LEICESTER, ENGLAND—According to a report in Live Science, a team of scientists has analyzed the contents of a 1,000-year-old Viking warrior’s grave discovered in western Scotland in 2011. Isotope analysis of the warrior’s teeth revealed that he grew up in Scandinavia, while his grave goods are thought to have originated in Scandinavia, Scotland, and Ireland. The high-status weapons in the grave included a large ax head, a sword with a decorated hilt, a spear, and a shield whose boss has survived. Other artifacts related to daily life included a whetstone made from a type of rock found in Norway, and a copper-alloy ringed pin, which may have been used to fasten a burial cloak or shroud. Stones for the boat burial may have been obtained from a nearby Neolithic burial cairn. For more, go to “Hoards of the Vikings.”
