Approximately half of ancient Swedish Vikings showed evidence of tooth decay, a condition researchers interpret as a sign of dietary choices and health challenges of the time. This finding emerges from dental and cranial analyses of Swedish remains published in a journal of record for archaeology and anthropology, the PLOS ONE study family. The work illuminates how caries affected both adult populations and their communities, offering a window into daily life, food processing, and medicine in early medieval Scandinavia.
In a significant 2005 discovery, archaeologists uncovered the ruins of a Christian church in Sweden, with graves dating from the 10th to the 12th centuries interred within its precincts. The new study examined more than 2,300 teeth from 171 individuals to map dental health across this population. Findings show that over six in ten mature individuals bore signs of dental caries, primarily on root surfaces, while none of the juveniles displayed caries. This pattern mirrors broader European trends during the same era, suggesting both shared dietary practices and similar environmental pressures across medieval Europe. Additional pathologies surfaced in the remains, including dental infections and tooth loss, underscoring the harsh conditions and health risks endured by these communities.
Beyond decay, researchers noted substantial wear on several teeth, which may reflect attempts to surgically remove decayed tissue or to modify teeth as part of ancient medical or grooming practices. In some cases the decay progressed sufficiently to cause toothache, a reminder of how dental problems could impair daily life, mobility, and work. Scratches observed on certain teeth align with cleaning or scraping debris from meals, revealing a hands-on approach to oral hygiene and the use of simple tools in everyday routines.
Curiously, earlier scientists reported that microbes played a role in protecting structural elements such as features of monumental walls. This remark, though part of long-running debates on microbially mediated preservation, is cited here as part of the broader scientific discourse surrounding ancient life and environment, not as a claim about the Viking population itself. The focus of the present analysis remains firmly on dental health, growth, and disease, drawing connections between what the teeth reveal and the lived experiences of people in medieval Sweden, based on careful examination of skeletal material and contextual archaeological evidence.