The Birka female Viking warrior was a woman buried in the 10th century in
                    Birka, Sweden and discovered in the 1870s. The grave was assumed to be a battle
                    hardened man for 128 years until DNA analysis proved she was actually a
                    high-ranking professional warrior. Shield-maidens are female warriors that take
                    on male roles including wielding weapons and are depicted in many period
                    figures, tapestries and brooches as well as mentioned by the famous Danish
                    historian of the time, Saxo Grammaticus.

The grave chamber was made of wood and approximately 3.45m long and 1.75m
                    wide. The body was in a sitting position and found earing garments of silk and
                    silver. The grave contained a sword, an axe, a spear, armor-piercing arrows, a
                    battle knife, two shields, two horses, one mare and one stallion. The grave also
                    contained a game set with a board and pieces. This is considered evidence of her
                    strategic thinking and indicating she was an officer who could lead troops into
                    battle.

The Birka settlement is located on the lake island Björkö in
                    eastern-central Sweden. The first permanent settlement dates back to the
                    Germanic Iron Age 400-800 AD. Birka originates around 750 AD in a strategic area
                    the size of 12 hectares built on an ancient defensive earthwork. The population
                    of Birka was between 500 and 1000 people and is considered Sweden's oldest town.
                    Three large burial grounds have been found with 2000 graves of which 1100 have
                    been excavated. 

Birka is one of the earliest urban settlements in Scandinavia and was a key
                    Baltic link through Ladoga and Novgorod to the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid
                    Califate. As a trading center, Birka offered furs (bear, fox, marten, otter,
                    beaver), reindeer antler, walrus teeth, iron goods and craft products in
                    exchange for goods from Europe and western Asia (such as Rhineland pottery,
                    Chinese silk and Byzantine embroidery). Birka was abandoned in the later 10th
                    century when Sigtuna became the main trading center of the region.

In 1907, two mummies were discovered in Deir Rifeh Egypt in a tomb
                    belonging to a governor and his sons from the 12th Dynasty (almost 4000 years
                    ago). The tomb group is one of the best preserved and best known burials of the
                    Egyptian Middle Kingdom. Although the mummies were heavily decayed, the
                    skeletons were still preserved. Khnum-Nakht was about 40 years old and
                    Nakht-Ankh about 60. 

The two mummies were found to be brothers with the same mother but
                    different fathers. This is confirmed by identical mtDNA and the detected
                    differences in the Y chromosomes. Both suffered from osteoarthtritis and dental
                    attrition. Khnum-Nakht had kyphoscoliosis and Nakht-Ankh had lung lesions from
                    sand pneumoconiosis. 

The Late Period of ancient Egypt lasted from 664 BC to 332 BC. The
                    Pre-Ptolemaic sample JK2134 is an Egyptian Priest of Osiris, buried in the same
                    tomb complex as Iufaa, an Egyptian priest and administer of palaces. Iufaa's
                    mummy was discovered in an unmolested tomb in 1998 which had a white limestone
                    sarcophagus filling the main chamber and represented the first unrobbed shaft
                    tomb since 1941. The tomb contained stone vessels, wooden furniture, pottery and
                    papyrus scrolls. Some of the pottery was from the Aegean and the walls of the
                    tomb were covered with texts from the Book of the Dead.

The Ptolemaic dynasty was established by Alexander the Great's Macedonian
                    general Ptolemy I Soter. Alexandria became the capital and center of trade. The
                    Ptolemies named themselves as pharaohs. The Greeks and the Romans who entered by
                    the north dominated Egypt. The Ptolemaic mummy is from this period. DNA analysis
                    shows light skin and a male haplogroup which is common to southeastern Europe.
                    Cleopatra is also from this time period and descended from Ptolemy I Soter. Her
                    native language was Koine Greek and she was the first Ptolemaic ruler who
                    learned the Egyptian language.

Mummies from the Middle, Late and Ptolemaic Kingdoms

The Roman conquest of Britain began in 43 AD but resistance in the north
                    was fierce. Roman General Quintus Petillius Cerialis led the 9th Legion into the
                    north and founded Eboracum in 71 AD (which became York) Originally Eboracum was
                    intended to be a military fortress aligned along the river Ouse measuring about
                    50 acres in size. This wooden camp was upgraded to stone in 108 AD and
                    garrisoned by the 6th Legion. The famous Emperor Hadrian reportedly visited
                    Eboracum in 122 AD in order to plan his great walled frontier, which would be
                    named after him. Emperor Septimus Severus visited in 208 AD and made it his
                    private base while campaigning against Scotland, and he became the first of
                    three Roman Emperors who would die in Eboracum. In 237, the town became a
                    colonia, the highest legal status any Roman city could attain as Eboracum was
                    the largest town in the north and the capital of Britannia Inferior. This is
                    exactly the time period from when these 7 gladiators hailed.

