The image of a Viking as a primitive barbarian has become a little more difficult to picture after scientists from the National Museum of Denmark concluded that they in all likelihood had windows in their homes in the period 800-1,000 CE.

It was previously thought that windows first appeared in Denmark several centuries later, when castles and churches used them in the Middle Ages.

“The Hollywood image we have of Vikings sitting in their dark halls around the long fire, drinking mead, is maybe more sophisticated [in reality], senior researcher Mads Dengsø Jessen of the National Museum told news wire Ritzau.

“These were people who took inspiration from the continent and had the same desires for the homes of their wealthy. They wanted attractive lighting, at had to look nice and not dark and bleak, the way you sometimes see it in popular culture,” he said.

The conclusions are based on analysis of 61 windowpane fragments over the last 25 years at six different archaeological sites from the Viking era.

The Viking sites in question are all located in southern Scandinavia, with the exception of one at Hedeby near the town of Schleswig in modern-day northern Germany.

Glass at the sites is not a new discovery in itself, but was always thought to be “pollution” that came from later periods like the Middle Ages.

The glass is different to the type seen in modern windows and had a more matt effect, according to the senior researcher.

“It’s not for looking out and seeing if enemies are coming, but to give a special lighting effect in the room you’re sitting in,” he said.

“We know it from churches that also have a special lighting effect when the light hits the windows,” he said.

The results of the research have been published in the scientific journal Danish Journal of Archaeology.