Vikings could travel with dogs, horses, pigs. Scientists have found the first evidence

Horses, dogs and other animals – with such livestock the Vikings crossed the North Sea and landed in the British Isles. This is the conclusion reached by an international team of scientists after examining remains from Derbyshire in central England. These animals were to accompany the Vikings on expeditions at least from the 9th century. The results of the analyzes were published in the scientific journal “Plos One”.

According to historical records, a large Viking army landed in 873 near Heath Wood in Derbyshire. There are 59 burials in this area, examined as early as the 1940s and 1950s. Although the fact of cremation suggested Scandinavian influence, it has not yet been established where the people buried there came from. This has only been achieved now, thanks to the latest research.

British and Belgian scientists analyzed samples of the remains of three humans (two adults and a child), a horse, a dog and possibly a pig for levels of strontium (a chemical element in the alkaline earth group). The strontium ratio profile in the remains can be matched to a similar profile in the soil and rocks of the selected area.

It was found that the strontium profile in one of the adults and animals differed from the local one, while the others matched it. This means that the buried people have completely different stories of their origin, and at least one of them and the animals probably came from Scandinavia in the 9th century.

Analyzes have drawn attention to the fact that the Vikings may have taken live animals with them on sea expeditions. This is the first evidence of such a practice. This finding may modify the existing belief, based on the testimonies of chroniclers who maintained that the horses that the Vikings used to move on land were confiscated from the inhabitants of the conquered areas.