Vikings weren't necessarily blond. Or Scandinavian. Why everything you thought you knew about the Norsemen may be wrong

By Harry Clarke-Ezzidio, CNN

Updated 1500 GMT (2300 HKT) September 16, 2020

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An artistic reconstruction of "Southern European" Vikings, emphasizing the foreign gene flow into Viking Age Scandinavia.
An artistic reconstruction of "Southern European" Vikings, emphasizing the foreign gene flow into Viking Age Scandinavia.

London (CNN)Blond-haired, Scandinavian warriors who pillaged their way through Europe.

We thought we knew everything about the Vikings. But some new research suggests we've been getting it wrong.
In the biggest study of its kind, published in the journal Nature Wednesday, researchers found that many Vikings actually had brown hair. And they weren't just from Scandinavia.
    In a six-year study, archaeologists and academics used DNA technology to analyze more than 400 Viking skeletons from sites in Scandinavia, Greenland and the UK.
    Researchers used DNA technology to analyze remains.
    Researchers used DNA technology to analyze remains.
    They discovered that Vikings didn't just hail from Scandinavia -- they also had genes from both Asia and Southern Europe in their bloodline.
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    The study, by academics at the University of Cambridge in the UK and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, found that Viking burial sites in Scotland contained local people who may have taken on "Viking identities."