Detailed analysis of these gladiators from York revealed some fascinating
                    results. The bones showed various degrees of wear and tear as one might expect
                    from the dangerous sport: 6DRIF-18 revealed a spinal fracture of the first
                    vertibrae, 6DRIF-21, 6DRIF-3, and 3DRIF-16 meanwhile have fractured forearms,
                    ankles and wrists. 6DRIF-22 has a skull injury as well as a stab to the neck -
                    his extra vertebrae did not seem to assist with his fate. 6DRIF-23 meanwhile had
                    4 cuts to his jaw and was fully decapitated - clearly not the best fate to have.
                    Last but not least 3DRIF-26 is fascinating indeed - he had a left shoulder
                    injury, fractured ribs, damage wrists - and from a genetic standpoint is a
                    deviation from the rest. His background compared to ancient samples from the
                    time period matches very close to Ptolemaic Egyptians or the Near East.

Constantine came to Eboracum with his father, the emperor Constantius in
                    305 AD. After the emperor died the following July in York, the soldiers
                    proclaimed Constantine to be their leader. Within 20 years, Emperor Constantine
                    united the whole of the Roman Empire and would be known as Constantine the Great
                    who did not just restore peace to the Roman Empire, but also relocated the Roman
                    capital to the newly built Constantinople. The eventual decline of Roman Britain
                    in the early 400s led to significant socioeconomic changes in Britain. The
                    effect of Constantine's religious policy allowed development of Christianity in
                    Roman Britain, which led to the first bishop of York to be named. Today there
                    are numerous visible remains in York from this time period including a Roman
                    Basilica, walls, a tower in the city walls and Roman baths.

The Crusader States (also known as Outremer) were created after the First
                    Crusade (1095-1102) as a way to keep hold of territorial gains by Christian
                    armies in the Middle East. Crusader castles were built all over Outremer to
                    serve not only as defensive structures, but also as administrative and economic
                    centers designed to last for many years to come. The four small Outremer states
                    were the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Edessa, the Country of Tripoli and
                    the Principality of Antioch. This analysis focuses on the former Phoenician and
                    later Roman colony of Sidon / Saida which remained in Arab hands until 1110 when
                    King Baldwin I of Jerusalem and King Sigured I of Norway captured it. The city
                    was then re-captured by the masterful Saladin in 1187, only to be re-taken by
                    German Crusaders in 1197. It remained a key Crusader stronghold until the
                    Saracen invasion of 1249 when it was destroyed - this series of exchanges
                    presented the backdrop for the ill-fated 7th Crusade.

The 7th Crusade was led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Jerusalem
                    had recently fallen and there was no popular enthusiasm at the time for a new
                    crsusade, as Europe was involved in many internal conflicts. Bela IV of Hungary
                    was rebuilding his kingdom from ashes after the devastating Mongol invasion of
                    Europe. Henry III of England was struggling at home and Haakon IV of Norway was
                    in the midst of a civil war. Louis IX was almost alone in declaring a new
                    crusade to the east and in 1248 sailed from Aigues-Mortes and Marseilles with an
                    army of 15,000. They sailed for Cyprus but Louis decided to focus first on
                    attacking Egypt. While marching towards Cairo, Louis' main force was attacked by
                    Mameluk Baibars and defeated. In 1250 while attempting to return to a safer
                    location, Louis himself was captured and taken prisoner after his army was
                    annihilated. He was ransomed for 800,000 bezants after which he fled to Acre,
                    one of the safest crusader strongholds in Outremer. The French King re-enforced
                    local defenses and moved north to Sidon.

The Castle of St. Louis is located on the acropolis of the ancient city of
                    Sidon. The land castle incorporated parts of the city walls and had existed
                    since at least 1162. It was restored and fortified by Louis IX to live in
                    between 1250 and 1254 during the Frankish occupation of Sidon. The French king,
                    Louis IX, better known as St. Louis, appears to have spent a long time at the
                    castle which is why it took his name. In 1253 the town was under a Muslim attack
                    and 2000 people were killed. Afterwards, the castle was left in the hands of the
                    Hospitaliers, an elite military organization based in Jerusalem (which later
                    relocated to the island of Rhodes). In 1260 the Mongols sieged the city and
                    castles. Later that year the Knights Templar took charge of the land castle
                    which was reconfirmed in 1283. This would all change in 1291 when the Templars
                    led an evacuation of Sidon after the fall of the major crusader stronghold Acre.

