A surprising discovery in Dublin challenges long-held ideas about when the Scandinavian raiders arrived on the Emerald Isle

[rangerrebew]

A surprising discovery in Dublin challenges long-held ideas about when the Scandinavian raiders arrived on the Emerald Isle

By ROGER ATWOOD

Tuesday, March 10, 2015
 

An impressive ax head is one of hundreds of Viking artifacts found during excavations under the streets of Dublin.

When Irish archaeologists working under Dublin’s South Great George’s Street just over a decade ago excavated the remains of four young men buried with fragments of Viking shields, daggers, and personal ornaments, the discovery appeared to be simply more evidence of the Viking presence in Ireland. At least 77 Viking burials have been discovered across Dublin since the late 1700s, some accidentally by ditch diggers, others by archaeologists working on building sites. All have been dated to the ninth or tenth centuries on the basis of artifacts that accompanied them, and the South Great George’s Street burials seemed to be four more examples.

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/168-1503/features/2969-ireland-dublin-early-viking-prescence

[catfish1957]

A surprising discovery in Dublin challenges long-held ideas about when the Scandinavian raiders arrived on the Emerald Isle

A big surprise to many of us avid genealogist who thought they were of English-Scottish-Irish descent, are finding Scandinavian dna.  Like in my case, I have done pretty extensive research, and there are almost no Scandinavian surnames in my tree.  Still both Ancestry and FTDNA both show I have 18% Scandinavian descent.

Though they were obviously conquerers, I have a feeling that they had strong intent of homesteading in that process too.