COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The skeletons of two related Viking-era men, one who died in central Denmark and the other who was killed in England during a massacre ordered by a king, are set to be reunited for an exhibition opening in Copenhagen this month.
Scientists on both sides of the North Sea have established a genetic link between the Norsemen. DNA tests showed “that they are either half brothers or nephew and uncle,” University of Copenhagen geneticist Eske Willerslev said.
The man from the central Denmark island of Funen was a farmer in his 50s; his skeleton was excavated in 2005 near the town of Otterup. He stood 182-centimeters-tall (just under 6 feet), had arthritis in most of his bones and signs of inflammation inside some ribs which could indicate tuberculosis, according to Odense City Museums chief curator Jesper Hansen.
