Inca Indian found in medieval grave in Norway
Sometimes even the most respected of newspapers may give you a story that is highly entertaining, but that nevertheless calls for some editorial discipline.
The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten today reports that Norwegian archaeologists have found the skeleton of a a man that seems to be an Inca Indian.
The grave, which was found in connection with the excavation of the St. Nicholas church of Sarpsborg in the county of Østfold, also contained the remains of one more man and a baby.
“There is a bone in the neck [of the man] that has not healed,” Norwegian archaeologist Mona Beate Buckholm says, “and this is an inherited trait that is only found among Inca Indians in Peru.”
She adds: “This is a sensation!”
She is right about the sensation part.
Asked for a possible explanation Buckholm says to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that she would have liked to explain this by saying that the Indian had arrived as a seafarer “given that St. Nicholas is the saint of travelers”.
(This is an example of her Norwegian humor, dear reader, do not take this quote too seriously!).
Let’s get this straight. Norwegian and Icelandic vikings did discover America, but they found Newfoundland, not Peru. For an Inca Indian to reach Norway in the Middle Ages probably requires a theory of the Incas discovering Europe in the 11th century.
I know that there have been more amazing paradigm shifts in historical research than the one Aftenposten hints at, but this one requires a good explanation.
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has a photo of the scull.
The Aftenposten story is apparently based on an article written by NTB, the Norwegian news agency.
Extremely unlikely this is true. Occam applies here, and extraordinary claims require thoroughly extraordinary proof. A simple statement about a bone defect is not that proof. Being dug up with metal artefacts from that period in Peru would support the claims.
What’s to say that the Vikings didn’t travel further south than we previously thought? Or that the Incas didn’t leave from Central America (not necessarily Peru)? Pretty cool either way.
If he was a seafarer, and an Inca, I would expect the site to give other clues as to his background…shards of pottery, ornamentation, pictures, writing etc. The absence of these leaves us incapable of deciding whether he was an Inca or not. The most likely explanation is that this proves this trait (once believed to be unique to Incas) could manifest itself elsewhere. It’s called mutation.
I say this not because I find it impossible that the Incas sailed the seas, or that perhaps the Vikings picked him up in Newfoundland (Vinland) after the Incas went exploring…but because these two other things are simply less likely (statistically speaking) given what we know about the constraints that these two societies faced.
I agree, I find it very unlikely that this could have taken place. There is probably something wrong about the premise that this physiological trait is exclusively found among Inca Indians.
Still, one should always keep an open mind. Once the idea of Vikings visiting America was considered nonsense by many serious historians and researchers.
Could it be posible that when the spanish returned home with ther tresure they brought back a Inca they had captered then posible intrest from other nations lead to his transportation to Europe. An other thought is that maps dating from the time of King David of Isreal have been found with detaled eastern coastline of south america.