Sweden’s Viking Age population seems to have faced significant health challenges, including severe oral and maxillofacial diseases, sinus and ear infections, osteoarthritis, among other ailments. This conclusion is drawn from a study conducted at the University of Gothenburg that involved examining Viking skulls using modern X-ray techniques.
Approximately one year ago, research was published based on the examination of a large number of teeth from the Viking Age population in Varnhem, located in Sweden’s province of Västergötland. This area is renowned for its numerous ancient graves and well-preserved skeletons. Now, dental specialists at the University of Gothenburg have expanded this research by analyzing not just the teeth but also complete skulls using modern computed tomography (CT) scans.
The detailed image analysis presented in the British Dental Journal Open indicates that fifteen individuals whose skulls were examined had a broad range of health issues. The CT scans revealed pathological bone growths in both the cranium and jawbone, indicating various infections and conditions. Several individuals exhibited signs of sinus or ear infections that left visible traces on adjacent bones structures.
Signs of osteoarthritis and diverse dental diseases were also noted among all these skulls belonging to adults aged between 20 to 60 years at the time of death.
The study’s lead, Carolina Bertilsson, an assistant researcher at the University of Gothenburg who is a dentist within Sweden’s Public Dental Service, conducted this research alongside specialists in dental radiology and an archaeologist from Västergötlands museum. Together, they carried out the examinations and analyzed the images.
CT scans generate three-dimensional images that allow researchers to study various types of skeletal damage layer by layer across different parts of the skull with great detail.
The extensive findings offer a deeper understanding of these people’s health conditions during their time. As Carolina Bertilsson noted, “There was much to look at in these individuals; we found many signs of disease but exactly why remains unclear.”
While they couldn’t study soft tissue damage since it no longer exists, the researchers can see significant traces left on skeletal structures.
“Everyone knows how uncomfortable and desperate pain makes you. In their time, however, people lacked medical and dental care as we have today or access to the kind of pain relief – not mentioning antibiotics,” explained Carolina Bertilsson from her team’s findings regarding healthcare in that era.
This study is considered a pilot project primarily aimed at testing CT scans as a potential method for future studies. It offers an advantage over current invasive archaeological techniques, allowing researchers to retain remains intact while still gaining substantial information about past populations’ health conditions.