Nine male skeletons were uncovered in a burial pit next to the Castle of
                    St. Louis dating to the 13th century. The men had been killed violently in
                    battle, based on the evidence of blunt force injuries on the skulls and bones.
                    The bodies were dumped in the pit and burned. Carbon-14 dating of the European
                    shoe buckles indicates mid 13th century and a coin found alongside the remains
                    is dated 1250. This confirms the bodies are indeed from this period of the 7th
                    crusade which means they were deposited there following a battle likely in 1253
                    against Muslims or in 1260 against Mongols. The remains suggest the soldiers
                    making up the Crusader armies were genetically divcerse and intermixed with the
                    local population in the Near East - although today there is no lasting effect on
                    the local population. However these bodies clearly show that Europeans, Near
                    Easterners and mixed invdividuals were living and dying side by side in the
                    Crusades.

Danish Viking Clan St. Brice Massacre Oxford

Danish Viking Clan Galgedil Funen Denmark

Beginning in the 8th century, the Danes began a long era of well-organized
                    raids across the coasts and rivers of Europe. Large areas outside Scandinavia
                    were settled by the Danes including what became know as the Danelaw in England,
                    the Netherlands, northern France and Ireland. Two Viking warriors from the same
                    clan separated for more than 1000 years and have finally been reunited at the
                    Danish National Museum in Copenhagen.

Danelaw was established as an area ruled by Vikings and extended across
                    much of England. A group of fairly young Viking warriors was found here buried
                    in a mass grave near the church where they had been killed by orders from King
                    Aethelred II, King of the English. The warrior hilighted here was in his 20s and
                    died from injuries to his head. He had sustained 8 to 10 hits to the head and
                    several stab wounds to the spine.

Galgedil is a large burial ground dating from the early Viking period
                    located on the Danish island of Funen as shown here. The Viking hilighted at
                    this burial site near Otterup was in his 50s and lived in Denmark. He had battle
                    wounds on his skeleton indicating he was an active warrior. 

This is an actual photo of the two warriors who have now been reunited back
                    in their homeland of Denmark. An exhibition will be open in Copenhagen from 2021
                    until 2024. It is not fully clear how exactly these two men were related. it is
                    speculated they were half-brothers, or possibly a grandfather and grandson due
                    to the potential age difference in carbon dating.

On Ridgeway Hill in the County of Dorset, a mass burial was found with the
                    remains of 54 males. These individuals had all been executed in a gruesome
                    manner with their decapitated heads dumped together in a large pit.
                    Interestingly enough all of the sharp blade wounds had been struck from the
                    front, meaning these individuals had faced their enemy. Radiocarbon dating
                    showed the bodies were from 890-1030 AD. Strontium isotopes found in the bones
                    show these individuals were originally from Scandinavia.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which had been written around 890 AD, provides a
                    year-by-year account of all the major happenings in Anlgo Saxon England.
                    Aethelred the Unready had been king from 978-1016 AD - it is quite possible
                    these bodies died during his reign. Initially the king had paid Viking raiders
                    off with over 10,000 pounds to stop raiding their lands. Later they began hiring
                    Norse mercenaries to fight off the invading Vikings - however these mercenaries
                    would switch sides frequently and proved too risky.

It is surmised the individuals in the Ridgeway Hill Burial were that of a
                    raiding ship - as Viking longships carried around 60 people. The hip bones and
                    shoulder bones also show that of physiques consistent with ship rowers. Unlike
                    the known victims of the Saint Brice day massacre, these individuals appear to
                    have been methodically killed. These victims are all in their late teens and
                    early twenties with minimal evidence of existing war wounds.

Shown here is the actual dig site - three of the bodies were missing heads
                    - probably these had been impaled on spikes to scare off other would-be
                    attackers. The killers also showed respect for the Viking invaders as they were
                    killed by sharp forged sword while facing their enemy rather than from behind.
                    Some bodies even showed signs of trying to block the swords blows with their
                    hands. One of these individuals even had filed down front teeth, which was the
                    same custom used by Harald Bluetooth.

