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The cemetery of Valsgärde, Sweden contains 92 human graves dating from the 3rdc. BCE to the 11thc. CE, the majority and most elaborate of which date to the Vendel and Viking Ages (approximately 500-1100 CE). This total consists of 15 unburnt boat graves, 15 inhumation and chamber graves, and 62 cremations. In addition to the human remains and wealthy goods, the site is noted for its richness in zooarchaeological material, with a variety of primarily domestic animals appearing buried alongside humans. One of the most commonly represented animals in these graves is the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), a trend which has been noted in many other sites from Vendel and Viking Age Sweden. This project quantifies and analyses the morphology of the dogs in the unburnt Vendel and Viking graves at Valsgärde in order to a) assemble a general typology and demographic profile for the population, b) assess the level of morphological variability in the population, and c) speculate on the possible roles these dogs may have played in Scandinavian society in the Late Iron Age. Comparisons are made between the character of dog burials in the Vendel vs Viking periods, to identify any notable shifts in trend over time. The analysis shows that while the size of the dogs generally remains consistent throughout both periods, a number of different types are represented within this limited size range, and the Viking Age burials contain notably fewer dogs than the graves of the Vendel Period.

The deposition of animals in graves was an essential aspect of burial practice in Scandinavia during the Vendel Period and Viking Age (550–1050 AD). While this rite occurs in many different regions, it is most clearly observed in the boat-graves from the famous cemeteries in Swedish Uppland, such as Vendel and Valsgärde, as well as in a number of high-status cremation graves. Former studies have tended to interpret faunal remains from burial contexts as food offerings, diplomatic gifts or simply as sacrifices. These explanations place an emphasis on the importance of the human dead and imply that grave assemblages mainly served to accompany the deceased as a provision for the afterlife, or to illustrate power, status and identity among the living. The master’s thesis presented here, comprises an analysis of animal depositions from both cremation and inhumation burials in Uppland. By applying the theory of agency, this study focuses on grave assemblages and human-animal relationships as a means of understanding burial practices. Instead of only paying attention to the type of bones and the animal species, it is equally important to consider the condition of the bones, their placement inside the grave and the placement of artefacts ascribed to certain animals in relation to the human dead. This is not only essential to decoding human-animal relationships as evident in burial practices, but also to understanding the many different processes that culminated in the deposition of animal bones in graves.

Birka is Sweden’s first urban settlement during the Viking period and its growth is mainly because of the settlement’s extensive trade. The area has many graves and the female graves in Birka are a good source for interpretation of the Viking woman and the variety of roles and work she had. Archaeologists are assessing graves and interpreters them from the material remains found, such as jewelry, weapons, and gifts. Researchers often have a predetermined interpretation on certain items that are considered feminine or masculine and the gender is determined from this. After the gender is decided it is commonly that the individuals are categorized into groups, and women tend be grouped together into one, regardless that the archaeological data and material shows that they have different attributes, and should be categorized as such. Men on the other hand have a variety of activities and jobs from which they can be determined by, whilst women’s work tends to be highlighted as chores, rather than work, as their doings usually are in the private sphere. To put women together as one simply because they are women is not only problematic regarding what the material shows, but it is also preventing the development in research of women. There will be a gap in the narrative due to the lack of female activities which occurred but are either ignored or reduced. During the last few decades, there has been an increase in research regarding women in all fields of research and a development of several theories on how to interpret various factors. One of them is intersectional theory, which will be used in this paper. A selection of female Viking graves from Birka are used with this theory to develop a greater picture of what women were doing, rather than just being women, and what needs to be considered to do so.

