By Cheyenne Macdonald For Dailymail.com
Published: 00:45 GMT, 21 February 2019 | Updated: 00:58 GMT, 21 February 2019
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A controversial set of remains that has long sparked debate among archaeologists does, in fact, represent a female Viking warrior, a new study has concluded.
The 10th century skeleton unearthed from the Swedish Viking town, Birka in 1878 was initially assumed to be male due to its decorated burial.
But, morphological traits suggested otherwise, and a DNA study published in 2017 determined the bones were of a woman.
Following up on the recent research, the same authors have now doubled down on their findings that the high-ranking warrior buried at Birka is ‘biologically female.’
The Birka skeleton (illustrated left) was buried with an array of offensive weapons, including a sword and armour-piercing arrows, leading many experts to insist the deceased Viking was male. Inside the grave, excavators also found two horses and a full set of gaming pieces
Norse mythology tells of the fierce female spirits who served as helpers to the god Odin.
Known as the Valkyries, or ‘choosers of the slain,’ they were among numerous female figures who were tasked with selecting who on the battlefield would die, and who would live.
The deceased warriors chosen by the Valkyries were then sent to Valhalla, the hall of the dead.
It’s thought that the image of the Valkyrie is based on another mythical figure called the ‘Shieldmaiden.’
These were the legendary women who had chosen to fight as warriors.
The existence of female Viking warriors has been heavily debated.
While there are many tales of individual women fighting in battles in Viking folklore,