Ludwig van Beethoven Wiener Zentralfriedhof

In December 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn at Bonngasse 20 and
                    baptized with the name of his famous grandfather - a successful musician from
                    Flemish Belgium - and he was given this name in hopes to surpass his famous
                    ancestor. Recognizing he had a prodigy his hands, Ludwigs father Johan van
                    Beethoven tried to present his talented son at his first show at the age of 7.
                    His father pushed him hard and would wake him in the middle of the night to
                    practice his music. By the age of 16 Beethoven was employed as court organist in
                    Bonn by the brother of Emperor Josef of Vienna. The same year he visited Vienna,
                    met Mozart and returned home shortly before his mother died. His father become
                    an alcoholic and forced to retire from his job in service of the Court. Ludwig
                    was forced into adulthood, making real money and had to take care of his two
                    younger brothers. In 1792 at the age of 21 Beethoven arrives in Vienna - the
                    cultural capital - a city overflowing with music in hopes to expand his future.
                    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had died just the year before and the great composer
                    Haydn was ageing - destiny had prepared a place for Beethoven. Music is
                    everywhere - and in less than a year he creates a big name for himself.
                    Beethoven catches the attention of the famous composer Haydn who is amazed at
                    the young talent who arrived from Bonn and begins studying with him.

One of the most important things for Beethoven was making contact with the
                    aristocrats - who hosted concerts in their palaces on a weekly basis. They would
                    meet regularly and host the best musicians of the town. He would seek sponsors
                    who would let him make music the way he wanted rather than what was expected of
                    him. Aristocratic patrons such as Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz around the same age
                    as Beethoven would seek fun in their palaces and inviting a wild child like
                    Beethoven made life exciting. These patrons were critical for Beethovens
                    finances. However by his mid 20s Beethoven noticed his hearing was disappearing.
                    He had to site closer and closer to the stage to hear the notes and music. This
                    began with the high frequency notes such as piccolos, flutes and top of the
                    violin while maintaining the lower frequencies. This would distort what he was
                    hearing. He became isolated from conversations and began avoiding people. Losing
                    hearing, the one important element of his senses was the cruelest form of
                    torture. This is when he wrote his famous Moonlight Sonata as the music
                    reflected his own mortality. The ideas came faster to him than he could digest
                    them - he changed the course of music. He stood between 2 generations - one foot
                    firmly ground in Mozart / enlightenment and Goethe. His other part was a member
                    of romanticism - he transformed music from enlightenment into romanticism.

At 41 his personal love relationships had been a disaster - typically he
                    chased after aristocratic ladies who were not available. At this time he wrote a
                    10 page love letter to his mysterious immortal beloved. He wrote how she is not
                    completely his and he is not completely hers. Both of his brothers moved to
                    Vienna and he is helping his family with their relationships and living costs.
                    In November 1815 his brother Kaspar dies of Tuberculosis and Beethoven appeals
                    to the high courts to get guardianship of his nephew Karl. By 1825 however their
                    relationship became strained. The nephew of Beethoven slipped away from his
                    control and began a military career. He retired in 1832 and had four daughters
                    and one son also named Ludwig. This Ludwig fled to Munich, claimed he was the
                    grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven, and worked for King Ludwig II of Bavaria who
                    gave him a healthy salary. Eventually he got into legal troubles and moved to
                    America changing his name to von Haven. Meanwhile our Spotlight Ludwig van
                    Beethoven never married - it is thought his immortal beloved could be Josephine
                    von Brunswik or Antonie Brentano. Regardless of his troubled personal life,
                    Beethoven focused on his career and saw himself as a musical equivalent to
                    Napoleon Bonaparte trying to liberate music from old fashioned styles.

Beethovens rage and temper led to his demise - after visiting his brother
                    Johann he got into an argument and demanded to head back to Vienna in the middle
                    of winter. This involved travelling in an open cart in December. Beethoven fell
                    ill, summoned a doctor and friends. From bed he composed his last piece named We
                    all make mistakes but everyone makes them differently. His last request was for
                    wine from the Rhine - eventually the bottles finally came. Upon their arrival
                    his last words were pity too late - and then Beethoven fell into a coma and
                    never woke up again. The main cause of his death proved to be cirrhosis of the
                    liver - typically caused by chronic alcohol abuse. His funeral was the 29th of
                    March, 18000 people showed up to follow the funeral procession. Beethoven is
                    buried like an aristocrat which he always wanted to be in a moral and ethical
                    way. Beethoven is a composer of the human soul - who personally transformed
                    music from the era of Enlightenment to Romanticism. Despite losing his ability
                    to hear, the quality of his work seemingly only improved. Today his music
                    appears everywhere and he is best known for his 9th Symphony, Moonlight Sonata,
                    Fidelio, Pathetique, Piano Concerto No. 4, Hammerklavier, Grosse Fugue, Eroica
                    and Missa Solemnis.

