Blood Of The Vikings

Julian Richards investigates Viking Britain, from the first raids to their settlement of the British Isles and traces their legacy through a genetics survey


Journey back to 793 on the coast of Holy Island, home to the peaceful monks of Lindisfarne who were brutally murdered by raiders from the sea. The Norwegian countryside reveals Viking graves, littered with treasures that once belonged to the monks!


In Oseburg, Norway, uncover an entire Viking ship, preserved in a massive Pagan burial ground. On board, discover the bowels of the vessel bursting with treasure that archaeological evidence connects to a Scottish monastery, burned and pillaged hundreds of years before.

On the salty bluffs of northern Scotland, where the ancient Pictish people lived, explore a still-popular debate. Historians argue that the Vikings maintained peaceful relations with the Picts, trading with them freely. Now, hear others contend that the Vikings wiped these pre-Scotsmen off the map! Whichever the case, one thing seems certain: the Vikings took every available opportunity and life to make money.

The Survey
The UCL genetics survey set out to discover if any genetic traces of the Vikings remained in the British Isles - and what this might reveal about the Viking Age. We hoped to find out where Vikings settled and roughly how significant those settlements were. DNA samples were taken from men at a number of sites. In the main, small towns were chosen and the men tested were required to be able to trace their male line back two generations in the same rural area - within 20 miles of the town chosen. The aim was to reduce the effects of later population movements, assuming that in between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the 20th century movement would have been limited.

The tests looked at the Y chromosome, which is only carried by men. This chromosome is particularly useful for population genetics studies as it is passed directly from father to son with virtually no alteration. Other chromosomes exist in pairs, one member of which is passed on from the mother and the other from the father. But because women do not carry a Y chromosome, geneticists can always be sure that this part of a man’s DNA has come from his father, and from his grandfather before him. This chromosome allows geneticists to begin to unravel the male ancestry of the British Isles.

2. Invasion
In AD 856, a massive fleet of Viking ships appeared off the coast of East Anglia, heralding a change in Viking tactics - from raiding to invasion. Richards charts the years of attempted conquest that followed.

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