Viking Dental Health Was a Nightmare, New Skull Analysis Shows

Many Viking-era Scandinavians likely showed off their badass scars from raiding and pillaging, but they were probably kvetching more about an ear infection or gum disease. That’s according to new research, in which high-tech imaging revealed that many Vikings may have suffered from persistent, painful maladies in their heads. In 2005, archaeologists excavated the remains of over 300 Vikings in the town of Varnhem. The remains dated back to between the 10th and 12th centuries, making the site one of Sweden’s earliest Christian settlements (while The Northman may have you believe Vikings were pagans, almost all had converted to Christianity by the mid-eleventh century). To try to learn more about the conditions in which these people lived, archaeologists selected 15 skulls from individuals who died between the ages of 20 and 60. They then performed CT scans, using multiple X-rays to capture detailed images of the inner structures. A team of two radiologists and a dentist then examined ... Read full article.