Viking society may have been a prime example of gender equivalence a millennium ago when women across much of Europe were not as extremely value as their male counterparts . New research argues that this former viewpoint may have helped to contribute to the successfulness of Scandinavian nations today .
Using archaeology to trace health and nutritionary par from Scandinavians living between the 8thand 11thcenturies , scientists write in the journalEconomics & Human Biologythat men and women of the Viking era experience “ remarkable ” equality , specially compared with other European area that favored boys .
“ We hypothesized that if girls and women received less food for thought and fear than the male members of beau monde , they would have more such damage , ” said researcher Laura Maravall in astatement . “ The extent to which value differ between men and women is therefore also a measure of equation within the population . ”
Researchers at the University of Tubingen study the tooth and skeletal frame of Norse remains go steady back thousands of years in fiat to equate the health of valet de chambre and adult female using data from Europe ’s Global story of Health Project , a continent - wide database that include sketch on human skeleton in the closet from more than 100 European site from the last 2,000 years . They found that the tooth enamel in tooth , as well as the femur lengths , were relatively equal in male person and females . If equality was lacking , scientist argue that undernourished or ill tiddler would have displayed permanent damage to tooth enamel in a condition known as linear enamel hypoplasia .
Rather , health values were relatively similar between both sexes , meaning that boy and girl had similar access to food and other resource . These findings were confirmed by an analysis of second joint bone length – longer femur admit information about pinnacle , which can be an reading of good health and a sufficient dieting .
“ Such women in the Nordic countries may have led to popular myths about the Valkyrie : They were unattackable , tidy and tall , ” tell study co - author Jörg Baten , adding that urban life was dissimilar . But the movie in Scandinavian cities was dissimilar . “ The Swedish Town of Lund and Sigtuna – on the site of today ’s Stockholm – and in Trondheim in Norway , had break a course organization by the Early Middle Ages . cleaning lady there did not have the same equality as their sister in the countryside . ”
The researchers argue that equality may have been linked to the type of work done . mature crop was largely seen as a man ’s task because it postulate “ cracking brawny strength , ” but raising livestock permit women to chip in to the kinsperson income , in act raising their position in society .
Scandinavian womanhood were by and large more well off than women in other European realm , particularly the Mediterranean and easterly European city , and they have been able to adjudge their space in society for the last 1,000 year , into the Industrial era and beyond . The research worker argue that this is why Norway , Denmark , Sweden , and Finland membership so extremely today in damage of didactics , wellness , economical successfulness , and life expectancy .
