442 Ancient Viking Skeletons found on battlefields were DNA sequenced from 2014-2020. These included skeletons of 34 Vikings killed in battle during the earliest known Viking raid in history some 1400 years ago who had been buried in two Viking ships recently found in Estonia. The author discovered a warrior in one ship matched his Finnish father's Y-DNA, while two in the second ship matched his Scandinavian maternal grandmother's mtDNA.

1. APPLYING VIKING DNA TO FAMILY HISTORY
by Ray Sarlin
“The men of Estland came down from the interior with a
great army, and there was a battle; but the army of the
country was so brave that the Swedes could not withstand
them, and King Yngvar fell, and his people fled. He was
buried close to the seashore under a mound in Estland;
and after this defeat the Swedes returned home.”
A saga of Noble King Yngvar who met his end while raiding in Estonia around 600.
Written in 1225.

2. Viking Ship I Burial – Early 8th century AD
Salme, Saaremaa, Estonia
In 2008, Estonian construction workers digging an electrical trench made an amazing find.
They uncovered bones that turned out to be from the crew of an early Viking war boat,
bodies sitting upright, buried with their swords and belongings in their actual war boat.

3. Viking Ship I Burial – Early 8th century AD
Salme, Saaremaa, Estonia
The workers digging the
trench uncovered human
bones, which were
initially assumed to be a
WWII soldier until a
scientist found a spear
head and other artifacts.
Digging further, traces of
a 38 ft long boat hull
surfaced. The team had
found a war boat built
between AD 650 and
700, with 7 slain crew
buried haphazardly in
seated positions.
Most of the wood had rotted away, but 275 of the iron rivets holding the boat together
allowed the researchers to reconstruct the outlines of the light, fast and narrow craft.
The seven slain crew members were all men between the ages of 18 and 45.
The haphazard nature of their burial may indicate that they were of low birth, that
burial was done in a hurry, or that they were enemies of the people who buried them
The second body, Viking VK505 (Sa I/2 above),
is a direct Y-DNA match (N-Y7795) for author’s father.

4. Bow Stern
Viking Ship II, Salme, Saaremaa, Estonia
Willerslev, E. (2020, Sept 17). Population genomics of the Viking world. Nature, 585, 390-396.
Two years later, an archaeologist discovered remains of a second war boat just 100 feet
away, underneath a nearby paved road. This 55-foot-long boat was technologically
advanced and contained 33 bodies carefully arranged by rank. All had been killed in battle.

5. States of Excavation – Viking Ship II
Complete
Excavated boat
contour without
skeletons
Midway
Excavation
reveals skeleton
layer IV, located
transverse to ship
Early
Outline of ship
rivets and humus
stains together
with skeleton
layers I to III visible

8. Artifacts from Viking Ship II
Four views of a sword pommel Fragments of a
gilded bronze scabbard
X-Ray of a decorative gold
foil band on a scabbard.

9. Viking VK554 – II-L – King, Jarl, or Heisir
(not related)
Viking VK549 – II-J – Thegh (nobleman)
(Distant mtDNA relation (T2))
Viking VK481 – II-F – Dreng (Warrior)
(Direct mtDNA relation (T2a1a))
Viking Ship II Burial – Early 8th century AD
Salme, Saaremaa, Estonia
(mtDNA relationships shown to author’s mother)

10. Summary
• Archaeologists and historians agree that these two Viking ships were
involved in the same battle near Salme. The battle occurred decades
before formerly believed that the Viking Era began with the AD 793
raid on the remote English Holy Island (Lindisfarne) monastery.
• The ships may help to better understand how the Vikings’ warships
evolved from short-range, rowed craft like Viking Ship I to sailing
ships like Viking Ship II; where the first warriors came from; and how
their battle tactics developed.
• “We all agree these burials are Scandinavian in origin,” says Marge
Konsa, an archaeologist at the University of Tartu. “This is our first
taste of the Viking era.”
• The site seems to be a hastily arranged mass grave, the final resting
place for Scandinavian warriors killed in a raid on Saaremaa, or
perhaps waylaid on a remote beach by rivals. The archaeologists
believe the men died in a battle some time between 700 and 750,
perhaps almost as much as a century before the Viking Age officially
began. Scholars called this era the Vendel period, a transitional time
not previously known for far-reaching voyages—or even for sails.

11. References
1. 442 Ancient Viking Skeletons Hold DNA Surprises – Does Your Y or Mitochondrial DNA
Match? Daily Updates Here! (2020, September 18). Retrieved from DNAeXplained –
Genetic Genealogy: https://dna-explained.com/2020/09/18/442-ancient-viking-skeletons-
hold-dna-surprises-does-your-y-or-mitochondrial-dna-match-daily-updates-
here/?fbclid=IwAR3063sPYEKHqlQUULQBy0S8AXZSBJIvYZPJqagLtK3OPGiT9-v2XrKpwq0
2. Curry, A. (2013, July/August). The First Vikings. Archaeology. Retrieved from
https://www.archaeology.org/issues/95-1307/features/941-vikings-saaremaa-estonia-
salme-vendel-oseberg
3. Margaryan, A., Willerslev, E., & et. al. (2020, Sept 17). Population genomics of the Viking
world. Nature, 585, 390-396.
4. Price, T. D., Peets, J., & et al. (2016). Isotopic provenancing of the Salme ship burials in Pre-
Viking Age Estonia. Antiquity Publications Ltd. doi:10.15184/aqy.2016.106
5. St John's College, University of Cambridge. (2020, Sept 16). World's largest DNA
sequencing of Viking skeletons reveals they weren't all Scandinavian. Science Daily.
Retrieved from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200916113544.htm
Applying Viking DNA to Family History by Ray Sarlin, 11/11/2020, v1 updated 15/11/2020.