Elite Female Grave Hassleben Thuringia Germany

An ancient cemetery was discovered in Hassleben Thuringia which remained
                    the richest ancient grave found in Germany for almost a hundred years. Not only
                    was the oldest written Germanic word ever discovered etched onto a comb, but
                    hundreds of Roman coins, ceramic fragments and Roman-style brooches were also
                    discovered. This is no accident as much of our knowledge regarding Thuringia and
                    broader Germania comes from the Roman historian Tacitus. The Elbe Germanic
                    tribes who moved into this region were allies of the Romans who were trading
                    partners, a buffer to the neighbouring Chatti - sworn enemies of Rome, as well
                    as specialised in metalworking of iron and precious metals.

Here you can see the richly outfitted grave of the Princess of Hassleben
                    which demonstrates the influential noble class who had a very close relationship
                    with the Romans. She was a young woman buried with a choker, golden fibulae, a
                    ring, a collier of roman glass beads, roman coins, pottery plates and vessels.
                    In her mouth was a Roman gold coin - known as Charons obol - which would provide
                    payment to Charon the ferryman to allow her soul to reach the world of the dead.
                    Next to her remains lay the skeleton of a small dog - possibly her personal pet.

The grave evidences thriving trade and how Germanic tribes such as the
                    Thuringia began adopting Roman traditions. The ornate fibulae shown here were
                    used for fastening garments, typically on the right shoulders - this was very
                    common in Ancient Rome. A second elite grave was discovered to the south of the
                    Princess. It contained gold jewelry and crockery made of gold and silver. Nearby
                    were golden finger rings, elaborate pendants and the combs shown here. It is
                    assumed these goods were crafted by specialists in the courts of the old
                    Thuringia nobles.

Shown here are some of the ornate three-layer combs crafted from bone which
                    were found at Hassleben. There are many parallels between the graves at
                    Hassleben with those at other sites such as Leuna, Straze, Sakrau, Sanderumgard
                    and Himlingoje - as a result these have been combined into a cultural
                    classification known as the Hassleben-Leuna group. If you share a match with
                    either of these elite burials you are in luck - the princess grave and other
                    findings are part of the permanent exhibition of the Museum for Prehistory and
                    Early History of Thuringia which you can visit today.

Roman Citizen Pompeii Vesuvius Victim Casa del Fabbro

For the people of Pompeii the world reached a horrific end in the Autumn of
                    79 AD. The only surviving
                    eyewitness account of the event consists of two letters written by Pliny the
                    Younger (who was 17 at the time of the eruption) to the Roman historian Tacitus
                    some 25 years later. Observing the first volcanic activity from across the Bay
                    of Naples 29 kilometers away, Pliny the Elder (his uncle) launched a rescue
                    fleet immediately - while Pliny the Younger stayed behind. He wrote of a
                    extraordinary dense cloud rising above mount Vesuvius. His words describe a
                    pine-tree with spreading branches which was sometimes bright and sometimes dark
                    and spotted - impregnated with earth and cinders. After three tremors the sea
                    rolled back upon itself. Flashes appeared through dark clouds and ash fell like
                    a blanket of snow.

Meanwhile for Pliny the Elder things were taking a turn for the worse. As
                    commander fo the Roman fleet at Misenum he went to investigate the phenomenon at
                    close range. He ordered the fleet galleys to evacuate the people on the coast.
                    As he neared the other side of the bay he encountered thick showers of hot
                    cinders, lumps of pumice and pieces of rock. Ignoring the helmsman to turn back
                    Pliny insisted that Fortune favors the brave and continued to Stabiae - a town
                    about 4.5km from Pompeii. Very soon they realized the strong onshore wind
                    prevented any ships from leaving. Pliny and his party saw flames shooting from
                    parts of the mountain - presumed to be burning villages. Forced to stay
                    overnight the crew attempted to approach the beach with pillows tied to their
                    heads to protect from rockfall - however the wind had not changed and exhausted
                    Pliny sat down on a sail for a rest to never stand again.

The remains of a man and a woman were recovered from the Casa del Fabbro or
                    Craftsmans House in 1933. Here is a detailed image showing the actual remains
                    and how they were found (Photo from Notizie degli Scavi di Antichita, 1934, p.
                    286, fig. 10). They were found slumped in the corner of the dining room as it
                    having a meal. The man was about 35-40 years old and the woman about 50. Despite
                    a volcanic explosion, thermal shock and ash it was now for the first time
                    possible to extract DNA from these remains which are highlighted in this DNA
                    Spotlight. There were gaps in the DNA of the woman but the man yielded an entire
                    genome sequence - the first time this has ever been possible at Pompeii. It
                    turns out these residents likely stayed at home unable to run away from their
                    impending fate as DNA sequences show the man had tuberculosis and the woman had
                    been affected by osteoarthritis.

