23&me:
St. Brice’s Day Massacre Victim VK150
Genetic Sex
Male
Time Period
880 CE to 1002 CE
Burial Location
St John's College, Oxford
United Kingdom
About St. Brice’s Day Massacre Victim VK150
In the late 10th and early 11th centuries CE, the newly established Kingdom of England was under constant threat from raids by Danish Vikings. Fearing that the Danes were plotting to overthrow him, King Æthelred II of England (also known as “Æthelred the Unready”) ordered the mass execution of all Danish settlers in his kingdom. The event has since come to be known as the St. Brice’s Day Massacre, as the killings were carried out on November 13th, 1002 CE, the feast day of Saint Brice of Tours, a 5th century Frankish Bishop.
Among those killed was Gunnhild, the sister of Denmark’s King Sweyn Forkbeard, along with her husband. Enraged by the murder of his sister and brother-in-law, Sweyn launched a campaign of intensified raids that ultimately led him to seize the English throne in 1013 CE, sending Æthelred into exile. Yet, Sweyn’s rule of England was short-lived; he died just five weeks later due to unknown causes (some sources say that he fell from a horse while others say that he was killed).
While the St. Brice’s Day Massacre undoubtedly resulted in significant bloodshed, historical records provide little insight into the exact number of Danish lives lost. But several archaeological finds have helped researchers understand the enormity of the event.
In 2008, excavations on the grounds of St. John’s College at Oxford University led to the discovery of a mass grave that contained the remains of 35 individuals, including VK150. After careful study of the grave and the skeletal remains of the individuals buried within it, archaeologists concluded that they were likely among the victims of the St. Brice’s Day Massacre.
The first hint that this was the grave of massacre victims was the style of the grave itself, which was actually a ditch that was originally dug thousands of years earlier as part of a Neolithic henge. The skeletal remains were positioned in the grave in a disorganized manner, suggesting that they were quickly and haphazardly piled into the grave—sometimes with as many as four bodies stacked on top of one another. Both of these factors suggest that the individuals were buried as quickly as possible with little respect paid towards the deceased.
Through analysis of their skeletal remains and DNA, researchers determined that all of the massacre victims were male. Two were teenagers, while the rest were identified as tall and robust adult males. Further, they all died violent deaths, exhibiting what researchers described as “extensive and excessive” wounds that were caused by sharp-force trauma. Many of the wounds were inflicted from behind and very few individuals had defensive wounds (including healed defensive wounds, which you might expect to observe among warriors). These findings indicate that most of the victims were unarmed and that many may have been trying to flee. Some of the remains also show signs of charring, consistent with historical reports of the executions carried out during the St. Brice’s Day Massacre.
Researchers attempted to use radiocarbon dating to confirm their hypothesis that these were victims of the St. Brice’s Day Massacre, but the results were inconclusive. The initial testing that was performed appeared to perfectly align with a death date of 1002 CE, however subsequent testing carried out by a second laboratory returned much earlier dates. It is possible that these radiocarbon dates were impacted by the marine reservoir effect, which causes radiocarbon dates to appear earlier for individuals who had a diet rich in seafood (since the ocean contains much older carbon molecules than those found on land).
While we may never know for sure whether these individuals died during the St. Brice’s Day Massacre, it is clear that VK150 and the others he was buried with all died during a single, extremely violent event and that they were buried in a way that showed little respect for the dead.
