This research examined correlations among the responses of five portable aggregate and soil testing devices, including the nuclear density gauge (NDG), dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP), heavy Clegg impact soil tester (CIST), soil stiffness gauge (SSG), and portable falling-weight deflectometer (PFWD). Readings were analyzed from 41 project sites on treated and untreated base, subbase, and subgrade layers representing 15 different material types in Iowa, Louisiana, Utah, and Wyoming. Analyses of the data revealed statistically significant correlations for all six of the possible two-way comparisons involving the DCP, CIST, SSG, and PFWD, and a nomograph was developed for correlating responses among these different devices. No statistically significant correlations between data from the NDG and that of any other instrument were identified, however. The correlations developed in this research will be useful to pavement engineers needing to compare different types of strength and/or stiffness measurements for quality control/quality assurance purposes. Additionally, repeatability with respect to operator effects was additionally investigated for the CIST and SSG at 27 sites on treated and untreated base layers in Utah. Analyses of these data indicated that the CIST data exhibited a significant operator effect at 7.4 percent of the test sites, whereas no operator effects were detected at any test site for the SSG data. Thus, the SSG data appear to be less susceptible to operator effects than the CIST data.

This masters essay studies the stone cist phenomenon during the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age on the island of Gotland. The aim of the study is to understand the importance of the stone cist in society during this period, as well as attempting to categorize the stone cists located on the island. It can be argued that society during this period was a agricultural, highly hierarchical society with indications of a power center at the west northwestern parts of the island. Stone cists can be seen having different contexts involving number of individuals, location and features connected to the cist.An osteological study has also been performed on the skeletal material from the stone cist Alskog 48:1, with the aim of getting further knowledge regarding number of individuals and the age and sex distribution of those individuals. As well as questions regarding the stone cist construction and dating. The bone material presented 26 individuals, contrary to the 15 individuals which was initially identified during the excavation. These 26 individuals were of all ages, both male and female, with a slight majority of males. The stone cist which is a natural roofless cave, a natural cist, can according to the criteria defining a stone cist, be regarded as a stone cist and not another construction. / Denna magisteruppsats behandlar hällkistor under senneolitikum och äldre bronsålder på Gotland. Frågeställningar kring hällkistans betydelse i samhället under denna tid diskuteras, samt om det är möjligt att producera en kategorisering av hällkistor. Hällkistan har varit en viktig del i det senneolitiska - äldre bronsålders samhället, utifrån dessa går det identifiera ett agrikulturellt starkt hierarkiskt samhälle med indikationer på ett maktcenter i väst nordvästra kustregionen av ön. Kategorisering av hällkistor har visat olika särdrag hos hällkistor, vilka involverar individantal, lokalisering samt ytterligare anläggningar anslutna till hällkistan.En osteologisk analys har även utförts på skelettmaterialet hällkistan, Alskog 48:1 med frågor kring individantal, kön och ålderfördelning. Samt frågor kring datering på hällkistan och dess konstruktion. Benmaterialet presenterade 26 individer, i motsats till de 15 individer som initialt antagits funnits, av dessa fanns individer i alla åldrar. Både män och kvinnor identifierades, med en liten majoritet av män. Hällkistan i fråga som är en naturlig taklös grotta, naturlig kista, enligt de kriterier som använts kan denna konstruktion anses vara en hällkista och ingen annan typ av konstruktion.

Picture stones were produced on the island of Gotland during the Iron Age, about 100-1150 AD. In this dissertation it has been made clear that biographical- and pre-iconographic perspectives enables new understandings of the stones. The wave-shaped cist stones, about 30 of the nearly 500 picture stones, were clearly produced as different from the axe- or mushroom-shaped large- and dwarf stones. This has been shown by their difference in shape, size and the frequency and placement of motifs. Reuses of cist stones does however concur with the other stones and suggest they were used for the same reasons and purposes. In this dissertation it has also been made clear that there is no concrete evidence that the cist stones were erected as cists constructions, especially for women or used for offerings. The term “small wave-shaped” picture stones has therefore been introduced as a substitute.

No / Specimens from human remains exhibiting unusual preservation excavated from a seventh century stone cist burial at Towyn y Capel in Anglesey, UK, have been analysed using Raman spectroscopy with near-infrared laser excitation at 1,064 and 785 nm. Specimens of hair and bone provided evidence for severe degradation and microbial colonisation. The deposits within the stone cist showed that some microbially mediated compounds had been formed. Analysis of crystals found at the interface between the hair and the skeletal neck vertebrae revealed a mixture of newberyite and haematite, associated with decomposition products of the hair and bone. An interesting differential degradation was noted in the specimens analysed which could be related to the air-void and the presence of plant root inclusions into the stone cist. This is the first time that Raman spectroscopy has been used in the forensic archaeological evaluation of burial remains in complex and dynamic environments.