1044 casts have been made from impressions of bodies at Pompeii so far - 38
                    percent of these were found in ash fall deposits and mostly inside buildings.
                    The remaining victims outside were likely killed in the pyroclastic surge
                    deposits. The first pyroclastic surge which reached Pompeii brought temperatures
                    of 300 degrees celcius which would killed within a fraction of a second. The
                    Casa del Fabbro is located as shown above quite close to the Great Theatre of
                    Pompeii in the direction of the Amphitheatre. Note the actual date of the
                    eruption is not fully known - originally recorded as the 24th of August 79 in
                    historical records (written 25 years after the event) charcoal inscriptions have
                    been found at the site dated the 17th of October. Furthermore the prevailing
                    beach winds flow to the west away from the beach in August which conflicts with
                    the account of Pliny. Furthermore traces of fruit and braziers found are
                    indicative of Autumn and not Summer.

Aethelred II, known later as the Unready, was King of the English from
                    978 to 1013 and again from 1014 until his death. He came to the throne at the
                    age of 12 after his half brother was murdered. At the start of his reign, Danish
                    raids on English territory began in earnest. Aethelred defended his country by a
                    diplomatic alliance with the duke of Normandy. The Battle of Maldon on 11.
                    August 991 AD involved 2,000-4,000 fighting Viking men led by Olaf Tryggvason
                    against the Anglo-Saxon leader Byrhtnoth who was the Ealdorman of Essex. This
                    ended in defeat for the Anglo-Saxons and King Aethelred was forced to pay
                    tribute, also known as Danegeld, to the Danish king. This payment of 10,000
                    Roman pounds of silver was the first example of Danegeld in England - a pattern
                    which would follow. The Danish army continued ravaging the English coast until a
                    Danegeld of 22,000 pounds of gold and silver was paid - at which point Olaf
                    Tryggvason promised to never return. Viking attacks only grew worse - Danish
                    raids would follow leading to an even larger Danegeld payment of 24,000 pounds
                    for peace in the Spring of 1002 AD.

The same year, Aethelred married Lady Emma, the sister of Duke Richard II
                    of Normandy in hopes of a stronger diplomatic alliance. On St. Brice's Day, 13.
                    November 1002, the confident yet paranoid King ordered the killing of all Danes
                    living on border towns such as Oxford. Aethelred described this massacre in his
                    own words: ... a decree was sent out by me with the counsel of my leading men
                    and magnates, to the effect that all the Danes who had sprung up in this island,
                    sprouting like cockle amongst the wheat, were to be destroyed by a more just
                    extermination, and thus this decree was to be put into effect even as far as
                    death, those Danes who dwelt in the afore-mentioned town, striving to escape
                    death, entered this sanctuary of Christ, having broken by force the doors and
                    bolts, and resolved to make refuge and defence for themselves therein against
                    the people of the town and the subrubs; but when all the people in pursuit
                    strove, forced by necessitym to drive them out, and could not, they set fire to
                    the planks and burnt, as it seems, this church with its ornaments and its
                    books.

The skeletons of 34 to 38 fit, fighting-aged males with large and extremely
                    robust physiques were found under St. John's College, Oxford in 2008 who are
                    thought to be these Vikings killed in St. Frideswide's Church. The skeleton bone
                    collagen showed they had eaten more fish and shellfish than the typical
                    Anglo-Saxon locals, and the bones showed numerous older battle scars indicating
                    they were experienced professional warriors. Twenty of the bodies bore traumatic
                    punctures in their verebrae, pelvic bones or skulls. Some victims had serious
                    burns ot their heads, backs, pelvic regions and arms - others showed puncture
                    wounds from multiple points of attack including blade and puncture wounds to the
                    back of the head. Among those thought to have been killed is Gunhilde, who was
                    the sister of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark. Her remains have not yet been
                    discovered. Her husband Pallig Tokesen, the Danish Ealdorman of Devonshire was
                    also killed in the massacre. This triggered King Sweyn to head to Normandy, make
                    a treaty with a Viking descendant of Rollo, and commence with a series of
                    campaigns to invade England.

