" The Bones of Birka by C. M. Surrisi opens up a thousand-year-old Viking grave site and allows us to peer into a mystery. Who was in grave site Bj 581 and why does it matter? Surrisi starts us off with traditional assumptions of the male Viking warrior and his wide-ranging exploits and travels. Given that, the Viking skeleton in Bj 581 surrounded by ancient weapons must be male. More than a hundred years later, a female team of archeologists, anthropologists, osteologists, and geneticists open the world's eyes and our own to a new finding. The skeleton in Bj 581 was female. Surrisi's in-depth and timely research turns Viking narratives into questions and doing so challenges our own biases about our history and ourselves.

Anyone young or old fascinated by archaeology, bones, and what they reveal will want to read this book. " -- Caren Stelson , author of Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story and Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport.