1 00:00:02,570 --> 00:00:08,090 Tonight, on Blood of the Vikings, I follow the events of 1066 that finally 2 00:00:08,090 --> 00:00:10,070 brought the Viking Age to a bloody end. 3 00:00:13,070 --> 00:00:16,890 Did this man die defending York against a great Viking warlord? 4 00:00:19,590 --> 00:00:23,050 Could these be the bones of warriors from the last Viking army? 5 00:00:24,050 --> 00:00:28,710 And where can we find the Vikings' genetic legacy in the British Isles 6 00:01:05,990 --> 00:01:10,530 Tonight, in the last programme of the series, we'll have the final result of 7 00:01:10,530 --> 00:01:14,370 biggest ever genetic survey to be carried out in the British Isles, 8 00:01:14,370 --> 00:01:16,130 Viking blood in the population today. 9 00:01:17,250 --> 00:01:21,170 We're in West Stoke, not far from Cambridge, where archaeologists have 10 00:01:21,170 --> 00:01:23,410 reconstructed an entire Anglo -Saxon village. 11 00:01:24,170 --> 00:01:27,910 Using the results of the Blood of the Vikings genetic survey, we're going to 12 00:01:27,910 --> 00:01:29,610 and turn the clock back a thousand years. 13 00:01:31,070 --> 00:01:34,530 We want to find out what happened in villages across the British Isles. 14 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:36,160 when the Vikings arrived. 15 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,260 We're hoping to answer questions which have baffled archaeologists and 16 00:01:40,260 --> 00:01:41,300 historians for centuries. 17 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,440 There are clues that some of the Viking raiders settled down permanently over 18 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,320 here, but we want to find out how many stayed and where they put down roots. 19 00:01:53,020 --> 00:01:56,760 Joining me are some of the scientists who've been conducting the genetic 20 00:01:56,980 --> 00:02:01,060 and we'll also be talking to some of the people who took part in it, including a 21 00:02:01,060 --> 00:02:03,720 few who think they might be direct descendants of Vikings. 22 00:02:04,590 --> 00:02:09,169 But before we find out about the genetic legacy of the Vikings, what do we know 23 00:02:09,169 --> 00:02:12,510 about how the Viking Age in the British Isles finally came to an end? 24 00:02:15,910 --> 00:02:21,710 On 6th January 1066, the death of Edward the Confessor, King of England, sparked 25 00:02:21,710 --> 00:02:23,310 yet another battle for power. 26 00:02:24,210 --> 00:02:27,530 Edward died without an heir or publicly naming a successor. 27 00:02:28,230 --> 00:02:33,450 So up stepped Harold Godwinson from one of the most powerful Saxon families in 28 00:02:33,450 --> 00:02:34,450 the land. 29 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,800 Only hours after Edward's body was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey, Harold 30 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:40,880 seized the throne. 31 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:48,240 But the new king had powerful enemies overseas who also had their eyes on the 32 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:49,240 English crown. 33 00:02:51,060 --> 00:02:57,940 The first direct challenge would come from the Viking king of Norway, the 34 00:02:57,940 --> 00:02:59,180 Harald Hardrada. 35 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,800 Harald Hardrada was an ambitious ruler. 36 00:03:05,260 --> 00:03:08,000 whose exploits earned him the name Thunderbolt of the North. 37 00:03:08,460 --> 00:03:13,440 His story is told here in Heimskringla, a collection of Icelandic sagas that 38 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,180 record the history of the Norwegian kings. 39 00:03:19,220 --> 00:03:23,360 According to the sagas, at the age of 15, Harald fled Norway. 40 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,460 He made his way through Russia and eventually across the Black Sea to 41 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:29,840 modern -day Istanbul. 42 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,950 Still in his teens, Harold became a mercenary, fighting around the 43 00:03:37,950 --> 00:03:40,250 for the Byzantine Emperor's elite force. 44 00:03:43,010 --> 00:03:48,050 After ten years, he made a fortune and headed home where he used his wealth to 45 00:03:48,050 --> 00:03:50,330 raise an army and take the crown of Norway. 46 00:03:51,090 --> 00:03:55,150 For the next twenty years, he fought a bloody war against the Danes before 47 00:03:55,150 --> 00:03:57,290 turning his sights on an even bigger prize. 48 00:03:58,330 --> 00:04:02,990 Aged fifty, the Thunderbolt of the North launched an attack on England. 49 00:04:08,700 --> 00:04:14,020 In September 1066, a terrifying fight appeared off the coast of Yorkshire. 50 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:22,040 Perhaps the greatest Viking fleet ever seen, the chronicles tell of hundreds of 51 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,080 ships carrying thousands of warriors. 52 00:04:27,140 --> 00:04:33,200 And somehow, the Vikings had managed to keep all of their preparations secret. 53 00:04:33,830 --> 00:04:37,190 Because when they arrived here at the mouth of the Humber, King Harold of 54 00:04:37,190 --> 00:04:39,470 England was 200 miles to the south. 55 00:04:44,650 --> 00:04:48,570 Harold Hardrada's fleet made its way up the River Ouse towards York. 56 00:04:52,950 --> 00:04:57,530 Ten miles from the city, the Vikings moored their ships and headed inland. 57 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:06,060 The English earls defending the city gathered what troops they could and 58 00:05:06,060 --> 00:05:09,000 out to Fulford to confront the Vikings. 59 00:05:25,060 --> 00:05:31,040 The English fought to the bitter end. 60 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:33,760 but they were no match for Harold Hardrada. 61 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:45,880 Fulford is now a suburb of York. 62 00:05:47,660 --> 00:05:52,260 A few years ago, when a new riverside development was being built, an ancient 63 00:05:52,260 --> 00:05:53,560 burial ground was discovered. 64 00:05:58,500 --> 00:06:02,120 Amongst the skeletons, were some that showed signs of mutilation. 65 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:07,580 In this burial ground, we found quite a number of skeletons, but one particular 66 00:06:07,580 --> 00:06:12,160 group, close together, all of them had injuries on the bodies. On this 67 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:16,660 particular individual, for example, we've got evidence of a fierce combat, 68 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,360 something nasty, which left him marked in many ways. 69 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:26,140 Someone has slashed at him with a sword and cut deeply into the bone, right 70 00:06:26,140 --> 00:06:27,140 through. 71 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,780 He's also been thrust through the abdomen, perhaps with a spear. 72 00:06:33,220 --> 00:06:34,960 Someone's gone hard in like that. 73 00:06:36,380 --> 00:06:40,440 So this is someone who's been involved in fierce combat, who's been hacked 74 00:06:40,540 --> 00:06:45,100 who's suffered many wounds, and in that combination, there's only one way he's 75 00:06:45,100 --> 00:06:46,180 going to end up, and that's dead. 76 00:06:48,660 --> 00:06:52,360 Almost every bone they looked at showed signs of violent injury. 77 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,960 This is another femur, another thigh bone, and you can see very clearly these 78 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,940 massive hacks in here which have done considerable damage. 79 00:07:01,540 --> 00:07:04,360 Here we've got someone who's perhaps decapitated. 80 00:07:04,900 --> 00:07:10,080 Here, someone who's actually had the top of their skull virtually slide off. 81 00:07:11,180 --> 00:07:14,540 To get a group like this suggests they're the product of some major fight. 82 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:19,760 So we think that these are people who were killed in the Battle of Salford, 83 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:21,220 September 1066. 