Jon Steffensen. has come to the conclusion that a considerable proportion of the bloodthirsty Viking pirates of the ninth century and onward probably were restless Irishmen out Pn the loose. If this assunption. based on the measureinent of some hundreds of skulls. including those of two saints. is true. it means that men with Celtic blood ravaged much of northwestern Europe during the Dark Ages and almost certainly set foot on the American Continent 300 years or so before Columbus. The evidence in favor of these highly consequential emigrations has been published in the current Journal of Royal Anthropological Institute here by Professor Steffensen. a member of the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Iceland. Reykjavik. The evidence shows that. on the basis of their still determinable biological characterIstics. the Vikings (a term derived from the Old Norse or Icelandic word "Vikingr." meaning "sea rover" or "pirate") can be divided into two groups. eastern and western.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization that Irishmen were bloodthirsty Viking pirates.