Sweyn launched an invasion in 1013 intending to crown himself king of
                    England, during which he demonstrated his prowess as a general more than any
                    other Viking of his generation. By the end of the year, English resistance
                    collapsed and Aethelred was forced into exile in Normandy. However on 3.
                    February 1014 Sweyn died suddenly. His crews of Danish ships immediately swore
                    loyalty to his son Cnut the Great. The Norwegian Olaf Haraldsson worked with
                    Aethelred to retake London and other parts of the country. Cnut and his army
                    withdrew and in April 1014 and Aethelred got his revenge against the Danes. Not
                    long after Aethelred's own death two years later, Cnut defeated Aethelred's son
                    Edmund Ironside in a decisive battle and just a few months later Cnut became
                    king of all of England. A few years later he was also crowned King of Denmark,
                    and later also became King of Norway, and parts of Sweden. He was a strong and
                    effective king, introducing Danish customs to England and also English influence
                    back to Denmark. Cnut appointed several Englishmen as bishops in Denmark and he
                    married Emma of Normandy (the widow of Aethelred). She bore Cnut a son,
                    Harthacnut, who was succeeded by her own son with Aethelred - Edward II, known
                    as the Confessor.

In 1991, hikers discovered the mummified remains of a man who died 5300
                    years ago in the Alps with an arrow stuck through his shoulder. His genetics
                    show great affinity to modern Sardinia and it is thought if you have ancestors
                    stem from the region between Sardinia and the Alps, there is a chance you could
                    be related to Ötzi. Found in the Ötztal Alps between Italy and
                    Austria, he was given the nickname Ötzi and represents Europe's oldest known
                    natural mummy.

He is believed to have been murdered as the arrowhead in his left shoulder
                    was a fatal wound. He had brown eyes, O-type blood, was lactose intolerant and
                    probably had Lyme disease. Analysis of his colon showed Ötzi's
                    second-to-last meal included ibex meat, cereals and plants. His last meal
                    included red deer meat, grasses and cereals. He had a gap in his smile, lacked
                    wisdom teeth and also had a fairly rare condition where he lacked the smallest
                    ribs on either side. 

Ötzi was well equipped - he had a field kit with numerous tools
                    including a copper-bladed axe, a flint dagger and its tree-fiber sheath, a bow
                    made out of a yew tree, a quiver fashioned from deer hide, and a net for
                    catching birds and rabbits. His hair was found to contain high levels of arsenic
                    which came from smelting ores to make copper. At the time of death he is
                    estimated to have been 45 years of age, 1.60 meters tall and weighing about 50
                    kilograms.

Ötzi is also the oldest tattooed person ever found - he was covered in
                    61 different tattoos which had been made by scratching his skin and rubbing
                    charcoal into the wound in the forms of lines and crosses. His loincloth was
                    made of sheepskin, leggings and a coat of goat hide, and he had a brown
                    bear-skin hat. His shoelaces came from wild cows and his quiver from roe deer.
                    His body and belongings are on display in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
                    in Bolzano, Italy.

French revolutionists condemned King Louis XVI to death on 21. January 1793
                    by means of the guillotine at the Place de la Revolution in Paris (roughly where
                    the Obelisk decorating the Place de la Concorde stands today). After a short but
                    defiant speech he lost his head as the crowd rushed to the scaffold to dip
                    hankerchiefs into his blood as momentos. An ornate gourd decorated with French
                    Revolution themes was recently uncovered which had contained a blood soaked
                    hankerchief dating to this time. The gourd was allegedly a gift to Napoleon
                    Bonaparte who became First Consul of France in 1799 and Emperor in 1804. An
                    anonymous Italian family was in its posession since possibly the late 1800s and
                    came forward with the relic. It bears an inscription that Maximilien Bourdaloue
                    on 21. January dipped his hankerchief in the blood of the king. Dried blood was
                    scraped out and this is the same DNA we present in this DNA spotlight! The
                    sample contains unsually high and rare markers for the Y-DNA haplogroup G2a.

Louis XVI's direct male line ancestor Henri IV was famous for enacting the
                    Edict of Nantes which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants ending 30
                    years of fighting between French Protestants and Catholics - he was assassinated
                    in 1610 by a French Catholic zealot. The remains had been presumed lost in the
                    chaos of the French Revolution after a mob of revolutionaries desecrated the
                    graves of French kings in the royal chapel of Saint-Denis in Paris in 1793.
                    However, the head was passed down over the centuries by secretive private
                    collectors and positively identifed in 2010 with a radiocarbon date between 1450
                    and 1650. The features were consistent with the king's face including a dark
                    mushroom-like lesion near the right nostrial, a healed facial stab wound and a
                    pierced right earlobe. The hair color and moustache and beard on the mummified
                    head fit the appearance of the king at the time of his death as well as matched
                    his portraits. Furthermore cutting wounds were visible corresponding to the
                    separation of the head from the body in 1793 and digital facial reconstruction
                    of the skull matched the plaster mould of his face made just after his death in
                    1610. The DNA was then tested and compared to the blood from the gourd.

