Vikings weren't a genetically distinct group & possibily dark-haired

[FfFfFfFF 58,368]

In 2008, construction work on an isolated Estonian beach near the town of Salme uncovered the skeletons of more than 40 powerfully built men. They were buried around 750 C.E. in two ships with Viking-style weapons and treasure. Four of the men, buried shoulder to shoulder holding their swords, were brothers.

The new data come from a massive effort to sequence the DNA of Vikings across Europe. Over the course of almost 10 years, a team of scientists assembled samples from across Scandinavia and beyond. The results tell dramatic stories of individual mobility, such as a pair of cousins buried in U.K. and Denmark, separated in death by hundreds of kilometers of open ocean.

The genetic details may also rewrite popular perceptions of Vikings, including their looks: Viking Age Scandinavians were more likely to have black hair than people living there today. And comparing DNA and archaeology at individual sites suggests that for some in the Viking bands, "Viking" was a job description, not a matter of heredity. 

They found that Vikings from what is now Sweden moved east to the Baltics, Poland, and the rivers of Russia and Ukraine, whereas Danes were more likely to head west to what is today England.

Norwegians were most likely to set sail for the North Atlantic Ocean, colonizing Ireland, Iceland, and eventually Greenland. 

To the team's surprise, there was little evidence of genetic mixture within Scandinavia itself. Although a few coastal settlements and island trading hubs were hot spots of genetic diversity, Scandinavian populations farther inland stayed genetically stable—and separate—for centuries. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source - https://www.science.org/content/article/viking-was-job-description-not-matter-heredity-massive-ancient-dna-study-shows

[Pennywise 36,080]

You just know some racists will be mad about this 

[Debithius 6,056]

Well Scandinavians either have blonde or brown hair but if Vikings had black hair I do wonder where the genes for blue/green eyes and blonde/brown hair came from since about 85% of us fall into that category up here. And wether or not being a viking was a "job" the culture remains the same.

[FfFfFfFF 58,368]

16 minutes ago, Debithius said:

Well Scandinavians either have blonde or brown hair but if Vikings had black hair I do wonder where the genes for blue/green eyes and blonde/brown hair came from since about 85% of us fall into that category up here. And wether or not being a viking was a "job" the culture remains the same.

The Blonde hair genes are speculated to have originated around the Baltic region (present day Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) while the blue eye gene originates in the N-W of the Black Sea (present day Ukraine or Moldova).

Scandinavia was a sparsely populated region for most of history, so the idea of population replacement isn't surprising. The substratum of Anatolian farmers and other pre-Indo European populations (dark haired) wasn't as strong in such a northern place. They were more easily overpowered by blondes.

[Meat 18,962]

But my great grandfather was a Viking and I have blue hair and blonde eyes 

[Debithius 6,056]

17 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

The Blonde hair genes are speculated to have originated around the Baltic region (present day Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) while the blue eye gene originates in the N-W of the Black Sea (present day Ukraine or Moldova).

Scandinavia was a sparsely populated region for most of history, so the idea of population replacement isn't surprising. The substratum of Anatolian farmers and other pre-Indo European populations (dark haired) wasn't as strong in such a northern place. They were more easily overpowered by blondes.

We may never know the truth. We can take the way they depicted their gods though, they will usually look similar to the people.

[FfFfFfFF 58,368]

29 minutes ago, Debithius said:

We may never know the truth. We can take the way they depicted their gods though, they will usually look similar to the people.

You can't make up hair or eye color from wooden statues or inscriptions though.

[Supersonic 49,376]

3 hours ago, Pennywise said:

You just know some racists will be mad about this 

They're gonna try to ignore the truth, just like white supremacists in art history ignored that fact that white marble statues from greece were actually colored with all the colors of the wind, and actively resist their restoration to the way they originally looked because... "white" is "good", "colorful" is "offensive and tacky".

[LeJudas 6,490]

Bruh, that skeleton has double wide xxl hips more than a female skeleton  

"Master race" wins yet again 

[salty like sodium 2,262]

@FfFfFfFF I love how you're basically just coming here to educate us illiterate stans. We thank you for your service.

[Debithius 6,056]

5 hours ago, FfFfFfFF said:

You can't make up hair or eye color from wooden statues or inscriptions though.

You can if you read their scriptures lol and you can with statues if you check their facial structure and compare them to todays Scandinavians

[FfFfFfFF 58,368]

34 minutes ago, salty like sodium said:

@FfFfFfFF I love how you're basically just coming here to educate us illiterate stans. We thank you for your service.

I am very flattered, but I also have lots of things to learn. I have specific subjects where I think I have above average knowledge but as a whole no. Still, thank you. 

[FfFfFfFF 58,368]

6 minutes ago, Debithius said:

You can if you read their scriptures lol and you can with statues if you check their facial structure and compare them to todays Scandinavians

I am not well-versed into Scandinavian sagas so don't know how Scandinavians are represented there.

About the link betwen statues and facial structure - there is a huge amount of variability (and you can't see eye or hair color). Height may be more palpabile looking at a statue but skin pigments..  not so much.

[KORG 4,756]

I live in a place taken by vikings, it's the main heritage of the place.

This is all common knowledge...

[SevenWonder 4,755]

I believe the Irish (Gaelic?) word for Viking is "dark one". That's what they called the Viking invaders way back in the day. So it makes sense that Viking weren't so blonde/blue as we might assume.

As someone else said, the Baltic countries have the highest percentage of blue eyed people in the world. Makes sense that intermingling between the darker Vikings and the fairer Baltic people ushered in the blonde/blue Scandinavian phenotype.