This paper deals with the question of whether the symbolic language of the late Neolithic and middle Bronze Age was transferred from ceremonial monuments and barrows into the domestic sphere in the late Bronze Age. I will consider such elements as doorway orientation, the significance of boundaries and depositional practices to see if Early-Middle Iron Age settlements were indeed a major scene for ritual behaviour.

In the year 2007 the Swedish National Heritage Board released directions for how the contractarchaeology in Sweden should carry out their work. These directions stressed that a differentapproach to the archaeological finds should be used – that would lead to a higher degree ofselection than before. The purpose of this essay is to find the reason why this change indirections occurred, and this is done by a study of the history of the rescue archaeology inSweden. The other purpose of this essay is to examine if the excavation strategies inarchaeological excavation reports from different times, correlates with the general guidingprinciples for the contract archaeology in Sweden of that time.There are several reasons why the change in directions occurred, but it seems as the mainreasons are practical. The handling of archaeological finds is relatively expensive andarchaeological researches of today generally don’t need to take care of all the finds for theinterpretation. Consequently there is no reason to save everything. The study of theexcavation reports show that there is correlation between the excavation techniques used, andthe general guiding principles for the contract archaeology of that time.

The subject of this essay in archaeology is the economy at the mining village of Saladuringthe 16th and early 17th century. The silvermine in Sala was once the foremost producer of silver in Sweden, and the mine as well as the mining village had had a long and rich history. This history can be seen in historical documents as well as in archaeological findings. The lure of silver attracted many different people to the mining village. This in turn madetrade an important part of the mining village. The trade made it possible for coins to circulatefreely and this made it possible for a monetary based economy to be established in the miningvillage. The focus of this essay is mainly on coin finds, but also on other archaeological items foundduring excavations of the mining village. These other archaeological finds can shed some light on the type of economy that existed in the mining village. Included is a comparison of coin finds in two other locations, namely the chapel ruins of St. Ursula in Västerås and Vårfrukyrkan in Enköping. Each of the churches is located near Sala and were used contemporary with the mining village. The purpose of including them into this study is to see whether these churches used the same stock of coin as they did in the mining village.

This essay deals with a picture-stone that was found in a pre Christian grave during the archaeological excavations of the Viking Age harbour and trading place at Fröjel parish, Gotland, in 1999. The stone is at least 100 years older then the male grave in which it was found. The picture-stone can be dated to  late 8th century or early 9th century, and the grave is probably from the late 10th century. One of the main questions in this essay is why the people of that time re-used an older picture-stone in a younger burial. I believe that the stone was reused as a grave-gift. To re-use the older picture stone was to seek legitimacy for the status of the family through the forefathers. The picture-stones were originally monuments erected in the honour of dead men. The elite could display their social position and power through these monuments. The depicted figures on them can be interpreted as symbols of the transition between life and death. The Gotlandic picture-stones of this type have connections to beliefs of Odin, the Norse God of wisdom, war and death. My theoretical perspective is that through studies of picture-stones, knowledge can be gained about ideologies and social structures within the Gotlandic society during the Viking Age.

My interest in ethno-archaeology and a Minor Field Study grant brought me to Samoa. There I had a chance to participate in a multinational project “The Pulemelei project, the origins and Development of Monumental architecture”. On the former copra plantation Letolo situated on the SE part of the Island of Savai’i, is an extensive pre-historic settlement with over 3000 remains situated. The remains are now heavily overgrown but when the vegetation was cleared an extensive survey was carried out (1977-78). By using these records my aim is to understand more about how chiefdom society works in pre-historic times as well as in the present. The archaeological study is carried out with the aid of a correspondence analysis using the survey data as well as through a practical fieldwork (excavations) study of the settlement pattern at the Letolo plantation. The settlement shows large variations between the inland and the coastal region and those actions opened for whole new questions and ideas about the Samoan prehistory. During my journey I also got a better understanding for ethno-archaeology, and the problems that can meet us using these analogies and carrying out archaeological studies in a global setting and traditional society. To date, quite limited archaeology has been carried out on Samoa but the archaeological “revival” boosted by the project which started in this area in 2002 has created an opportunity to train the first generation of Samoan archaeologists and give them a good platform to stand on!