84 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,040 And these could be people, victims of that fight, who were taken back to one 85 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,320 the nearest Anglo -Saxon churches for burial. 86 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,560 It was first blood to Harold Hardrada. 87 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:39,220 These men had been struck down defending York, but now the Vikings would have to 88 00:07:39,220 --> 00:07:41,180 face the full might of the English army. 89 00:07:45,300 --> 00:07:49,780 After his great victory... Harold Hardrada withdrew from York to await the 90 00:07:49,780 --> 00:07:51,860 hostages and ransom money he'd been promised. 91 00:07:54,780 --> 00:08:00,020 In the afternoon of Monday, September 25th, just five days after the Battle of 92 00:08:00,020 --> 00:08:04,380 Fulford, King Harold of England reached the Viking camp at Stamford Bridge. 93 00:08:07,180 --> 00:08:12,800 According to the chronicles, as he came up over the brow of a hill, he saw the 94 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:14,480 Vikings camped out in the valley below. 95 00:08:15,370 --> 00:08:19,570 Harold Hardrada, taken totally by surprise by King Harold's lightning 96 00:08:19,570 --> 00:08:22,650 march, only had about 20 minutes to prepare for battle. 97 00:08:32,270 --> 00:08:39,130 To reach the Vikings, the English had to cross the river, and according to the 98 00:08:39,130 --> 00:08:42,929 chronicles, the narrow bridge was held by one ferocious Viking warrior. 99 00:08:45,420 --> 00:08:50,160 It looked as if there was no way to dislodge him until an English soldier 100 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:56,520 underneath the bridge and skewered him from below. 101 00:09:00,740 --> 00:09:06,840 Now, the real battle began. 102 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:12,080 The English were outnumbered, yet slowly they wore down the invaders. 103 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,740 Until finally, Harald Hardrada himself was killed. 104 00:09:18,340 --> 00:09:22,060 But how had King Harald managed to defeat one of the greatest of Viking 105 00:09:22,060 --> 00:09:25,100 with an army that had just marched 200 miles? 106 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,880 Above all, it was the determination, probably, to hang on to this kingdom 107 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,280 he'd only managed to win nine months before. 108 00:09:33,580 --> 00:09:35,600 He wasn't going to give that up early. 109 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,160 That's probably above all what inspired him and his men to win what was an 110 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,080 amazing victory here at Stamford Bridge. 111 00:09:45,460 --> 00:09:48,400 Stamford Bridge today is a peaceful Yorkshire village. 112 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,880 Strangely, no traces of this legendary battle have ever been found. 113 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:59,300 Despite all the carnage, not a single bone or weapon have ever been unearthed 114 00:09:59,300 --> 00:10:00,300 here. 115 00:10:03,580 --> 00:10:08,610 But ten miles downriver... At a place called Rickle, some intriguing finds 116 00:10:08,610 --> 00:10:09,610 been made. 117 00:10:14,470 --> 00:10:17,990 In 1956, a farmer dug up some skeletons. 118 00:10:18,410 --> 00:10:22,670 And a few years ago, when the water board were working down here, they found 119 00:10:22,670 --> 00:10:23,670 even more. 120 00:10:25,810 --> 00:10:30,090 In a series of excavations, archaeologists have unearthed more than 121 00:10:30,090 --> 00:10:31,090 skeletons. 122 00:10:31,850 --> 00:10:34,930 Perhaps as many as 600 bodies were buried here. 123 00:10:35,950 --> 00:10:37,890 apparently all at the same time. 124 00:10:39,350 --> 00:10:40,790 Who were these people? 125 00:10:41,110 --> 00:10:44,610 And why are they here, miles from the nearest churchyard? 126 00:10:48,410 --> 00:10:52,310 It does seem strange to find so many burials out here in the middle of 127 00:10:52,850 --> 00:10:56,990 But according to the chronicles, Rickle is where the battered remnants of the 128 00:10:56,990 --> 00:11:01,430 defeated Viking army retreated to their ships moored on the River Ouse and fled 129 00:11:01,430 --> 00:11:02,430 England. 130 00:11:03,020 --> 00:11:06,660 Could this be the resting place of the Viking dead from the Battle of Stamford 131 00:11:06,660 --> 00:11:07,660 Bridge? 132 00:11:10,660 --> 00:11:13,820 For years, the bones from Rickle were left in the care of the York 133 00:11:13,820 --> 00:11:14,820 Archaeological Trust. 134 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,180 They were a bit of a puzzle, and no -one knew quite what to do with them. 135 00:11:22,340 --> 00:11:24,700 We asked the York team to take another look. 136 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:32,260 The first challenge was to establish whether these people were locals. 137 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:34,060 Or Viking invaders? 138 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:42,720 Amazingly, thanks to a new forensic technique, the answer might lie in their 139 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:43,720 teeth. 140 00:11:50,540 --> 00:11:54,460 Teeth from six skulls were sent to the British Geological Survey Laboratories 141 00:11:54,460 --> 00:11:55,460 near Nottingham. 142 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,600 By analysing the enamel, it might be possible to tell where their owners came 143 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:04,600 from. 144 00:12:07,620 --> 00:12:12,560 When fragments of tooth are vaporised by a powerful laser beam, oxygen is given 145 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:13,560 off. 146 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,720 Oxygen atoms can exist in two slightly different forms, or isotopes, and the 147 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,460 relative amounts of these two isotopes can reveal where a person grew up. 148 00:12:34,230 --> 00:12:38,590 The isotopes in this man's teeth will tell us about the rainwater he drank in 149 00:12:38,590 --> 00:12:39,590 childhood. 150 00:12:43,090 --> 00:12:48,070 And the mix of oxygen isotopes in English rainwater is very different from 151 00:12:48,070 --> 00:12:49,110 mix in Scandinavia. 152 00:12:55,110 --> 00:12:59,270 As soon as the results of the tooth analysis were ready, I went to find out 153 00:12:59,270 --> 00:13:00,710 Paul Budd and the team had discovered. 154 00:13:02,830 --> 00:13:07,290 So what we have on our diagram here is these are the six individuals that we 155 00:13:07,290 --> 00:13:11,610 looked at from Rickle. And on this scale here, this is the oxygen isotope 156 00:13:11,610 --> 00:13:15,670 composition of the drinking water that they had in childhood. 157 00:13:15,970 --> 00:13:20,590 But the interesting thing about it from our point of view is that the sort of 158 00:13:20,590 --> 00:13:24,590 values that you would get in the United Kingdom would really cover the range 159 00:13:24,590 --> 00:13:29,510 going from about something like minus 5, minus 5 .5 in the far southwest of the 160 00:13:29,510 --> 00:13:30,510 country. 161 00:13:30,730 --> 00:13:34,690 through to the north -east of the country, about minus 8 .5. 162 00:13:34,930 --> 00:13:38,650 And that's what we've marked on here, this minus 8 .5 here, this dashed line. 163 00:13:38,970 --> 00:13:44,450 All of our people are significantly lower numbers than that. They're in this 164 00:13:44,450 --> 00:13:46,590 range about minus 9 to minus 11. 165 00:13:46,990 --> 00:13:50,170 So you're saying that somewhere from the British Isles would have to be above 166 00:13:50,170 --> 00:13:53,470 that line? Exactly, yeah. So where do these people come from, then? 167 00:13:53,690 --> 00:13:54,870 We can have a look at that now. 168 00:13:56,300 --> 00:14:00,460 This is a map showing the oxygen isotope composition of rainwater as it's 169 00:14:00,460 --> 00:14:02,480 falling across northwestern Europe today. 