The research also pinpoints three major genetically diverse hot spots where people mixed with people from other regions during the era: One in what is now Denmark, and one each on the islands of Gotland and Öland, in what is now Sweden. The DNA analysis revealed Vikings were a diverse bunch, with ancestry from hunter-gatherers, farmers, and populations from the Eurasian steppe. “I couldn’t have imagined the computational challenges with this data set,” says evolutionary geneticist Eske Willerslev, a professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Copenhagen and director of its Center of Excellence in Genetics who led the Viking genome project. Then there was the task of analyzing the sheer volume of information extracted from the human remains. It was a logistical challenge to bring together the hundreds of ancient samples, sourced from more than 80 archaeological sites in northern Europe, Italy, and Greenland. Some were simply located in places, like Greenland, where they journeyed others were buried along Scandinavian-style artifacts like coins, weapons, and even entire boats. 1600-all buried in areas where the Vikings are known to have expanded. The Nature study brings together genetic data from 442 humans whose remains date from around 2400 B.C. Photograph by Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Norway/Eirik Irgens Johnsen (Left) and Photograph by Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Norway/Ove Holst (Right) Viking artifacts, such as these swords and helmet from sites in what is now Norway, help archaeologists trace their ancient expeditions. 7-the period now known as the Viking era. Usually used by people on the receiving end of violent encounters, it described groups of Scandinavian seafarers between A.D. The term “Viking” is itself contested the English term has its origins in an Old Norse word, víking, with a variety of meanings that range from raiding to exploring to piracy. Who were the Vikings? The answer has never been clear cut. Now, a sprawling ancient DNA study published today in the journal Nature is revealing the true genetic diversity of the people we call Vikings, confirming and enriching what historic and archaeological evidence has already suggested about this cosmopolitan and politically powerful group of traders and explorers. Yet it remains celebrated today among various white supremacist groups that use the supposed superiority of the Vikings as a way to justify hate, perpetuating the stereotype along the way. Like the iconic “Viking” helmet, it’s a fiction that arose in the simmering nationalist movements of late 19th-century Europe. But despite ancient sagas that celebrate seafaring adventurers with complex lineages, there remains a persistent, and pernicious, modern myth that Vikings were a distinctive ethnic or regional group of people with a “pure” genetic bloodline. ![]() More than 12,000 ran with the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic flame, while the London 2012 summer Olympics had more than 8,000 torch bearers.In popular imagination, Vikings were robust, flaxen-haired Scandinavian warriors who plundered the coastlines of northern Europe in sleek wooden battleships. The Tokyo Games relay in 2021 used some 10,000 torch bearers. Organisers did not comment on the number of torches to be produced, saying it was still "a work in progress." ![]() "With a view to reducing our environmental impact we are thinking of another model so that everyone can keep a souvenir of this unique moment and share it with their entourage and the greatest number of people," a Paris 2024 official told Reuters. Paris organisers told Reuters there would still be the traditional passing of the flame from one torch to the next between runners in a more environmentally friendly model of the relay. No dates have been announced for the torch-lighting ceremony in Greece and the start of the relay in April 2024 in France after the flame arrives in the southern port of Marseille. ![]() The relay in the host country starts after the torch-lighting ceremony in Greece's Olympia, the site of the ancient Games. ![]() "They are planning to produce fewer and the reasons cited are sustainability concerns." "The organisers are planning not to use individual torches for each of the runners," the source said. Olympic Games torch bearers, who run a few hundred metres each with their torch before using it to ignite the torch of the next runner, can usually buy the torch as a souvenir of their participation.
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