The Birka Warrior Woman and the Ribe ‘Valkyries’ offer two different views on Viking-age women. On the one hand, there may have been a few notable individuals who took part in battle and were warriors. On the other, women could have taken on male roles and attributes, like weapons, in ritual and ceremonial settings. Both discoveries reinforce the idea that, rather than simply assign an individual from the past ‘male’ or ‘female’, we have to consider cultural context. DNA may determine an XY or XX chromosome configuration, but the way that person lived, dressed, behaved, self-identified and the
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