170 00:14:02,780 --> 00:14:06,900 Now, you remember the range that we had for our people was something like minus 171 00:14:06,900 --> 00:14:08,240 9 to minus 11. 172 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:13,380 Now, that's really putting us across here in this band, going sort of across 173 00:14:13,380 --> 00:14:17,920 from sort of central Europe to Baltic Europe through Sweden and then 174 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:23,660 Scandinavia. Given that... what we know about what went on at Rickle, it seems 175 00:14:23,660 --> 00:14:27,460 to me that the most likely explanation is that these people come from somewhere 176 00:14:27,460 --> 00:14:28,460 in Norway. 177 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,520 Yes, but certainly the results are consistent with that. 178 00:14:31,780 --> 00:14:35,120 It's quite interesting, isn't it? Because it's the history and the science 179 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:36,800 actually fit together. 180 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,980 Yeah, it's unusual. Not what I expected, actually. 181 00:14:40,260 --> 00:14:41,260 Wasn't it? No. 182 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:46,660 No, I must admit, when you first came to me with the material, and the material 183 00:14:46,660 --> 00:14:51,440 was undated, and, you know, I thought, well, these will all come up with UK 184 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,940 values. It'd be typical for the Rickall area, I thought, but no. 185 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,440 And were you really surprised? I was very surprised, yeah. 186 00:15:01,660 --> 00:15:05,600 The results of the tooth analysis are very exciting, but they're not quite 187 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:06,680 enough on their own. 188 00:15:08,490 --> 00:15:12,650 These are the six skulls whose teeth were unlined. And we now know that all 189 00:15:12,650 --> 00:15:14,350 these people grew up in Scandinavia. 190 00:15:14,950 --> 00:15:17,890 So it looks like the bodies buried at Rickle were Vikings. 191 00:15:18,570 --> 00:15:21,970 But did they fight alongside Harold Hardrada at Stamford Bridge? 192 00:15:24,330 --> 00:15:28,710 The bones are mostly men's, but there are also a few women and children. 193 00:15:29,330 --> 00:15:31,670 Could they all be Vikings killed in battle? 194 00:15:33,290 --> 00:15:35,490 We needed to know how these people died. 195 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,080 If we were lucky, the bones might provide the answer. 196 00:15:39,700 --> 00:15:43,420 So we called in forensic pathologist Dr Bob Stoddart. 197 00:15:44,420 --> 00:15:47,440 Bob, do any of these bones show signs of violent injury? 198 00:15:47,780 --> 00:15:48,780 Yes, they do. 199 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:55,840 For example, this bone shows numerous surface cuts at a variety of angles. 200 00:15:56,180 --> 00:16:02,900 So the individual concerned had multiple blows with a sharp 201 00:16:02,900 --> 00:16:06,260 -edged weapon cutting across the muscle blocks. 202 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:07,720 along his left leg. 203 00:16:10,540 --> 00:16:14,580 This bone is a sacrum of an adult male. 204 00:16:15,020 --> 00:16:21,960 And here is a wound that has been produced by the tip of a sharp weapon, 205 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:23,040 as perhaps a sword. 206 00:16:23,380 --> 00:16:28,380 So it's gone in just above the pubic bone, probably gone through the bladder 207 00:16:28,380 --> 00:16:30,880 rectum, into that. 208 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,300 So that bone is actually from... 209 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,660 In the back, but the wound has gone in from the front. 210 00:16:38,140 --> 00:16:40,120 Stabbed right through and into the bone? 211 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:41,320 Yes. 212 00:16:42,140 --> 00:16:46,320 Remarkably, a quarter of the bones show unmistakable signs of sword cuts and 213 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:48,680 stabbings. But what about the rest? 214 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:51,080 Could they too have died in battle? 215 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:56,320 Many of those victims are going to be people who have suffered soft tissue 216 00:16:56,320 --> 00:17:01,700 injuries and they've bled to death or they've had some essential organ. 217 00:17:03,340 --> 00:17:08,260 irredeemably damaged, but the bones may not show any sign of that. 218 00:17:09,460 --> 00:17:13,560 But what about the women and children whose bones were found at Rickle? What 219 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:14,700 were they doing in a battle? 220 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,880 Well, it could be that the Viking army included women and children to help cook 221 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:20,980 and care for the warriors. 222 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,980 After all, Harold Hardrada hadn't come on a quick raid. 223 00:17:25,220 --> 00:17:28,240 He was expecting a long campaign to conquer England. 224 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:36,300 Thanks to this new research, I'm now convinced that these bones are the long 225 00:17:36,300 --> 00:17:40,600 -lost remains of Vikings who fought at Stamford Bridge, fatally wounded in 226 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:43,440 battle or cut down as they fled to their ships. 227 00:17:54,660 --> 00:17:57,900 The defeat of Harold Hardrada was a turning point. 228 00:17:58,780 --> 00:18:03,060 The people buried here nearly 1 ,000 years ago, were part of the last great 229 00:18:03,060 --> 00:18:05,440 Viking army to die fighting on English soil. 230 00:18:07,700 --> 00:18:11,720 Never again would Vikings attempt a full -scale invasion of England. 231 00:18:19,340 --> 00:18:23,640 For 250 years, marauding Vikings terrorised the British Isles. 232 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,740 Thousands of them must have made the voyage across the North Sea, and we know 233 00:18:27,740 --> 00:18:28,920 that some of them stayed here. 234 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,740 The evidence comes from ancient chronicles, from the Viking artefacts we 235 00:18:33,940 --> 00:18:36,700 and from hundreds of place names of Scandinavian origin. 236 00:18:37,460 --> 00:18:41,480 But we've no idea of how many immigrants there were and where exactly they 237 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,880 settled, which is why we commissioned a survey of the British Isles, looking for 238 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:47,420 Viking blood in the people today. 239 00:18:50,660 --> 00:18:54,780 We've been working with scientists from University College London, led by 240 00:18:54,780 --> 00:18:56,080 Professor David Goldstein. 241 00:18:56,940 --> 00:19:01,620 Over the last year, they've collected DNA samples from nearly 2 ,000 men in 242 00:19:01,620 --> 00:19:04,000 Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia. 243 00:19:05,940 --> 00:19:08,040 Look at either side of your cheek, yes. 244 00:19:08,420 --> 00:19:13,040 Giving a DNA sample mostly meant just scraping a few skin cells from the 245 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:17,840 of the mouth, but we were also helped by blood donor centres and dentists. 246 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:23,540 Only men were sampled, but the scientists were studying the Y 247 00:19:23,540 --> 00:19:24,540 only men have. 248 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:26,980 because it changes very little over the generations. 249 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,500 The Y chromosome my son Barnaby inherited from me was handed down almost 250 00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:37,320 unchanged from my father and from his father before him and so on. 251 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,380 The Y chromosome provides a direct link to the past. 252 00:19:44,020 --> 00:19:47,640 The team's first task was to collect samples from Scandinavia. 