Sexing Viking Age horses from burial and non-burial sites in Iceland using ancient DNA

© 2018 The Authors Horses are the most common grave goods found in Icelandic Viking Age graves. Horse skeletons have previously been sexed based on pelvis shape and the presence of canine teeth in male horses over 4–5 years of age. Morphological data has shown that all horses from Icelandic burials that were amenable to sexing were male. Yet the use of morphological methods to determine sex is problematic since they rely on finding a well-preserved pelvis and/or robust canine teeth. Furthermore, quantitative data underlying the features of the horse pelvis used for sexing is lacking and canine teeth have been reported to occur in mares. In this study we build upon and extend recently developed methodologies to make use of shotgun sequencing of ancient DNA (aDNA) for molecular sexing of Viking Age horse remains. With minimal sequencing effort we identified the sex of the largest collection (n = 22) of Viking Age Icelandic horses studied to date, sourced from both burial (n = 19) and non-burial (n = 3) sites. Our results revealed a male to female sex bias ratio of 18:1 in burial sites, versus 0:3 in non-burial sites. These findings support the significant over-representation of male horses in Viking Age graves in Iceland, yet show that –albeit rare– mares could also be selected for ritual burial in Viking Age Iceland. This cost-effective method provides statistical confidence to allow for sexing of highly fragmented archaeological specimens with low endogenous DNA content

The Workings of Monsters: Of Monsters and Humans in Icelandic Society

Vestfirðir(Westfjords of Iceland) is the large north-western peninsula of Iceland, which consists of high mountains and deep fjords. It is the most isolated and sparsely populated part of Iceland. Geographically the oldest part of the country, it is also the place which Icelanders see as the perfect environment for trolls and giants. For over 1,100 years, Icelanders have amassed a plethora of diverse monsters, good, bad, and in-between; this diversity can be tested against Cohen's (1996) Seven Theses categorization. These monsters live on the land, within the land (and water); and they are the land. They also live within Icelanders, at times in the form of protectors, at times as adversaries. Such monsters enter the lives and minds of Icelanders in different ways and their place, meaning, and effectiveness are diverse. On the one hand, the powers of Icelandic monsters can be displayed and affected through fear, deceit, and natural catastrophes, while on the other hand their powers can be negotiated and leveled to the benefits of human and “monsterkind.” Like the land, these monsters cannot easily be categorized (Cohen's Thesis III) and at the same time they both represent and reveal Icelandic history, culture, and society (Cohen's Thesis I). As a child growing up in Iceland, I learned about the four Vaettir ­(protectors) of Iceland. They come in the shape of Gridingur (bull), Gammur (griffin), Dreki (dragon), and Bergrisi (rock-giant) and are entrusted with the task of protecting the land—north, south, east, and west respectively—from external forces. Over the years, the symbolic meaning of the Vaettir, and their place in Icelandic mythology, history, and psyche, have settled in my mind, but my earliest feeling for them was awe of their size, for they are all giants