Since I have received quite a few requests for the Viking history report that I mentioned in my last post, I am taking the liberty of sending it to the discussion group.
WARNING: The attached article contains photographs of Viking skeletons unearthed recently during archaeological excavations near Saalme, Saaremaa, Estonia.?
One of the seven skeletons in the smaller Viking ship is a direct Y-DNA match with my Finland-born father (and thus with me).? Two of the 33 skeletons in the large (posh) Viking ship match the Mitochondrial DNA of my Swedish-Norwegian maternal grandmother (and thus my Mom and me), including one of the nobles and one of the warriors.? Research suggests that the two Viking ships were part of a fleet that sailed from Scandinavia and raided Estonia.? All of these men were apparently killed during a single large battle, which resulted in the survivors arranging the Viking burials before withdrawing home.? It was suggested that those in the smaller boat including my paternal ancestor were servants of those in the larger craft.
The find was particularly significant in that it seems that the Viking Age began decades earlier than previously believed. Formerly, the first known Viking raid was on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the northwest coast of England in 793 AD.
Prior to this, the earliest person (again, a Viking) that I have directly traced my lineage back to lived around 985 AD.
Not that anyone's interested, but my maternal grandmother (mentioned above) married into the direct line of a titled family of British Separationists who fled England to America arriving to help start Salem, Massachusetts in 1626, a few years after the Mayflower landed. They were fleeing religious persecution.? Many in the family perished during the harsh first winter.? The survivors later intermarried with the other founding families in the fledgling British Colonial America.
I grew up neither knowing nor caring about my family history, and I regret that that's the situation to date with my descendants. Fortunately, I coordinate research with a first cousin in Seattle and a niece in Arizona.
One question that my research has answered is why I love the Bible so much.? I come from a long line of Puritans who valued their Spiritual well-being over everything else.? I suspect that some of it must be genetic and hold out hope for my kids and grandkids.?
Have a great holiday season!