253 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,080 They looked at the Y chromosomes of males most likely to be descended from 254 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:53,080 Vikings. 255 00:19:53,210 --> 00:19:55,070 and found distinctive genetic markers. 256 00:19:55,910 --> 00:19:59,590 They then looked for these markers in the Y chromosomes of British men. 257 00:20:01,510 --> 00:20:06,150 Unfortunately, these markers won't identify Viking ancestry on an 258 00:20:06,150 --> 00:20:10,670 basis, but the proportion of people with Scandinavian markers on their Y 259 00:20:10,670 --> 00:20:14,910 chromosomes will tell us about the overall amount of Viking ancestry in 260 00:20:14,910 --> 00:20:15,910 area. 261 00:20:17,690 --> 00:20:21,670 In all, we looked at more than 30 sites across the British Isles. 262 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,280 The team focused on small towns where historically there's been little 263 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:31,000 migration, and we only sampled men who could trace their male line back at 264 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:32,840 two generations in the same area. 265 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:35,460 How many generations can you trace your male line? 17. 266 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,000 17? 267 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:44,120 So the proportion of Scandinavian Y chromosomes in the modern population of 268 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:47,460 area should indicate the scale of the original Viking settlement. 269 00:20:51,490 --> 00:20:55,030 Joining us here at Stowe, we've got Professor David Goldstein, who was in 270 00:20:55,030 --> 00:20:59,390 of the entire project, and Jim Wilson, Neil Bradman and Julia Abernethy, who've 271 00:20:59,390 --> 00:21:00,810 all been working on the genetic results. 272 00:21:01,330 --> 00:21:03,210 Well, thank you all very much for coming. 273 00:21:03,490 --> 00:21:07,410 Now, David, what exactly were you hoping to find from this survey? 274 00:21:07,730 --> 00:21:12,070 Well, in short, what we were trying to do is assess the magnitude of the 275 00:21:12,070 --> 00:21:15,190 contribution of the Vikings to the British Isles. But is it actually going 276 00:21:15,190 --> 00:21:19,350 tell us how many Vikings came over here and exactly where they settled? 277 00:21:19,650 --> 00:21:20,830 Well, I don't think that we... 278 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:25,540 would ever get a very precise number for how many Vikings came over and settled. 279 00:21:25,700 --> 00:21:28,360 But it still can give you a sense, because if we see a lot of Y chromosomes 280 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:31,940 today in some part of the British Isles that have an origin in Scandinavia, then 281 00:21:31,940 --> 00:21:34,740 clearly there had to be a fair number of individuals coming over to bring those 282 00:21:34,740 --> 00:21:35,740 Y chromosomes. 283 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,780 Now, we know that the Viking raid in the British Isles came from two separate 284 00:21:39,780 --> 00:21:42,000 places, from Norway and from Denmark. 285 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:44,920 So we've been looking for two different sets of gene markers. 286 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,800 Now, let's start with the Norwegians. 287 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:55,200 From Norway, they crossed the North Sea to Shetland and Orkney. 288 00:21:58,220 --> 00:22:02,480 In Shetland, I saw the unmistakable remains of Viking longhouses. 289 00:22:06,740 --> 00:22:11,940 Heading south, I arrived in Orkney, taken over by Vikings and ruled by 290 00:22:11,940 --> 00:22:13,380 until the 1400s. 291 00:22:15,460 --> 00:22:19,200 From the archaeological evidence, it seems obvious that there was a strong 292 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:20,680 Viking presence in these islands. 293 00:22:22,380 --> 00:22:26,220 And the early results of our genetic survey appeared to confirm that. 294 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,840 David, your initial results from Orkney and Shetland suggested that there was 295 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:37,620 about 30 % of the chromosome types were from Norway. But you suggested that 296 00:22:37,620 --> 00:22:40,580 these figures might go up with the detailed statistical analysis. 297 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,680 I mean, have they? Well, remember, we first talked about just looking through 298 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:44,680 the Y chromosomes. 299 00:22:44,940 --> 00:22:48,300 and identifying those that looked pretty clearly like they had a Norwegian 300 00:22:48,300 --> 00:22:51,820 origin. And when we did that, it was something like 30 % that looked pretty 301 00:22:51,820 --> 00:22:53,260 clearly like they were from Norway. 302 00:22:53,500 --> 00:22:57,660 But then we carried out a statistical analysis to make an overall assessment 303 00:22:57,660 --> 00:23:00,720 the proportion of the chromosomes that had a Norwegian origin. 304 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,540 And when we did that, the figure was at 60%. 60 % doubled? 305 00:23:04,900 --> 00:23:07,380 Yeah. That's an enormous number. 306 00:23:07,620 --> 00:23:11,520 Yeah, it tells us that the majority of the Wycromson heritage traces back to 307 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:15,900 Norway. Now, Jim, I mean, you're not only a member of the survey team, but 308 00:23:15,900 --> 00:23:18,600 come from Orkney as well, and you must have had some idea that there was going 309 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,900 to be a strong Viking legacy there. But did you expect it was going to be 310 00:23:21,900 --> 00:23:22,900 anything like this? 311 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,620 Well, I mean, you could never really know, but I thought, I expected we would 312 00:23:26,620 --> 00:23:31,180 find quite a lot because of the strong cultural Norse heritage we have. But, 313 00:23:31,220 --> 00:23:33,000 yeah, I was also a bit surprised. 314 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,820 From Orkney, the Vikings took the sea road southwest to the Hebrides. 315 00:23:40,420 --> 00:23:44,700 And on the north coast of Scotland, in Durness, we found a strong Norwegian 316 00:23:44,700 --> 00:23:48,320 genetic signature suggesting that they'd settled here along the way. 317 00:23:50,980 --> 00:23:55,760 And in the Hebrides, where we found new evidence of Viking longhouses, more than 318 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,320 30 % of the men we sampled had Norwegian chromosome type. 319 00:24:02,670 --> 00:24:06,250 From the Hebrides, the Vikings sailed round into the Irish Sea. 320 00:24:06,910 --> 00:24:08,990 One target was the Isle of Man. 321 00:24:13,990 --> 00:24:18,350 Each year, the islanders still gather for an open -air Viking -style 322 00:24:20,470 --> 00:24:24,350 A number of pagan graves have been unearthed here with beautiful Viking 323 00:24:24,350 --> 00:24:25,350 artefacts. 324 00:24:26,330 --> 00:24:29,370 What you have to do is scrape the inside of my mouth ten times. 325 00:24:30,010 --> 00:24:32,090 And the results of the genetic survey. 326 00:24:32,620 --> 00:24:37,280 suggested at least 15 % of men we sampled on the Isle of Man have 327 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:38,280 ancestry. 328 00:24:41,260 --> 00:24:45,300 So all along the sea road, we've been able to detect the Vikings' genetic 329 00:24:45,300 --> 00:24:46,300 legacy. 330 00:24:49,060 --> 00:24:50,700 David, are you pleased with these results? 331 00:24:50,980 --> 00:24:54,300 We're delighted to get a clear signal. Often when you do these kinds of 332 00:24:54,380 --> 00:24:58,080 the results that you get are difficult to interpret and aren't clear. But here 333 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,180 we, in fact, have some very, very clear signals. 