Swedish History Museum

This guide to the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm follows a Viking Age grave excavated at Birka, where a commander was buried with a full gaming set alongside a sword, an axe and spears, and centuries of archaeologists who assumed the remains belonged to a man. You'll hear about the 2017 DNA study led by Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, and about the strategy game called hnefatafl found buried beside real weapons across Birka's graves. It follows what that pairing suggests about the mind behind the board.