Scientists reconstruct face 1000 year old Viking warrior woman

The Viking warrior WOMEN: Scientists reconstruct the face of 1,000-year-old female with a 'battle wound' on her skull who was buried with a hoard of weapons in Norway

• The woman is based on skeleton found in a Viking graveyard in Solør, Norway
• She was buried surrounded by a hoard of deadly weaponry in the grave
• British scientists brought her to life using facial recognition technology 
• The female warrior has now been preserved in Oslo's Museum of Cultural History

Scientists have re-created the face of a female Viking warrior who lived more than 1,000 years ago. 

The woman is based on a skeleton found in a Viking graveyard in Solør, Norway, and is now preserved in Oslo's Museum of Cultural History.

While the remains had already been identified as female, the burial site had not been considered that of a warrior 'simply because the occupant was a woman', archaelogist Ella Al-Shamahi told The Guardian. 

But now British scientists have brought the female warrior to life using cutting-edge facial recognition technology. 

Scientists reconstructed the face of the female warrior who lived more than 1,000 years ago by anatomically working from the muscles and layering of the skin

And scientists found the woman was buried with a hoard of deadly weaponry including arrows, a sword, a spear and an axe. 

Researchers also discovered a dent in her head, which rested on a shield in her grave, that was consistent with a sword wound.  

It is unclear whether the brutal injury was the cause of her death however it is believed to be 'the first evidence ever found of a Viking woman with a battle injury', according to Ms Al-Shamahi. 

She added: I'm so excited because this is a face that hasn't been seen in 1,000 years… She's suddenly become really real.

Archaeologist Ella Al-Shamahi comes face to face with the skull of the Viking woman who was found buried among a hoard of deadly weaponry in a Viking graveyard in Solør, Norway

The expert who is a specialist in ancient human remains is set to present a National Geographic documentary featuring the reconstruction. 

The face was built up anatomically working from the muscles and layering of the skin. 

Dr Caroline Erolin, a senior lecturer at the University of Dundee in the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification which worked on the reconstruction said: 'The resulting reconstruction is never 100 per cent accurate, but is enough to generate recognition from someone who knew them well in real life.' 

The technology also recreated the woman's grave showing the placement of the weapons. 

The documentary shows Ms Al-Shamahi travelling across Scandinavia examining Viking burial sites and using visualisation techniques to reconstruct the contents.      

Ms Al-Shamahi said while women risked being overpowered in hand-to-hand combat, they could have fired deadly arrows from horseback over longer distances making them 'an equal match for men'.

Viking expert and archaeological consultant on the project Professor Neil Price added: 'There are so many other burials in the Viking world… It wouldn't surprise me at all if we find more (female warriors).

By EMILY WEBBER