334 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,880 It's very clear that there was a significant genetic contribution from 335 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:09,380 Shetland and Orkney. Now, as you continue moving, you get to the 336 00:25:09,380 --> 00:25:13,440 get to the Isle of Man, the contribution lessens, but we still see evidence, 337 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,480 clear evidence, of Norwegian contributions there, too. 338 00:25:18,270 --> 00:25:22,470 Now the real prize for the Vikings lay at the end of the sea road, Ireland. 339 00:25:24,870 --> 00:25:29,450 The samples we took in Castlereagh produced no hint of Scandinavian 340 00:25:29,450 --> 00:25:30,450 types. 341 00:25:32,010 --> 00:25:36,830 This area, the rural heart of Ireland, turned out to be almost totally of 342 00:25:36,830 --> 00:25:38,730 ancient Britain or Celtic ancestry. 343 00:25:41,910 --> 00:25:45,010 The Vikings are much more likely to have settled along the coast. 344 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,920 They founded several towns, including Dublin, one of their most important 345 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:50,920 trading centres. 346 00:25:53,740 --> 00:25:57,420 Dublin was once the centre of a major Viking slave trade. 347 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,260 Were these shackles meant for the necks of Irish slaves to be shipped to Viking 348 00:26:03,260 --> 00:26:04,260 colonies? 349 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:10,080 And dozens of burials have yielded the largest collection of Viking weaponry 350 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:11,180 outside Scandinavia. 351 00:26:14,990 --> 00:26:19,390 So Dublin would seem an obvious place to search for the Vikings' genetic legacy 352 00:26:19,390 --> 00:26:20,390 in Ireland. 353 00:26:20,790 --> 00:26:22,810 So where do you look in Ireland, then, David? 354 00:26:23,030 --> 00:26:27,330 Well, we wanted to pick a place where there was a record of Viking activity, 355 00:26:27,330 --> 00:26:32,370 we didn't want to have a metropolitan area that had a lot of recent 356 00:26:32,370 --> 00:26:33,249 like Dublin. 357 00:26:33,250 --> 00:26:35,990 So we took an area north of Dublin called Rush. 358 00:26:36,330 --> 00:26:37,309 And what did you find? 359 00:26:37,310 --> 00:26:38,310 Very little. 360 00:26:38,430 --> 00:26:39,430 Very little? 361 00:26:39,490 --> 00:26:40,770 Yeah, we didn't find any... 362 00:26:41,500 --> 00:26:44,780 We didn't find evidence that there was much of a genetic contribution from 363 00:26:44,780 --> 00:26:46,840 Norway to that area of Ireland. 364 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:52,120 Maybe they just didn't settle there in large numbers. They just traded there or 365 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:53,420 raided there but didn't settle. 366 00:26:53,700 --> 00:26:58,700 We don't know. But in any event, we don't see much genetic evidence of 367 00:26:58,700 --> 00:26:59,700 Norwegians there. 368 00:27:02,340 --> 00:27:06,220 There may be surviving pockets of Viking descendants in other places along the 369 00:27:06,220 --> 00:27:07,220 Irish coast. 370 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:12,180 But if the Vikings of Dublin never settled outside the city walls, we may 371 00:27:12,180 --> 00:27:13,340 find their genetic legacy. 372 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,220 From Ireland, the ancient chronicles tell of Norwegian Viking raids off the 373 00:27:21,220 --> 00:27:23,300 coast of Wales, on Anglesey. 374 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,340 It looks like it's a male, can you imagine? 375 00:27:27,820 --> 00:27:32,980 Here, I helped to excavate contorted remains, the likely victims of a Viking 376 00:27:32,980 --> 00:27:33,980 attack. 377 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:39,180 And I was shown hacked pieces of silver and inscribed weights, evidence of 378 00:27:39,180 --> 00:27:40,180 Viking traders. 379 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:48,400 But again, the genetics results failed to show any clear signs of Norwegian 380 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,700 ancestry on Anglesey or in either of the two other sample sites in Wales. 381 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:58,000 Like Central Ireland, Wales seemed to be predominantly ancient Britain or 382 00:27:58,000 --> 00:27:59,000 Celtic. 383 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:03,320 From their bases in Ireland... 384 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,920 There's evidence that the Norwegian Vikings also occupied parts of England, 385 00:28:07,140 --> 00:28:12,160 particularly the north -west around the Wirral and Cumbria, including one of our 386 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:13,940 sample sites, Penrith. 387 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,680 On the Wirral, the chronicles tell of a Viking army landing here in the year 388 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:20,680 902. 389 00:28:21,860 --> 00:28:26,160 A few miles away, at Thingwall, this hill was almost certainly the site of a 390 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,060 Viking parliament, or thing. 391 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:32,360 Further north... 392 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,500 Stone sculptures provide clear evidence of a Viking presence. 393 00:28:39,100 --> 00:28:42,140 And there's another strand of evidence that the Vikings were here. 394 00:28:43,300 --> 00:28:47,520 In some Cumbrian villages, people speak a dialect that contains many words 395 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:49,840 derived from the Old Norse that the Vikings spoke. 396 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,800 They're more likely to be understood in Oslo than in London. 397 00:28:54,580 --> 00:28:57,820 Ted Ralph and Gene Scott Smith gave me a quick lesson. 398 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,920 I tell you something, Jean, we've picked a gay wild spot for a bit crack this 399 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,580 morning. I tell you, Jean, we've certainly picked a cold spot for our 400 00:29:07,580 --> 00:29:08,580 conversation. 401 00:29:08,780 --> 00:29:09,780 Aye, we have. 402 00:29:10,020 --> 00:29:12,760 Did you come up here late and when there was a barn, Ted? 403 00:29:13,180 --> 00:29:15,640 Did you come up here playing when you were a child, Ted? 404 00:29:16,180 --> 00:29:20,640 Aye, I can mind yance we came up here with our pace eggs to roll them down 405 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:24,700 row. Yes, I remember coming up here at Easter and rolling my Easter eggs down 406 00:29:24,700 --> 00:29:25,700 the hill. 407 00:29:42,110 --> 00:29:47,110 Given all this evidence of Norwegian Vikings, what would the DNA sampling 408 00:29:47,110 --> 00:29:48,110 these areas reveal? 409 00:29:49,250 --> 00:29:51,590 So, David, what did you find in the north -west of England? 410 00:29:51,990 --> 00:29:54,250 When we looked at all the English fights together, 411 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:59,160 One of the sites actually stood out as having the most Norwegian genetic 412 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:03,700 material, and that was Penrith. So that's very exciting because of the 413 00:30:03,700 --> 00:30:07,840 correspondence with the material archaeological evidence of Viking 414 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:09,680 there and the genetic legacy. 415 00:30:10,180 --> 00:30:12,520 Now, Neil, I understand that you looked at the Wirral, right? 416 00:30:12,940 --> 00:30:15,640 Somewhere else where there's quite a lot of evidence for the Vikings. So what 417 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:16,599 did you find there? 