DERBYSHIRE, ENGLAND—An analysis of ninth-century animal bones found in burial mounds at the site of Heath Wood in England’s East Midlands suggests that Vikings carried horses, dogs, and perhaps pigs with them across the North Sea to Britain, according to a BBC News report. Tessi Lōffelmann of Durham University and Vrije Universiteit Brussels said that analysis of the levels of strontium isotopes in the bones showed that the animals had been raised in Scandinavia, while the discovery of cremated animal and human remains mixed together could indicate that Vikings treated their animals as companions. “I find it really touching and it suggests we underestimate just how important animals were to Vikings,” Lōffelmann said. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. To read about the Vikings' arrival in northern England, go to "The Viking Great Army."
