Cod from Lofoten in German excavations
DNA analyzes show that fish remenants from the Viking town of Hedeby, Germany, came from Lofoten. It can be proven that dried fish is Norway’s oldest commodity.
Bastian Star and Sanne Boessenkool at the Department of Biosciences at the University of Oslo have worked with old DNA samples.
After developing a new method of extracting DNA residues from old fish bones, they found that the fish found in Hedeby in Germany was from Lofoten.
It has previously been assumed that dried fish was an important commodity for Vikings, but there has been no evidence of this. If the fish samples in the study prove to be Viking commodity, this can be an important proof that fish has been Norwegian export from very early on.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
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