418 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,040 Well, the Wirral's interesting because in the north of the Wirral we had a mini 419 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,000 Viking kingdom, which we didn't have in the south. However, when we looked at 420 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,980 the genetic data, we find no difference between the north and the south. 421 00:30:28,180 --> 00:30:33,360 But what's exceptionally interesting is that the Wirral, while being very 422 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:39,840 similar as a whole to the rest of England, is different from Wales, 423 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:45,710 because of the Welsh being... So we have this clear distinction that the Wirral 424 00:30:45,710 --> 00:30:50,550 goes with the area to the north, where it's English, and different from the 425 00:30:50,550 --> 00:30:51,550 south, the Welsh. 426 00:30:51,730 --> 00:30:54,290 So are you telling me that there were no Vikings in the Wirral then? 427 00:30:54,590 --> 00:31:00,070 Well, we're not even saying that there's no genetic legacy from Norway there in 428 00:31:00,070 --> 00:31:03,210 the Wirral today. We're certainly not saying there were never any Vikings 429 00:31:03,350 --> 00:31:07,410 But what we're saying is that we can't see any evidence of a greater genetic 430 00:31:07,410 --> 00:31:10,990 contribution from Norway to the Wirral than other parts of England. 431 00:31:12,950 --> 00:31:17,330 Out of the whole of England, only Penrith provided definite evidence of 432 00:31:17,330 --> 00:31:18,510 Norwegian Viking settlement. 433 00:31:19,430 --> 00:31:24,030 But we also know that Norwegian Vikings, in alliance with the Danes, controlled 434 00:31:24,030 --> 00:31:25,230 much of the North East. 435 00:31:26,110 --> 00:31:30,490 During the Viking Age, York was ruled by a series of kings whose origins were in 436 00:31:30,490 --> 00:31:31,490 Norway. 437 00:31:34,630 --> 00:31:39,030 But in York, our genetic survey failed to find evidence of Norwegian ancestry. 438 00:31:41,770 --> 00:31:46,630 So maybe the Norwegian Vikings in Yorkshire were just a ruling elite, and 439 00:31:46,630 --> 00:31:48,930 genetic input was too small to be detected. 440 00:31:52,390 --> 00:31:57,430 Or perhaps, as scientists discover more about the human genome, we'll uncover 441 00:31:57,430 --> 00:31:59,650 more evidence for the Viking settlers in England. 442 00:32:02,470 --> 00:32:06,410 On the Wirral, even though the population as a whole failed to show any 443 00:32:06,410 --> 00:32:08,030 significant Norwegian input... 444 00:32:08,350 --> 00:32:12,390 By chance, a sampling produced one very intriguing individual case. 445 00:32:16,650 --> 00:32:20,550 I went to Hoy Lake, on the tip of the Wirral, to meet Bill Housley. 446 00:32:21,510 --> 00:32:25,350 Before we told him what we'd found in his DNA, I wanted to know whether there 447 00:32:25,350 --> 00:32:28,610 was anything about his family history that might suggest a Viking connection. 448 00:32:30,250 --> 00:32:32,370 Bill, how long have your family lived in this area? 449 00:32:32,670 --> 00:32:38,570 My family, looking back at family records, go back about 150 years, which 450 00:32:38,570 --> 00:32:41,450 quite a long time. That's not bad, is it? No, not at all. 451 00:32:41,710 --> 00:32:44,670 But do you think your family might go back even further than that in this 452 00:32:44,850 --> 00:32:46,930 Yes, I would think so. I should imagine. 453 00:32:47,390 --> 00:32:49,670 Yes, we probably do go further back than that. 454 00:32:52,270 --> 00:32:54,590 Housley men have been seafarers for several generations. 455 00:32:55,590 --> 00:32:58,770 His father was a fisherman, and his father before him. 456 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:05,800 His great -uncle Stephen was a member of the local lifeboat crew in the 1920s, 457 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:09,120 and the connection with the sea still continues today. 458 00:33:10,380 --> 00:33:12,220 I was never a full -time fisherman. 459 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:17,500 Main reason for that, because by the time I'd reached an age whereby I was 460 00:33:17,500 --> 00:33:20,740 to use or work a boat, fishing was on decline. 461 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:25,500 I'd come out of the army after completing my national service and 462 00:33:25,500 --> 00:33:29,280 looked at the industry and thought, no, I could do a little bit better than 463 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,540 this. So I started selling fish then. So I've been involved in the industry now 464 00:33:33,540 --> 00:33:34,720 for 36 years. 465 00:33:36,910 --> 00:33:40,170 On the very shore where the Housleys have moored their boats for generations, 466 00:33:40,570 --> 00:33:44,510 archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a flourishing Viking beach market. 467 00:33:45,810 --> 00:33:50,690 Over the years, hundreds of pieces of jewellery have been found, lost by 468 00:33:50,690 --> 00:33:52,850 traders and trampled into the soft sand. 469 00:33:54,990 --> 00:33:59,070 Could Bill and his family be the modern -day descendants of a Viking who came 470 00:33:59,070 --> 00:34:01,190 and settled on the Wirral a thousand years ago? 471 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:07,920 It was time to tell Bill that we'd found a distant relative of his amongst our 472 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:08,920 Norwegian samples. 473 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,699 So, David, could you tell us the result of Bill's test? 474 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,159 Well, we just looked through all the Y chromosomes that we observed in the 475 00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:21,260 world, compared them to Norwegian ones, and looked for matches. And we actually 476 00:34:21,260 --> 00:34:25,760 found a perfect match between your Y chromosome and Y chromosomes that we 477 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:26,760 observed in Norway. 478 00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:30,900 Now, I have to say that we can't be certain from that that your Y chromosome 479 00:34:30,900 --> 00:34:34,420 actually came from Norway. But if we had to take a guess, our guess would be 480 00:34:34,420 --> 00:34:35,940 that it's a Norwegian origin. 481 00:34:36,300 --> 00:34:37,300 So there we are, Bill. 482 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:40,860 You seem to be one of the few people who we can point to and say that you're 483 00:34:40,860 --> 00:34:42,560 probably a... Viking ancestry. 484 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:44,080 I'm absolutely delighted. 485 00:34:44,340 --> 00:34:46,880 I just can't get over this. So how do you feel about this, Marilyn? 486 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:49,040 He explains a lot, doesn't he? 487 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:50,158 Oh, dear. 488 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:54,620 He doesn't show evidence of Viking behaviour, does he, at times? Oh, yeah. 489 00:34:55,780 --> 00:34:58,000 You may not be able to blame that on his white chromosome. 490 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,520 Do you think it's going to make any difference to your life? 491 00:35:02,020 --> 00:35:03,700 I don't suppose so, really. 492 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:04,920 I mean, it's nice. 493 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:10,480 thought and feeling to know that there is a strong possibility I am descended 494 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:15,560 from the Vikings of Norway and that's something that I'm just delighted with. 495 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,880 Anyway, thank you very much for coming. Thank you for having me. It's been very 496 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:20,680 interesting. Thank you. 497 00:35:25,140 --> 00:35:29,600 Bill's ancestors, the Norwegian Vikings, mainly colonised the north. 498 00:35:30,060 --> 00:35:32,620 But what could we find out about the Danish Vikings? 