Iceland s DNA Reveals a Hidden Truth Half Their Ancestors Were Not Viking

Iceland's DNA Reveals a Hidden Truth — Half Their Ancestors Were Not Viking

Icelanders are not pure Vikings. Scientists at deCODE Genetics and the University of Iceland sequenced 25 ancient skeletons and uncovered a hidden truth: half of Iceland's founding ancestors were Gaelic — Irish and Scottish women, most of them taken as slaves by Norwegian Vikings. Backed by a groundbreaking 2018 study published in Science, this is the real genetic story behind the Icelandic people, and the forgotten half of their bloodline.