Idades de soterramento de grãos de quartzo pelos isótopos cosmogênicos \'ANTPOT.26 Al\' e \'ANTPOT.10 Be\' foram obtidas em depósitos sedimentares que assorearam os sistemas de cavernas associados aos vales cegos dos riachos das Almas e Água de Rega, região de Iraquara (BA). Os resultados também incluem a caracterização faciológica e uma abordagem preliminar sobre a arquitetura dos depósitos, além do mapeamento em campo do contexto geomórfico dos sistemas de condutos e seu preenchimento sedimentar. Coberturas terciárias assentadas sobre todas as unidades pré-cambrianas testemunham que a superfície cárstica e os sistemas de condutosfazem parte de uma longa história de evolução, envolvendo episódios de exposição, soterramento e exumação. Durante os dois últimos milhões de anos, a drenagem superficial e os sistemas de cavernas estavam plenamente articulados na condução de água e sedimentos, com rotas de fluxo subterrâneas que incluíam ainda trechos labirínticos pré-existentes, que serviam de repositório de sedimentos durante os eventos de inundação, proporcionando também, rotas alternativas ao canal,na medida em que o sistema agradava. A sucessiva migração do canal por estas redes labirínticas originou o padrão distributário observado na Lapa Doce e na Gruta da Torrinha. Os depósitos sedimentares estudados nas cavernas dividem-se em dois grupos: fluviais e de água estagnada. Osdepósitos fluviais ocorrem na base e são constituídos por fácies de canal e fácies de inundação. As idades de soterramento de grãos de quartzo destes sedimentos apontam para um período de assoreamento fluvial compreendido entre 1,91±0,12 e 0,36±0,08 milhões de anos para o sistema Lapa Doce-Torrinha (riacho Água de Rega) e 1,37±0,15 e 0,87±0,17 milhões de anos para o sistema Cão-Talhão (riacho das Almas). No sistema Lapa Doce-Torrinha as idades de soterramento concentram-se no intervalo compreendido por dois períodos úmidos (350-450 Ka e 900-1000 Ka), registrados em estudos anteriores através do crescimento de tufas calcárias no semiárido baiano.Tal fato sugere que a agradação fluvial verificada, tanto nos rios quanto nas cavernas, esteja associada a fatores climáticos, particularmente o aumento da carga dos rios derivado da diminuição na estabilidade dos grãos nas vertentes exercida por uma vegetação arbustiva esparsa ou ausente. No topo, os depósitos de água estagnada, preferencialmente compostos por lamas, não possuem estruturas trativas ou de corrente e são associados a uma sedimentação em ambiente freático,para o qual é necessário considerar a subida do nível de base. Gretas de contração, além de relações estratigráficas e erosivas destes depósitos com crostas calcíticas evidenciam que eles não foram depositados em um evento único. Idades U/Th obtidas nas crostas calcíticas apontam para uma deposição durante o Pleistoceno Tardio. Interpreta-se que as lamas foram depositadas durante períodos de elevação do nível de base devido aos eventos úmidos abruptos de escala milenar que ocorreram no nordeste brasileiro ao longo dos últimos 210 ka. / \'ANTPOT.26 Al\' and \'ANTPOT.10 Be\' burial ages have been obtained from quartz grains sampled in extensive sedimentary deposits that fill cave systems associated with Das Almas and Agua de Rega creeks blind valleys, Iraquara region, Bahia (Brazil). The geomorphic context of the caves and their sedimentary record is presented, as well a facies analyses and a preliminary architecture approach for subterranean deposits. Tertiary covers deposited over all Precambrian geological units give evidence that karstic surface and conduit systems are features of a long term evolving landscape, sculpted during episodes of exposure, burial and exhumation. In the last two million years, surface drainage and cave systems were full connected in terms of water and sediment transport.Conduit systems still connected with preexisting passage networks, working as sediment repositories during floods and offering alternative routes to the channels as the systems aggraded. Sucessive channel migration led to the distributary pattern observed in the caves Lapa Doce and Gruta da Torrinha. The cave sedimentary record can be divided into two major categories: alluvial and slackwater deposits. At the bottom of the sediments, channel and flood facies were recognized in alluvial deposits. Quartz simple burial ages point to fluvial aggradation between 1,91±0,12 and 0,36±0,08 My in Lapa Doce-Torrinha cave system (Água de Rega creek) and between 1,37±0,15 and 0,87±0,17 million years in Cão-Talhão cave system (Das Almas creek). Burial ages from Lapa Doce-Torrinha samples group in between two past humid periods (350-450 Ky and 900-1000 Ky) recorded in previous studies from travertines growth in arid regions of Bahia State. This fact suggests that valley and cave aggradation is associated with climate factors, particularly an increase in river load derived from decreased stabilization of hillslopes due to a sparse or absent forest vegetation. At the top of sedimentary pile slackwater deposits are ordinarily muddy without tractive or current sedimentary structures. They are assigned to be deposited in a phreatic environment which, in turn, necessarily requires the base level to rise longer than seasonal floods. Mud cracks, erosive surfaces and stratigraphic relations to calcite crusts and flowstones prove that they were not deposited in a single event. U/Th ages from interstratal calcite crusts point to mud deposition during the Late Pleistocene. Slackwater deposits are interpreted to be a result of sedimentation during successive abrupt wet events defined on millennial time scale for the Brazilian northeast during the last 210ky.

The aim of this essay is to evaluate the hypothesis that Öland and Gotland shared a superregional weapon burial custom during the older part of the Scandinavian iron age by comparing the weapon graves and a selection of graves on two cemeteries one from each isle. The essay concludes that the weapon graves on Öland and Gotland (or at least the examined cemeteries) was not connected by a super-regional weapon burial custom.