DNA analysis comparing the dried head of Henri IV and the blood of Louis
                    XVI show they were both G2a haplogroups and that with 95 percent confidence they
                    were 246 times more likely than not to be related. Louis XVII, the 10 year old
                    son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette died from illness or poisoning in prison
                    and his heart was kept in a crystal vase in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Denis
                    - as of today only the female haplogroup analysis has been done to the heart
                    proving his maternal link. Three living direct male-line descendants of Henri IV
                    and Louis XVI had their DNA analyzed to determine their Y-DNA haplogroups. They
                    were all determined to have the Y haplogroup R1b1b2a1a1b (R-Z381). Two of these
                    men draw their male line back to Louis, the Duke of Burgundy (1682-1712), the
                    great grandfather of Louis XVI. The third descended from Louis XIII (1601-1643)
                    who was Henri IV's son. However this contradicts the haplogroup G2a shared by
                    both the mummified head of Henri IV and the blood of Louis XVI. This has created
                    quite a mystery as there is a large set of physical evidence confirming the head
                    was indeed Henri IV's head which also matched the blood of Louis XVI.

Some simply claim the mummifed head and blood sample cannot be those of
                    Henri IV and Louis XVI because the haplogroups don't match despite the vast
                    physical evidence supporting the mummified head was indeed Henri IV. Others
                    point to infidelity at the French court which some believe was fairly rampant. A
                    nonpaternity event at key points in the royal lineage would explain why there
                    was no Y-DNA match between the living members of the House of Bourbon and the
                    head and blood samples. A third theory is that both relics were contaminated
                    during the chaos of the French Revolution or later as they were passed from
                    collect to collector. It seems this mystery could be finally resolved if Louis
                    XVII's heart could be re-tested with today's technology - either it should
                    reveal a Y haplogroup of G2a or R-Z381. Unfortunately the heart was removed from
                    the crystal vase and buried alongside the bodies of Louis XVI and
                    Marie-Antoinette in June 2004.

The future French Revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat left home at the age of 16
                    to train in medicine and would eventually settle in Newcastle upon Tyne where he
                    gained a reputation as being a highly efficient doctor who also had an interest
                    in political writings. He moved back France 6 years later and his medical skills
                    earned him the patronage of the aristocracy. He used his new found wealth to
                    found a scientific laboratory where he began studies on fire, heat, light and
                    electricity - he was even visited by Benjamin Franklin. Despite his new status
                    and success, he began so spend a lot of time discussing and writing about social
                    injustice.

As Louis XVI struggled to maintain power in the late 1780s by assembling
                    the Estates-General for the first time in 175 years, Marat decided to end his
                    research and medical profession to focus entirely on his passion for politics.
                    He began writing on the topics of social, economic and religious reforms - this
                    manifested itself in numerous vicious attacks on those he proclaimed were
                    enemies of the people. His newspaper called for extreme violence against the
                    upper class and government provoking statements such as five or six hundred
                    heads cut off would have assured your repose, freedom and happiness. After
                    reaching fame, He was elected to the National Convention in 1792 where he
                    actively supported the death of the deposed King in a trial.

Due to the potent and dangerous nature of his writings, Marat was forced
                    periodically to go into hiding in Paris's extensive sewer network. This is
                    believed to have caused a skin condition which required him to spend hours
                    bathing in a medicinal bath. On the 13th July 1793, Marat allowed a young woman
                    named Charlotte Corday to visit him in this bath - she came under the pretense
                    of posessing a list of supposed traitors. However in reality she was a Royalist
                    sympathizer who had come to seek revenge. Corday plunged a kitchen knife into
                    Marat's chest severing a major artery. He quickly died as a result of major
                    blood loss. 

The parchment in Marat's hand was covered in blood and was used to sample
                    his DNA. Corday was quickly put on trial and guillotined in Paris within 4 days.
                    Marat's funeral was a big event in Revolutionary France, and every member of the
                    National Convention came. The infamous Marquis de Sade - french nobleman,
                    revolutionary politician, serial rapist and philosopher delivered the euology -
                    the modern word sadism derives from his name. Marat's bathtub and Corday's knife
                    were sold to the Musée Grévin in Paris where a wax figure
                    depicting this assasination sits today.