Pregnant women wielding swords and wearing martial helmets, foetuses set to avenge their fathers — and a harsh world where not all newborns were born free or given burial. These are some of the ...

In Iceland, the discovery of a ship-tomb containing a woman’s grave tells us that they could take part in the expeditions of their conquering spouses. Scientists have detected their traces in the DNA ...

“Bellyfull.” “Unlight.” “A woman walking not alone.” These are all terms once used to describe pregnancy in the Viking Age, which has been a long-neglected subject in the study of Viking history. Now, ...

Pregnant women wielding swords and wearing martial helmets, fetuses set to avenge their fathers—and a harsh world where not all newborns were born free or given burial. These are some of the realities ...

When a metal detector beeped on the Norwegian island of Senja, archaeologists suspected it may be Vikings. But they weren’t suspecting anything like this. Just 20 centimeters beneath the soil, they ...

The discovery challenges previously held beliefs of pre-Christian burials. A ninth-century Viking woman’s grave discovered in Norway with scallop shells around her mouth. It's "a practice that is not ...

This round, silver pendant was found in a 10th-century elite woman's burial in Sweden in 1920 and is the only known depiction of a pregnant Viking. The artifact, known as the Ash Pendant, is in the ...

Marianne Hem Eriksen leads the BODY-POLITICS project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no.

Despite its central role in human history, pregnancy has often been overlooked in archaeology. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.