The focus of the thesis is the poorly-understood rite of decapitated inhumation which was practiced predominantly in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD in Britain. Previous studies have often involved the accumulation of data on decapitated inhumations themselves and cross analysis of examples. Conclusions drawn on the meaning of the rite almost invariably place it in opposition to 'normal' Late Romano-British funerary behaviour and consequently interpret decapitation as reflecting negatively on the social identity of the deceased. Because of this, decapitated inhumations are commonly referred to as 'deviant burials' in academic literature. This thesis argues that the interpretation of decapitated burial as 'deviant' is an artificial product of the methodologies employed in its analysis. The lack of contextualisation within the mortuary structures of late Roman Britain has entrenched the view that decapitated burial stood in contrast to 'normal', 'acceptable' funerary behaviour. By using quantitative and qualitative analysis of funerary behaviour within three regional case studies, this thesis adopts a contextualising approach to decapitated burials in order to place these individuals in relation to the social parameters governing burial within the communities in which they are found. This analysis takes into account the settlement profiles and regional variations in mortuary practices particular to each area, to investigate how these impacted on the adoption and performance of decapitated burial. Other evidence for the fragmentation of human remains during the Roman period is also investigated and assessed in relation to the decapitation rite. It is concluded that, in all three case studies, the funerary treatment of decapitated persons may be aligned with the prevailing structures governing burial of non-decapitated individuals, despite the differences in funerary behaviour between each region. This implies that decapitated individuals were not treated in opposition to standard burial practices and that interpretations of them as 'deviant' are unsound. In addition, the need to consider wider contemporary burial habits in relation to decapitated inhumation, particularly those involving other forms of corpse fragmentation, is highlighted. Assessment of disarticulated and semi-articulated deposits of human remains demonstrates that parallels may be drawn between the processes that led to the deposition of this material and the processes surrounding decapitated inhumation. It is argued that decapitated inhumation should be understood as a facet of broader mortuary practices involving the fragmentation of human remains practiced in certain areas of Roman Britain, rather than being treated as an anomalous variation of supine extended inhumation.

This study analyses visible artefacts depicted on Athenian white-ground funerary lekythoi from between 475 to 425 BCE, to investigate what the iconographic information of the artefacts can tell us about the funerary activity and how the information relates to the written sources from antiquity. The purpose of this study is to gain a more in-depth view of the Athenian funerary activities, of which we currently have limited knowledge of. The activates surrounding an Athenian funeral is a complex matter consisting of several stages of preparation and visits to the grave. However, when we are looking at the funerary images, it is difficult to determine what stage of the burial culture we are observing, which is what this study sets out to answer. The study uses a theoretical framework in viewing the vase images as a “scene of an idea” rather than a “scene from reality” where expressions of ideas and notion are what is on display on the white-ground lekythos. The study has analysed the visible artefacts from 252 Athenian white-ground lekythoi and thematically grouped them, then with an iconographical method analysed the meaning and representation of the visible artefacts and how they relate to the written sources.  The study has resulted three main conclusions. Firstly, a possible identification of a funerary activity when observing the number and detailed work of the artefacts illustrated by the painter. Secondly, the importance of maintaining a good relationship between the living and the dead. Thirdly, the contemporary events involving the Athenian administrative changes implanted by Solon and how it could have affected the way the Athenians illustrated their funerary scenes.

This thesis aims to assess the social structure of budeč hillfort settlement during the second half of the 9th century to the 10th century in terms of biological anthropology. The first part deals with the processing of skeletal remains from a mass grave "Na Týnici" from the perspective of traumatology. The second part is devoted to anthropologically not assesed burial place around the church of St. Peter, which is the oldest example of the church necropolis in Bohemia. Thesis presents an anthropological analysis of human skeletal remains and their statistical comparison with cemeteries on Budeč hillfort and its hinterland (Zákolany, Na Týnici and Brandýsek) and other early medieval cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia.

This volume discusses the history of funerals, a 'total social phenomenon' in southern Ghana. Today, as in the past, festivals are organised, usually involving music, dance and the consumption of alcohol. This study discusses variations over time and between different regions, dealing systematically with the preparation of the corpse, places of burial, modes of commemoration, the high costs involved and the influence of Christian missions. / Dieser Band betrachtet die Geschichte von Beerdigungen, ein 'total social phenomenon' im südlichen Ghana. Heute, wie auch in der Vergangenheit, werden Feste organisiert, die normalerweise Musik, Tanz und den Konsum von Alkohol involvieren. Diese Studie betrachtet Variationen über die Zeit hinweg und zwischen verschiedenen Regionen, während sie sich systematisch mit der Vorbereitung der Leiche, den Orten der Beerdigung, den Arten der Gedenkfeiern, den hohen Kosten und dem Einfluss der christlichen Missionen beschäftigt.