The earliest graves that are found in Sweden is the megaliths, the huge stone monuments created with boulders and open entrances. The megaliths origin is from the Middle Neolithic’s, but they have been reused for several millenniums. The very act of constructing these monumental stone chambers for the dead shows that these monuments were built to last through time. This master’s thesis deals with four different kind of grave types that spans through four different time periods in Southwestern Sweden. After the Middle Neolithic, monumental graves the hällkistan (stone cists), became the dominant grave type during the Late Neolithic. The cist varies in construction, some are meant to be entered but most are closed. During the Bronze Age a new kind of cists continues to be used and new are constructed although the culture tends to create big heaps, cairns, around the cist. During the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age the construction of the graves changes and the cists are instead present on grave fields. The paper compares the similarities between the graves, megalithic tombs, stone cists, cairns and grave fields, in their monumentality, construction, accessibility, content, and focuses heavily on the transmission between the grave types through the theoretical concept of Longue durée. I have also chosen to focus on the tradition of reuse, and Pierre Nora´s theoretical concepts about memory sites and memory environments. The slow slight changes to the grave traditions, constructions and rooms shows changes in ideology of the contemporary culture. My main focus is to identify and discuss the transformation of the grave room, from the Middle Neolithic monumental stone construction to the late Iron Age grave fields. Through my understanding of this process, I argue that the mentioned grave types are the same type of monument that slowly changes through a time span of roughly 4000 years. The changes are visible through very slight and slow processes.

This study is a continuation of my previous essay, which performed a catalogue and interpretation of stone cists from the late Neolithic - early Bronze Age. This essay will develop that study through a analysis of the land use during the same period. The material will be analyzed through ArcGIS where five main analysis will be used to study this, watershed, viewshed, hillshade, buffer/density and nearest neighbor. The goal of these analysis will be to create a better view of the landscape and together with the archaeological material create a deeper understanding for the land use during the late Neolithic - early Bronze Age. The archaeological material that will be used consists of stone cists, which were identified in my previous essay, as well as stray finds, namely flint daggers and simple shaft hole axes. The stone cists and their position in the landscape will be studied closer as these are the only stationary monuments in the landscape during this period. These will be compared with the stray finds and ArcGIS analysis with the goal of identifying land use, for example potential settlements, something which is rarely found during this period. / Denna studie är en fortsättning på min föregående uppsats som  utförde en sammanställning och tolkning av hällkistor från Senneolitikum - äldre Bronsålder på Gotland. Denna uppsats utvecklar detta genom en analys av landskapsanvändningen under samma period. Materialet kommer analyseras genom ArcGIS där fem huvudsakliga analyser kommer användas för att studera detta, watershed, viewshed, hillshade, buffer/density samt nearest neighbor. Dessa har som mål att skapa en bättre bild av landskapet och tillsammans med det arkeologiska materialet skapa en förståelse för landskapsanvändningen under Senneolitikum - äldre Bronsålder. Det arkeologiska materialet som kommer användas består av hällkistor som identifierats i föregående uppsats samt lösfynd i form av flintdolkar och enkla skafthålsyxor. Hällkistorna och deras position i landskapet kommer studeras i  närmare då dessa är de ända fasta monumenten från denna period. Dessa kommer sedan jämföras med lösfynden och förhållas till ArcGIS analyserna som utförts med målet att identifiera landskapsanvändning. Utifrån dessa analyser kan eventuella viktiga områden i landskapet identifieras, exempelvis potentiella bosättningar, något som sällan hittas under denna period.

