The Physical Anthropolgy of the Norse

Relying on the observations of Balslev-Jørgensen, Krogh (1982: 57) wrote that the skeletons found at E29a Thjodhilde's Church were of "tall and powerful people", and compared their stature to the mean Danish stature around 1930-1940. As I have already pointed out in the discussion of Hansen's observations, this common belief that the Vikings and the Early Norse were especially tall and powerful, cannot be corroborated […]

[…] The traits usually described as “Mongoloid” or “Eskimoid” may also be “Uralic” and indeed are not unusual for Norse populations.[…]

Source: Niels Lynnerup, "The Greenland Norse: A biological-anthropological study," Man & Society (1998): 73-74.

Return to parent page