They liked raping and banging and breeding having children with people from other parts of the world. They liked it so much that they eventually ended up looking more like the locals then their own increasingly diluted NORDIC stock and/or the locals adapted to Viking Culture in great numbers and extent.
Also they enjoyed raiding as a family, one gravesite in the Baltics had four brothers buried in the same area. So deep down, the Viking Age was about family and that is what was special about it. The family that raids together is the family that stays together.
Professor Eske Willerslev said:“The Vikings had a lot more genes from Southern and Eastern Europe than we anticipated. They frequently had children with people from other parts of the world. In fact, they also tend to be dark-haired rather than blond, which is otherwise consider an established Viking-trait."
Also they enjoyed raiding as a family, one gravesite in the Baltics had four brothers buried in the same area. So deep down, the Viking Age was about family and that is what was special about it. The family that raids together is the family that stays together.
Professor Eske Willerslev said:“Popular culture suggests that the Viking Chief would recruit the strongest warriors from neighbouring tribes or communities to join him on a raid somewhere. But at least five of the Vikings in this grave are closely related. So perhaps you just brought your family along when you went on a raid.”
Largest-ever study of Viking genetics reveals new insights
The largest genetic study of the Vikings ever done has just been published, and offers surprising discoveries about the medieval warriors, including that they may not be quite as Nordic as hitherto believed.
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