Scientists corroborated an 800-year-old story about the literal poisoning of a well, according to a report in iScience.
The Norse Sverris Saga, which recounts tales about King Sverre Sigurdsson, describes an 1197 raid in which a body was thrown into a well at Sverresborg Castle, ostensibly to poison the area’s main water source. Researchers analyzed the DNA of a skeleton found in a well outside Trondheim in central Norway. This study of “Well Man” matched the events the saga recounted.
“This is the first time that a person described in these historical texts has actually been found,” Michael Martin of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s University Museum in Trondheim, Norway and an author of the study, said in a press release. “There are a lot of these medieval and ancient remains all around Europe, and they’re increasingly being studied using genomic methods.”
The Origins of the Bones
The bones were discovered in 1938 — but scientists then lacked the tools to understand their origins. Since then, radiocarbon dating matched the demise of Well Man to the period described in the saga. More recently, a Norwegian team of scientists used genomics tools to learn more about his past.
DNA analysis shows that Well Man was between 30 and 40 years old at the time of his death. He most likely had blue eyes and blond or light-brown hair, and his ancestors probably came from the southernmost Norwegian county now named Vest-Agder. The researchers could draw these conclusions because Norway has collected reference data that details the genetics of contemporary Norwegians.
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What Was the Well Man’s Cause of Death?
What remains unknown, though, is whether the well contamination strategy actually worked. To read Well Man’s genome, researchers had to remove the surface of a tooth to avoid contamination from its previous handlers. Then they ground the remainder of the tooth into a powder. Finally, they used genetic tools to examine the tooth powder.
Their tests did not show what disease — if any — Well Man might have carried to his grave. Since that particular sample cannot be re-used, his cause of death may remain a mystery. Any pathogen on the tooth’s surface would have been destroyed while processing the sample.
“It was a compromise between removing surface contamination of the people who have touched the tooth and then removing some of the possible pathogens […] there are lots of ethical considerations,” Martin Rene Ellegaard of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Ellegaard and an author of the study, said in a press release. “We need to consider what kind of tests we’re doing now because it will limit what we can do in the future.”
The researchers intend to test samples from other historical figures — once they uncover their bones. Saint Olaf, who is believed to be buried near Trondheim Cathedral, is high on the list.
Read More: Deadly Diseases That Plagued People in Ancient Times are Similar to Those of Today
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Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