A la fin du Ve et au début du IVe millénaire, les communautés du nord-est de la péninsule Ibérique ont inhumé leurs morts dans des tombes élaborées, connues sous l'expression «Sepulcres de fossa ». Le complexe de la Bobila Madurell-Can Gambus rassemble un tiers des sépultures attribuées à cet horizon. L'échelonnement des découvertes de 1921 à 2004 a abouti à un corpus inégal à la fois au niveau des squelettes et de la documentation. Les 169 tombes et les 197 individus répertoriés dans ce travail sont répartis en trois secteurs principaux d'effectif et de densité variables. Les analyses intra-sites montrent des différences au niveau de l'implantation des sépultures, de l'identité biologique des défunts et des modalités de dépôt du corps et du mobilier. Néanmoins, les trois secteurs ne peuvent être considérés indépendamment. Les datations Carbone 14 attestant de leur contemporanéité, il est probable que le fait d'avoir été inhumé dans l'un ou l'autre des secteurs soit lié à des différences sociales, au moins l'âge et peut-être les activités quotidiennes, voire la hiérarchie. Si le complexe de la Bobila Madurell-Can Gambus est exceptionnel par la concentration de tombes, les mêmes gestes se retrouvent à l'échelle du littoral catalan. Inversement, les pratiques funéraires identifiées dans les cistes pyrénéennes sont distinctes. Parfois confondues avec les Sepulcres de fossa, les sépultures en fosse de l'horizon antérieur (Postcardial) appartiennent à un système funéraire différent. Plus largement, les Sepulcres de fossa détonnent dans le paysage funéraire néolithique ouest-européen et la Bobila Madurell-Can Gambus en représente paradoxalement le site emblématique et un cas unique. / In the late 5th and early 4th millennium BC, the communities of the northeastern lberian Peninsula interred their dead within elaborate burial structures known as "Sepulcres de fossa". The Bobila Madurell-Can Gambus burial site alone yielded a third of all graves assigned to this horizon. The site's long history of research, reaching from 1921 to 2004 resulted in an uneven corpus of both osteological material and documentation. This work comprises a total of 169 graves, including 197 individuals, which can be attributed to three main clusters of variable size and density. Intra-site analyses have shown differences in terms of burial distribution, biological identity of the deceased, body treatment and grave good depositional practices. However, the three clusters cannot be considered independently. As radiocarbon data attests for the contemporaneity of burial events, social criteria (age, perhaps daily activities or even hierarchy) likely directed the attribution of individuals to one cluster or the other. If the burial site of Bobila Madurell-Can Gambus stands out by its remarkable number of graves, analogous features are also found alongside the Catalan coast. By contrast, the funerary practices identified in the Pyrenean cists are distinct. Also, incidentally thought to have functioned similar ly to the Sepulcres de fossa, the pit graves of the prior (Postcardial) horizon can now be considered as part of a different funerary system. The Sepulcres de fossa, of which the burial site of Bobila Madurell-Can Gambus is paradoxically both representative and exceptional, finally represent an unusual phenomenon within the general Neolithic burial landscape of Western Europe.

The Hittite burial material consists of a very heterogeneous material. The material shows some shared aspects between the different cemeteries and their grave types. However, this material lacks previous extensive comparative studies in central Anatolia. This study aims to problematize this funerary material, by re-evaluating the previous interpretation and by creating links between the different types of material and the cemeteries it was found in. This will be achieved by analyzing four different categories of Hittite graves from the three cemeteries: Osmankayasi, Gordion and Ilica. The total material consists of 268 graves: 91 from Osmankayasi, 46 from Gordion and 131 from Ilica. The material was originally excavated and published during the fifties and sixties by the three archaeologists Kurt Bittel, Machteld Mellink and Winfried Orthmann. The burial material will be analyzed to establish parallels and differences between the three sites, their materials and grave categories. Literary sources and empirical data will be used to supplement previous research but also the new interpretations discussed in this thesis. Keywords: Hittite, cemeteries, mortuary practices, Osmankayasi, Gordion, Ilica, cremations, pithos burials, pit graves, cist-graves, ethnicity, status, equids / Det Hettitiska begravnings materialet består av ett väldigt heterogent material. Materialet visar ändå vissa delade aspekter mellan de olika gravfälten och gravtyperna. Dock saknar detta material tidigare omfattande komparativa studier i centrala Anatolien. Denna studie avser att problematisera detta gravmaterial, genom att skapa kopplingar mellan de olika typerna av materialet och mellan de utvalda platserna som det återfanns i. Detta mål avses att uppnås genom att analysera fyra olika typer av Hettitiska gravar från de tre platserna Osmankayasi, Gordion och Ilica. Det totala grav antalet består av 268 gravar: 91 från Osmankayasi, 46 från Gordion och 131 från Ilica. Materialet var ursprungligen utgrävt och publicerat under femtio och sextio-talet av de tre arkeologerna Kurt Bittel, Machteld Mellink och Winfried Orthmann. Gravmaterialet kommer att analyseras för att etablera paralleller mellan de tre platsernas material och dess gravkategorier. Litterära källor och empiriskdata kommer att användas för att komplettera den tidigare forskningen och de nya tolkningarna i denna studie.

