A researcher from the University of Aberdeen, who presented today at
the British Science Festival, suggested this is a problem Viking
societies themselves were deeply concerned about – so much so that they
took on the role of early criminal profilers – drafting descriptions of
the most likely trouble-makers.
Dr Tarrin Wills, from the Centre for Scandinavian Studies, has
examined early Icelandic literature and discovered that its authors
pinpointed physical characteristics of high testosterone levels – known
to cause violent behaviour – creating some of the earliest ‘criminal
mugshots’.
Dr Wills, whose work is published in Viking and Medieval Scandinavia
began investigating the link between Viking behaviour and levels of
testosterone after reading an article about hormones and city traders.
