --> 00:43:55,666 And it feels as if I've only just scratched the surface. 650 00:43:55,966 --> 00:44:00,437 There are hundreds of Viking warrior burials, 651 00:44:00,504 --> 00:44:03,240 how many more will turn out to be women? 652 00:44:03,307 --> 00:44:07,511 And what secrets are buried within their graves? 653 00:44:07,978 --> 00:44:09,980 Captioned by Visual Data Media Services