Bronsåldern är en period med många praktfulla fynd, långhus, storhögar och kremationsgravar. Nu under senare år har flera hällkistor med skelettgravar 14C daterats till bronsåldern, vilket öppnar upp för ny forskning inom tidsperioden när det gäller bland annat hälsoaspekter. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ humanosteologisk studie av två gravanläggningar i Nyplings 1:8, Lokrume socken på Gotland syftar uppsatsen till att påbörja forskningen inom bronsålderns folkhälsa samt motivera till fortsatta framtida forskning inom området. Totalt analyserades 2 598 benfragment med en totalvikt på 6 586 gram. Ett flertal osteologiska metoder användes för ålders- och könsbedömningar samt kvantifiering. Gravarna innehöll tolv individer där två beräknas vara barn och resterande i vuxen ålder. Endast tre individer har kunnat könsbedömmas varav en är av manligt kön och två av kvinnligt kön. Individerna har inte kunnat kroppslängds beräknas i brist på mätbara ben. Analysen av individerna i gravanläggningarna visade att flertalet skeletala förändringar drabbade individerna däribland ledförändringar, fraktur, skärskada och aktivitetsspår. En del av skeletten har uppvisat överlevnad av trauma, vilket är en indikation på en god grundhälsa. Men då majoriteten av individerna inte påvisar skeletala sjukdomar och dött vid en ung ålder har de enligt den osteologiska paradoxen överlag en dålig grundhälsa. De förändringar som har påträffats visar att individerna utsatts för en del smärta, obehag, stelhet och belastning under deras liv. Men trots allt har individerna levt ett relativt långt liv med bättre hälsa än andra individer både från Gotland och Skåne under Bronsåldern. / The Bronze Age is a period with many magnificent finds, naves, large mounds and cremation graves. Now in recent years, several stone cists with skeletal graves have been 14C dated to the Bronze Age, which opens up new research within the time period regarding, among other things, health aspects. With the help of a qualitative human osteological study of two burial sites in Nyplings 1:8, Lokrume parish on Gotland, the essay aims to begin research in Bronze Age public health and to motivate future research in the area. A total of 2 598 bone fragments with a total weight of 6 586 grams were analyzed. A number of osteological methods were used for age and gender assessments and quantification. The graves contained twelve individuals, two of whom are estimated to be children and the rest adults. Only three individuals have been able to be gender assessed, of which one is male and two are female. The individuals’ length was not possible to calculate due to lack of bones measurable bones. The analysis of the individuals in the burials showed that multiple skeletal changes affected the individuals such as joint changes, fracture, cut damage and traces of activity. Some of the skeletons have shown survival of trauma, which is an indication of good basic health. But since the majority of individuals do not show any skeletal diseases and died at a young age, according to the osteological paradox, they generally had poor basic health. The skeletal changes that have been found show that the individuals were exposed to some pain, discomfort, stiffness, and strain during their lives. But despite everything, the individuals lived a relatively long life with better health than other individuals both from Gotland and Skåne during the Bronze Age.

In order to avoid the occurrence of early-age damage, cement-treated base (CTB) materials must be allowed to cure for a period of time before the pavement can be opened to traffic. Trafficking of a CTB before sufficient strength gain has occurred can lead to marring or rutting of the treated layer. The specific objectives of this research were to examine the correlation between Clegg impact values (CIVs) determined using a heavy Clegg impact soil tester and rut depths measured in newly constructed CTB and subsequently establish a threshold CIV at which rutting should not occur.The experimental work included field testing at several locations along United States Highway 91 near Smithfield, Utah, and laboratory testing at the Brigham Young University (BYU) Highway Materials Laboratory. In both the field and laboratory test programs, ruts were created in CTB layers using a specially manufactured heavy wheeled rutting device (HWRD). In the field, ruts caused by repeated passes of a standard pickup and a water truck were also evaluated. The collected data were analyzed using regression to identify a threshold CIV above which the CTB should not be susceptible to unacceptable rutting. From the collected data, one may conclude that successive wheel passes each cause less incremental rutting than previous passes and that CTB similar to the material tested in this research should experience only negligible rutting at CIVs greater than about 35. The maximum rut depth measured in either field or laboratory rutting tests was less than 0.35 in. in this research, probably due to the high quality limestone base material utilized to construct the CTB. In identifying a recommended threshold CIV at which CTB layers may be opened to early trafficking, researchers proposed a maximum tolerable rut depth of 0.10 in. for this project, which corresponds to a CIV of approximately 25. Because a CIV of 25 is associated with an acceptably minimal rut depth even after 100 passes of the HWRD, is achievable within a reasonable amount of time under normal curing conditions, and is consistent with earlier research, this threshold is recommended as the minimum average value that must be attained by a given CTB construction section before it can be opened to early trafficking. Use of the proposed threshold CIV should then ensure satisfactory performance of the CTB under even heavy construction traffic to the extent that the material properties do not differ greatly from those of the CTB evaluated in this research.