499 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:35,940 whose armies made such a huge impact on the rest of England. 500 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:45,880 In 878, the half of England that lay above a line drawn roughly from London 501 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,960 the Wirral was officially handed over to the Danish Viking army. 502 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:54,660 It became known as the Danelaw and was dominated by Vikings for half a century. 503 00:35:57,220 --> 00:36:00,580 Here at Weststow in Suffolk, we'd have been within the Danelaw. 504 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:02,160 Now, later... 505 00:36:02,380 --> 00:36:05,740 In the 11th century, England, which had been lost to the Vikings, was 506 00:36:05,740 --> 00:36:10,020 reconquered by King Canute, and for the next 20 years, the whole country was 507 00:36:10,020 --> 00:36:11,020 under Danish rule. 508 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:18,160 There's strong evidence that some of these Danes settled in England. 509 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:23,520 There are all the place names ending in B, the Danish for farmstead or village. 510 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:29,620 But were these villages taken over by a small Viking elite, or was there a mass 511 00:36:29,620 --> 00:36:31,240 migration of Viking peasants? 512 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:36,340 This was the main question that we hoped our genetic survey would help to 513 00:36:36,340 --> 00:36:37,340 answer. 514 00:36:39,340 --> 00:36:44,080 But in England, the number of Viking descendants today may have been greatly 515 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:48,280 distorted by the dramatic events which unfolded at the end of the Viking Age. 516 00:36:51,340 --> 00:36:56,540 In 1066, just days after the English King Harold had defeated the great 517 00:36:56,540 --> 00:37:00,380 army of Harold Hardrada, England was invaded again. 518 00:37:01,230 --> 00:37:07,410 Duke William and his Norman army crossed the Channel and landed at Pevensey near 519 00:37:07,410 --> 00:37:08,410 Dover. 520 00:37:09,850 --> 00:37:14,470 Two weeks later, they defeated King Harold in one of the most famous 521 00:37:14,470 --> 00:37:17,490 in English history, the Battle of Hastings. 522 00:37:18,130 --> 00:37:24,910 On Christmas Day 1066, Duke William of Normandy 523 00:37:24,910 --> 00:37:27,450 was crowned King William I of England. 524 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,740 But from our point of view, if we're searching for Viking blood in today's 525 00:37:31,740 --> 00:37:35,100 population, then William the Conqueror's victory complicates matters. 526 00:37:38,620 --> 00:37:43,000 The problem is that William the Conqueror was the direct descendant of a 527 00:37:45,620 --> 00:37:49,600 But what about the rest of his army? Were they descended from Vikings too? 528 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,600 Did they all bring Scandinavian Y chromosomes to England? 529 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,880 The story of the Normans began 200 years before the Battle of Hastings. 530 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:13,500 In the middle of the 800s, the Vikings began raiding the rich lands of northern 531 00:38:13,500 --> 00:38:14,500 France. 532 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:23,180 They sailed up rivers to plunder the poorly defended monasteries. 533 00:38:30,700 --> 00:38:35,960 In the spring of 841, they reached the Abbey of Jumièges, conveniently located 534 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:37,560 on the banks of the River Seine. 535 00:38:43,860 --> 00:38:48,840 With over 900 monks, Jumièges was one of the largest abbeys in France. 536 00:38:49,540 --> 00:38:54,100 The Vikings knew that on a Sunday, everyone here would be peacefully at 537 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,960 So, according to the chronicle, that's when they chose to attack. 538 00:39:04,270 --> 00:39:06,450 20 miles up the River Seine lies Rouen. 539 00:39:07,110 --> 00:39:10,990 By 861, it had been sacked and burnt six times. 540 00:39:13,750 --> 00:39:18,550 After 60 years of being overrun by the Vikings, the French king decided to do a 541 00:39:18,550 --> 00:39:19,550 deal with them. 542 00:39:19,590 --> 00:39:24,330 He arranged to meet the Vikings at a place called St. Clair -sur -Epte to 543 00:39:24,330 --> 00:39:25,330 up a peace treaty. 544 00:39:27,810 --> 00:39:33,050 Rollo, the Viking leader, was apparently made to swear an oath on these, the 545 00:39:33,050 --> 00:39:34,050 sacred but... 546 00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:36,080 rather grisly relics of St Clair himself. 547 00:39:43,020 --> 00:39:46,780 In return for ceasing his raids and protecting the rest of the country from 548 00:39:46,780 --> 00:39:51,560 other Vikings, Rollo was given the city of Rouen by King Charles the Simple and 549 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,240 all the surrounding lands along the north coast of France. 550 00:39:55,260 --> 00:39:58,220 Rollo's descendants became the Dukes of Normandy. 551 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:06,100 So by 1066, when the Normans invaded England, from a genetic point of view, 552 00:40:06,100 --> 00:40:07,980 this effectively another Viking invasion? 553 00:40:09,980 --> 00:40:13,880 It all depends on how many Vikings originally settled in Normandy. 554 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:21,560 In Rouen, I went to meet a local expert in Scandinavian languages. 555 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:27,000 Professor Jean Renaud believes that clues to the original number of Viking 556 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,700 settlers might be found in Normandy's place names. 557 00:40:31,100 --> 00:40:37,080 The most interesting place names to tell us how many the Vikings could be is the 558 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:37,979 oldest ones. 559 00:40:37,980 --> 00:40:44,860 I mean, the real Scandinavian Viking names, I mean, real place names, made 560 00:40:44,860 --> 00:40:48,680 of two Scandinavian elements. A place name like Brickbeck. 561 00:40:49,230 --> 00:40:53,350 is very typical of an original place name for the third generation. 562 00:40:54,050 --> 00:40:56,630 Bric is Bricci, the slope. 563 00:40:56,870 --> 00:41:02,270 Bec is Beccur, the little brook. So Bric -Bec is the little brook down the 564 00:41:02,270 --> 00:41:03,270 slope. 565 00:41:03,290 --> 00:41:05,770 This is a very typical Scandinavian name. 566 00:41:07,710 --> 00:41:12,450 Jean Renaud has identified only a couple of hundred villages in Normandy with 567 00:41:12,450 --> 00:41:16,230 pure Scandinavian names, compared with the thousands in England. 568 00:41:17,070 --> 00:41:20,930 So he believed the Viking settlers can't have made a great impact on the genetic 569 00:41:20,930 --> 00:41:21,990 mix of Normandy. 570 00:41:22,710 --> 00:41:26,990 Therefore, the Norman army probably didn't bring much Viking blood to 571 00:41:26,990 --> 00:41:27,990 1066. 572 00:41:29,470 --> 00:41:32,250 And our genetics survey seems to support this. 573 00:41:32,830 --> 00:41:37,590 In the Channel Islands, which were heavily colonised by the Normans, we 574 00:41:37,590 --> 00:41:40,430 only a tiny hint of possible Scandinavian ancestry. 575 00:41:43,730 --> 00:41:48,060 But in other ways... the Norman conquest could still have had a major impact on 576 00:41:48,060 --> 00:41:49,840 the Vikings' genetic legacy in England. 577 00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:57,640 In 1069, the people of York, traditionally a Viking stronghold, 578 00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,360 Norman garrison on the Castle Mound. 579 00:42:00,100 --> 00:42:04,580 They resented the heavy taxes imposed by their new King William, and when Danish 580 00:42:04,580 --> 00:42:08,940 Vikings offered assistance, simmering resentment erupted into open rebellion. 581 00:42:12,580 --> 00:42:15,820 William's reply to the York uprising was swift and vicious. 