<p>One of the most discussed archaeological subjects is the neolitisation, and the start of a neolithic lifestyle which is characterized by several significant events. The traditional view has been that settled people were cultivating and breeding, but this picture has been questioned and changed in later years. The development is principally based on two models; that already neolithic people immigrated and took over, or that the new lifestyle gradually developed out of the existing cultures. Southern Scandinavia was characterized by a settlement pattern with permanent settlements which were complemented by temporary special settlements, but in time more domestic settlements originated. On the British Isles the settlements didn´t consist of permanent agricultural settlements but instead did the people here move freely between several short term settlements.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

<p>This thesis examines a sample of Pitted Ware pottery from the Gotlandic site of Ajvide in regard to the spatial and temporal relationship of the shards. Ajvide Stone Age site have been extensively excavated over the past 25 years and the most recent analysis of pottery was carried out by Inger Österholm in 1987 and new analyses of the material are therefore greatly needed. Pottery from three sample areas was analysed in regard to their distribution, decoration, fragmentation, part of pot and quality of the goods. To analyse the material in a contextual way a multivariate statistical analysis called correspondence analysis was used. Two areas denominated “dark areas”, which Österholm defined previously, as possible ritual sites, and one reference area with mixed material were chosen for the analysis. By including two of these “dark areas” the study also examine if similarities or differences could be seen among the shard distribution how these areas have been defined and possibly re-defined.</p>

Jag har gjort en jämförande studie mellan utvecklingen i Danmark och utvecklingen på Gotland under romersk järnålder. Som underlag har jag framförallt använt Lotte Hedeagers avhandling Danmarks jernalder – Mellem stamme og stat (Hedeager 1992) och Kerstin Cassels redovisning av det arkeologiska källmaterialet från Gotland i hennes avhandling Från grav till gård – romersk järnålder på Gotland (Cassel 1998). Syftet med studien var att undersöka om Hedeagers slutsats att det etablerades en centralmakt med territoriell kontroll, en tidig stat, i Danmark redan i övergången mellan äldre och yngre romersk järnålder, även skulle gå att dra vad gäller Gotland baserat på det gotländska källmaterialet, och i så fall om detta kunde förklara uppkomsten av stengrundsbebyggelse och fornborgar. Jag har jämfört det arkeologiska källmaterialet från Danmark och Gotland avseende gravfynd och offerfynd, bebyggelseutveckling och landskapsutnyttjande samt vapenoffer och försvarsanläggningar. Vad gäller gravfynden går det att se stora likheter både i hur gravgodset ser ut och i de förändringar som sker mellan äldre och yngre romersk järnålder. Det går också att se stora likheter i kulturlandskapets utveckling med en övergång från ett extensivt åkerbruk med kollektivt brukande till familjejordbruk med intensiv odling. Både på Gotland och i Danmark kan man datera storskaliga försvarsanläggningar till slutet av äldre eller yngre romersk järnålder. Exempel på detta är Olmerdiket och Torsburgen. En väsentlig skillnad mellan Danmark och Gotland är hur praktföremål fördelas mellan offerfynd och gravar övertiden från förromersk järnålder till folkvandringstid. Det jag kommit fram till är att likheterna är så stora att man genom att tillämpa Hedeagers analysmodell kan dra slutsatsen att omläggning av jordbruket, uppkomst av stengrundshus och stensträngar, och anläggande av försvarsborgar gjorts på initiativ av en centralmakt med kontroll över det gotländska territoriet.

In this study bone material from six stone ship settings and a total of seven deposits of bones from two sites on the island of Gotland have been analyzed. Four ship settings from the burial site at Gålrum in Alskog parish and two from Tängelgårda in Lärbro parish. The ships contained both cremated remains and inhumations.  Human remains were identified in five of the analyzed ship settings and a minimum of six individuals was identified in total.  Animals were found in three of the ship settings, where one of them contained only the burned remains of a dog. Two of the ships contained inhumations, one in Gålrum and one in Tängelgårda. The one from Gålrum was determined to 17-19 years of age but of undetermined sex. The inhumation from Tängelgårda was determined to a male of 35-64 years of age.  Of the cremated remains none could be determined to sex but all were determined as adult individuals. The temperature that the cremated bones had been exposed to during the cremation was similar between the different ship settings, with one exception which had been exposed to a slightly higher temperature. The results of the material have also been compared with those of other osteological analysis from ship settings on Gotland. The interpretation of this has been that the amount of bone and the number of individuals that has been buried in stone ship settings vary from different sites. Some ship settings have contained several burials and have been interpreted as family graves (Pettersson 1982) which do not fit with the results from this analysis where all the ship settings contained a maximum of one or two human individuals, so the results from the ship settings on Gålrum and Tängelgårda differ from earlier interpretations of ship settings on Gotland.

Is it relevant to treat bog bodies as its own category within the archaeological research? This paper examines how scholars and researchers, through their publications and depictions of the preserved prehistoric individuals, are helping to create such a category. What has changed in the way scholars look at and describe these astounding finds? Also examines the various theories researchers provide regarding bog bodies and how they are deposited.