This sensational discovery may become the basis for further research, which may answer the question: where did the Vikings in Central Poland come from?
Where did the idea for research in this part of Poland come from?
Our centre is primarily involved in research on skeletons representing ancient human populations from the Kuyavia region – says Dr Paulina Borówka from the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz. – Kuyavia has provided us with a lot of very interesting research data indicating settlement continuity and constituting a good reference system for the whole of Central Poland – adds Prof. Wiesław Lorkiewicz from the same department. However, Lutomiersk has always aroused our interest, and the opportunity to reach for these burials was the repeated analysis of archaeological materials from this site carried out by Prof. Ryszard Grygiel, presented in his excellent study on the early medieval centres of the early Piast state in this part of Poland.
There were many waves of settlement of Scandinavian population groups in Poland in the period known as the Viking Age, but these are the first traces discovered in this part of the country
– says Dr Borówka.
The most important mystery is how these settlers got here, and it is my job to solve it, not on the basis of indirect archaeological data, but based on genetic data. I have addressed this issue in my doctoral dissertation, combining currently available information about the Lutomiersk cemetery and the results of our research.
For early medieval history lovers, Lutomiersk is one of the most important sites on the archaeological map of Central Poland. There is a cemetery from the first half of the 11th century, where burials differing in the form of the grave and equipment from others characteristic of this region of the country were discovered in the 1940s. – The cemetery in Lutomiersk is mainly, as it is called in archaeology, a skeletal cemetery, where not cremated bodies were buried. They were discovered by accident at the end of World War II
– explains Dr Borówka.
After the war, archaeologists from Lodz, led by Professor Konrad Jażdżewski, began research in this area. – It turned out then that the graves were richly equipped with various imports, most likely of Scandinavian-Russian origin
– says Dr Borówka.
It was the first archaeological site of this type in this part of Poland, which was interpreted as direct evidence of the presence of Scandinavians (specifically the Varangians, i.e. Scandinavians who settled in the territories of later Kievan Rus') in the country of the first Piast dynasty.
The Vikings in Poland and the role they were supposed to play in the creation of the Polish State, i.e. the State of the First Piast Dynasty, have been talked about for over a hundred years
– notes Prof. Lorkiewicz.
There are more archaeological sites in Poland that can be linked to Scandinavian population groups in the State of the First Piast Dynasty, but on such a scale, with the exploration of the entire cemetery, it all started near Lodz, with Lutomiersk.
The research of Prof. Jażdżewski’s team ended in the early 1950s. The archaeological materials and bone remains which were discovered at the Lutomiersk cemetery were transferred to the newly established Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography in Lodz. The initial study of the preserved human skeletal remains was carried out in the 1970s. However, there was no indication that scientists would be able to learn anything more from them.
The skeletal remains were very poorly preserved due to the unfavourable ground conditions in this area
– says Prof. Lorkiewicz.
A dozen or so years ago, when we began to be interested in DNA research, I expressed the opinion that due to the poor state of preservation of the skeletal remains it was impossible to conduct genetic tests. Fortunately, in science you should never say "never."
Over the course of a dozen or so years, progress in laboratory research in the field of DNA isolation and analysis has proven to be significant enough to allow us to conduct research. – We obtained funding in the EU project EASI Genomics, thanks to which our samples have travelled through several laboratories, including foreign ones
– says Dr Borówka.
This way, we obtained DNA from the skeletal remains and came significantly closer to solving the mystery. After several years of hard work, scientists from Lodz managed to obtain the first results that allowed for the analysis of DNA of the remains buried in the Lutomiersk cemetery. – It turned out that the people buried in this cemetery are so genetically diverse that they must have come from different populations
– explains Dr Borówka.
There were burials of people of Scandinavian and Slavic (local) origin, as well as people of mixed origin in relation to both groups. The research used bones from various parts of the cemetery, both from its main alley, where people of particular importance to the community were certainly buried, and from the outskirts of the necropolis. "Scandinavian DNA" was found in various parts of the cemetery, which indicates that people of this origin played different social roles, and that they stayed in the area long enough for their remains to be found in both the older and younger parts of the necropolis. – The cemetery was not used at just one point in time, with the years, burials were added both in the main alley and on the outskirts – explains Dr Borówka. – I tried to select samples for analysis from fragments of available skeletons so that they best reflected this diversity.
How do we know that the remains found in Lutomiersk belonged to people of Scandinavian origin ("Vikings")?
For the genetic analysis, we used comparative data for selected skeletons from other necropolises in Poland and other European countries, which we are sure are the remains of people from Scandinavian populations. This includes, among other things, the archaeological site in Ciepłe in the Tczew district
– explains Dr Borówka.
However, we also took into account the research on skeletal materials that had been published several years earlier in Margaryan’s work, an extensive archaeogenetic study covering the most interesting Viking burials from all over Europe.
What significance do these studies have for modern science?
Archaeologists looking at artifacts excavated from burials have different opinions about their origin
– explains Prof. Lorkiewicz.
Genetic research allows us to clearly state that we are dealing here with both an allochthonous and an autochthonous population, which apparently adopted cultural patterns that were attractive to them at that time.
Genetic tests of the remains from the cemetery in Lutomiersk have unequivocally confirmed the biological connections between some of the people from the burials discovered here and the Scandinavian population, which is a very significant result considering the lively discussion among archaeologists on the origin and cultural connections of artifacts discovered in cemeteries such as, among other things, in Lutomiersk. But do they bring us closer to solving the mystery of where the "Vikings" in Central Poland came from?
Of course, it's great to know something for sure, but that's not the end of the research
– assures Dr Borówka.
We are planning several further analyses that may shed even more light on our observations to date. Isotope studies would also be helpful in confirming or rejecting some theories about the direct geographic origin of the people whose bones are examined. Moreover, research technology is constantly developing and who knows what will be learned from the remains in the next few, dozen or even several dozen years.