Three strange modifications of skulls have been found in women of the Viking era (photo)

Scientists have discovered that three Viking Age women from the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea had elongated skulls. This study sheds light on a strange tradition of body modification common among the Norse and Vikings.

The study, published in the journal Current Swedish Archaeology, identified about 130 individuals, mostly men, with horizontal grooves cut into their teeth. Although there have been many interpretations of these changes in teeth, researchers suggest that they may have served as markers of identity in a closed group of traders, writes archeologymag.

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Artificial skull modifications in the Viking Age are still known in only three females from Gotland. These cranial changes, unlike dental modifications, seem foreign to Norse Viking culture; similar cases dating from the 9th-11th centuries AD have been found in Eastern Europe.

The presence of these women with altered skulls raises the question of how Gotland society interacted with this form of foreign identity. Scientists don't know if these women were born with modified skulls or if they had the procedure done on Gotland.

The three female tombs were elaborately decorated, indicating their acceptance in the local community. Scientists believe that these women could have been Christians.

We will remind you that archaeologists found a construction site from the time of Ancient Rome in Pompeii.

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