The results: The Well-man was indeed male, between 30 and 40, with blue eyes and blond or light-brown hair, and his ancestry traced to southern Norway, likely present-day Vest-Agder. King Sverre's men were from central Norway, leading to speculation about whether the Baglers possibly tossed one of their own into the well.
The authors couldn't identify pathogens related to a 12th-century biological warfare theory, partially due to strict decontamination procedures that might have removed traces of pathogen DNA.
Martin Ellegaard notes, 'It was a compromise between removing surface contamination of the people who have touched the tooth and then removing some of the possible pathogens... It will limit what we can do in the future.'
The results indicate that distinct genetic drift in southern Norway populations existed during King Sverre's reign, suggesting that the region was relatively isolated for centuries preceding that time.
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