582 00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:24,000 The Vikings fled without a fight and William's troops stormed into town. 583 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:35,420 King William was determined that Viking sympathisers throughout the north would 584 00:42:35,420 --> 00:42:37,220 never again be a threat to his authority. 585 00:42:40,590 --> 00:42:45,030 The fate of villages like Middleham, 30 miles from York, is recorded in the 586 00:42:45,030 --> 00:42:46,250 famous Doomsday Survey. 587 00:42:50,410 --> 00:42:55,770 The Doomsday Book was written in 1085 and lists the taxable value of every 588 00:42:55,770 --> 00:42:58,170 and hamlet before and after William's conquest. 589 00:43:00,890 --> 00:43:03,250 This is the entry for the Manor of Middleham. 590 00:43:04,890 --> 00:43:07,510 In Middleham, three ploughs possible. 591 00:43:08,210 --> 00:43:09,550 Gilpatrick had a manor there. 592 00:43:10,140 --> 00:43:13,380 Value before 1066, 20 shillings. 593 00:43:13,700 --> 00:43:16,600 Now Ribbold has it, waste. 594 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:24,620 So, before 1066, Middleham had been a relatively prosperous hamlet owned by 595 00:43:24,620 --> 00:43:27,620 called Gilpatrick, presumably a Viking settler. 596 00:43:28,100 --> 00:43:33,900 But in 1069, William's men came along, turfed him out, and so comprehensively 597 00:43:33,900 --> 00:43:38,440 destroyed the place that 16 years later, at the time of the Doomsday Survey... 598 00:43:38,700 --> 00:43:41,620 There wasn't a single acre of land here being cultivated. 599 00:43:45,260 --> 00:43:48,320 William's troops swept through the land. 600 00:43:51,540 --> 00:43:54,520 Families fled south to sell themselves into slavery. 601 00:43:55,060 --> 00:43:59,520 It was a devastating blow to the descendants of Danish Vikings in the 602 00:44:02,180 --> 00:44:07,780 The Norman Campaign of 1069 was a savage attack on the civilian population of 603 00:44:07,780 --> 00:44:12,010 England. And many of the villages destroyed were just the sort of places 604 00:44:12,010 --> 00:44:13,450 the Danish Vikings would have settled. 605 00:44:13,950 --> 00:44:18,890 And this came on top of the St. Brice's Day Massacre, another mass slaughter of 606 00:44:18,890 --> 00:44:22,150 Danish immigrants in England that had taken place 70 years earlier. 607 00:44:25,510 --> 00:44:29,290 So the story of the Vikings in England raises many fascinating questions. 608 00:44:31,390 --> 00:44:34,450 Was there ever a mass settlement of Viking peasants? 609 00:44:35,050 --> 00:44:38,350 And how many of the settlers survived the subsequent persecutions? 610 00:44:39,210 --> 00:44:42,530 We'd hoped our genetic survey might help solve these mysteries. 611 00:44:43,710 --> 00:44:48,010 But we knew that identifying the descendants of Danish Vikings might be 612 00:44:48,010 --> 00:44:51,090 difficult. It turned out to be impossible. 613 00:44:52,950 --> 00:44:57,330 The Danish Vikings came from virtually the same population stock around North 614 00:44:57,330 --> 00:45:01,810 Germany as the Angles and Saxons who'd invaded Britain 400 years earlier. 615 00:45:02,990 --> 00:45:07,030 Disappointingly, our survey revealed that their chromosome types are too 616 00:45:07,030 --> 00:45:10,750 to allow us to say anything about where Danish Vikings settled in England. 617 00:45:11,350 --> 00:45:15,890 But when we looked at all these continental invaders as a single group, 618 00:45:15,890 --> 00:45:16,890 some surprising results. 619 00:45:17,810 --> 00:45:22,190 Curiously, in England, we found that a higher proportion of people in the north 620 00:45:22,190 --> 00:45:25,250 that descended from these invaders than along the south coast. 621 00:45:26,090 --> 00:45:28,870 David, what's the picture from the whole of England, then? 622 00:45:29,330 --> 00:45:31,970 Well, one thing really that's... 623 00:45:32,170 --> 00:45:35,230 stands out is that there's a little bit of everything everywhere. 624 00:45:35,550 --> 00:45:40,530 So we don't see really sharp differences from one place to another. 625 00:45:41,030 --> 00:45:42,610 Things are just graded. 626 00:45:43,070 --> 00:45:46,490 we can see small differences but not sharp differences. So there's really 627 00:45:46,490 --> 00:45:47,490 great deal of mixing. 628 00:45:47,670 --> 00:45:52,110 Is that the same with Scotland as well? Well, in fact, it is similar because in 629 00:45:52,110 --> 00:45:58,310 the coastal sites in southern England that we looked at, we estimated an 630 00:45:58,310 --> 00:46:02,070 indigenous component there that's very similar to what we estimate for 631 00:46:03,070 --> 00:46:07,250 So we found the highest concentration of the continental invader's DNA in 632 00:46:07,250 --> 00:46:08,250 northern England. 633 00:46:08,620 --> 00:46:12,840 But surprisingly, mainland Scotland had about the same percentage of German and 634 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:14,540 Danish descendants as southern England. 635 00:46:15,660 --> 00:46:20,320 Only in Central Ireland and Wales did we find populations almost entirely 636 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:22,800 descended from ancient Britons or Celts. 637 00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:27,000 Along the Northern Sea Road, there's a different picture. 638 00:46:27,300 --> 00:46:32,100 From Shetland all the way down to Cumbria, we found strong signs of 639 00:46:32,100 --> 00:46:33,100 ancestry. 640 00:46:33,500 --> 00:46:36,840 There can be no doubt these were the lands of the Vikings. 641 00:46:38,730 --> 00:46:42,170 So David, do you think that you've found all the Vikings in the British Isles? 642 00:46:42,510 --> 00:46:45,290 Well, we certainly haven't found all the Vikings, and in fact it's not even 643 00:46:45,290 --> 00:46:48,890 really the right way to look at it, because what we're doing is looking at 644 00:46:48,890 --> 00:46:51,550 the Y chromosome, and we can say something about... 645 00:46:51,790 --> 00:46:54,270 the origins of sets of Y chromosomes. 646 00:46:54,850 --> 00:46:58,290 However, that doesn't tell us about the rest of the genetic makeup of the 647 00:46:58,290 --> 00:47:02,090 individuals that we looked at. And in fact, in the case of the Vikings, they 648 00:47:02,090 --> 00:47:06,110 spread so far and wide that I wouldn't be at all surprised if they made genetic 649 00:47:06,110 --> 00:47:09,970 contributions. In fact, I'm sure they did to peoples in all sorts of places. 650 00:47:09,970 --> 00:47:14,990 Vikings in the Middle East, perhaps the Vikings even made contributions to, say, 651 00:47:15,130 --> 00:47:17,010 the Caribbean through British... 652 00:47:17,240 --> 00:47:21,060 presence in the Caribbean, though in fact I would suspect that there are 653 00:47:21,060 --> 00:47:26,500 Norwegian and Danish genetic contributions running through lots and 654 00:47:26,500 --> 00:47:31,180 people in the British Isles. So individually we're all a wonderful 655 00:47:31,180 --> 00:47:34,360 as a nation we're a wonderful mixture as well. That's exactly it. 656 00:47:38,580 --> 00:47:42,860 For nearly 300 years the Vikings terrorised Northern Europe. 657 00:47:43,770 --> 00:47:47,430 With their long ships, they conquered kingdoms and opened up trade routes 658 00:47:47,430 --> 00:47:49,810 stretching from the Arctic to the Middle East. 659 00:47:55,770 --> 00:47:59,530 But then they vanished into the shadows of Dark Age history. 660 00:48:02,550 --> 00:48:07,330 Now, at last, archaeological discoveries, combined with new 661 00:48:07,330 --> 00:48:10,950 techniques, are helping to reveal the true story of the Vikings. 662 00:48:13,390 --> 00:48:17,590 I grew up thinking of the Vikings as a brief, violent episode in our history, 663 00:48:17,770 --> 00:48:20,590 marauding invaders whom we fought off and sent home. 664 00:48:21,130 --> 00:48:25,510 But now we know that they didn't just sail away. They stayed and became an 665 00:48:25,510 --> 00:48:28,310 integral part of the rich genetic mix of the population. 666 00:48:30,030 --> 00:48:35,250 And a thousand years later, many of us still have, flowing through our veins, a 667 00:48:35,250 --> 00:48:36,850 little of the blood of the Vikings.