"Viking DNA and the pitfalls of genetic ancestry tests” - The Conversation - Daniel Strand, CEMFOR and Anna Källén, Stockholm´s University
2021-04-12
A middle-aged white man raises his sword to the skies and roars to the gods. The results of his genetic ancestry test have just arrived in his suburban mailbox. His eyes fill with tears as he learns that he is “0.012% Viking”. These are the scenes from a video advertisement for the TV-series Vikings.
WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE “VIKING DNA”
In our new study, we carried out interviews with people from the US, the UK and Sweden who had purchased genetic ancestry tests to see if they were related to Vikings. Since the test results did not include the term “Viking”, most of them pointed to the category “Scandinavia” in their ethnic charts as proof of having Viking ancestry.
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