The aim of this thesis is to make a comparison between solitary graves and graves in grave fields from the Roman Iron Age on Gotland, Sweden. Differences in burial customs, morphology, dating, gender, age, grave-goods and social status are compared between 19 solitary graves and graves in three different grave fields in different parts of Gotland. An attempt is made to explain these differences and to discuss which functions the solitary graves had. Discussions about whether it is possible to distinguish social status and gender with the help of grave-goods are also made in connection to the determination of status and sex.

Decapitated Vs. Stomach buried – A study of decapitated people and stomach placed people in Iron Age in Sweden and Denmark. This essay is about decapitated persons in graves and those buried on their stomach in the Iron Age in Sweden and Denmark. The analysis is to compare these graves by six perspectives; location of the grave, construction of the grave, grave goods, sex, age and interpretations of the grave. Out of this I found out if there are any different patterns of these graves, except that they are decapitated and places on their stomach. I compare between fifteen graves located on their stomach, nine decapitated graves, four graves that involve both and eight graves that do not contain any of it.

This paper analysis the Viking age double graves on Birka. It has long been known that slaves have been a part of many societies. They have existed, yet not seen. They have been forgotten and overlooked for centuries, by the people of the past but also of today. The wish for this paper is to make these people a little more visible in the thoughts of scholars and the public alike. People are remembered by the things they leave behind. What do you do if you do not own something worthy to be remembered by? What do you look for? This is a comparative study where graves that have been labelled as double graves and those that has not, but share characteristics, will be analysed. The purpose of this study is to try and show, a different perspective, a different approach to analyse double graves that has not necessarily been interpreted as such.

My intention with this paper is to study the stone cists on Gotland from the Late Neolithic period. They are often interpreted as representing the domestic life and agriculture, as well as having a strong connection to house and home of the people. Furthermore, these graves show continuity from the proceeding Stone Age culture and provide evidence for an overlap with the Early Bronze Age. This will be discussed, while also exploring the meaning of the grave goods in them and Late Neolithic artefacts that are spread across the island.

This essay is focused on Öland during the Iron Age, with focus specifically on the Roman Iron Age and the Migration period. The study takes its starting point in the large number of fortifications that was active across Öland at the time. The essays main area of investigation will be the central and southern parts of Öland as the fortifications, together with other parts of the Iron Age society around them such as graves and settlement, will be presented. The landscape in which the fortifications and their surroundings are placed will also be described. With the Migration Period being a keyword for almost all the fortifications on Öland, the subject will also be to describe if any sort of change can be seen in the settlement patterns during this unstable and troubled time. This will all be presented trough sources describing work of the archaeological investigations that has been done in those places.

This study deals with the phenomenon of graves without any bone material combined with an application test of a portable X-Ray fluorescence detector (pXRF) instrument on simulated burial soils to see if we could get any closer understanding of this phenomenon. To test the instruments applicability on these types of conditions, an experiment was conducted with three different soil types. These were placed in separated, specifically pre prepared plastic tubes in groups of three per soil type and then prepared with circa 9 grams of cremated animal bones that was grinded down to a powder. The tubes were then subjected to eater flow equivalent to circa 50 years of rainfall. The tubes were thereafter disassembled and soil samples where gathered and analyzed with a pXRF. The results showed little movement of the bone powder and clear spikes of Ca and P could be seen at the place of disposal of the bone powder and some spreading sideways and down in the tube. The study also search for Mg as an indicator for bone material alongside Ca and P but no clear results could be reached due to excessive variation.   The method of using pXRF in the search for bone material in soils has, as seen in the results of this study, great potential even though more research is needed to reach a better understanding of the methods limitations.

This paper deals with two women who wore relief brooches from Häste and Brunflo during the Migration period in Jämtland. The purpose of the essay is to investigate similarities and differences in the women’s relief brooches, graves and places in order to understand the women’s relations to each other and their time. The essay has implemented gender theory and a comparative method, complemented by a landscape analysis. The conclusion is that the women from Häste and Brunflo were leaders during their time.

This paper looks to examine the relationship between the church buildings and archaeological finds from under the church floor in Silte parish on the baltic isle, Gotland. The material was excavated in 1971-1972, after evidence of an older wooden church was uncovered during restoration work. This older structure, revealed to have consisted of a chancel and choir, had evidently been connected to the present stone choir for some time. The well preserved foundation was excavated along with a rich archeological material consisting of, amongst other things, some 1700 coins and 18 graves along with skeletal material indicating an additional 25 individuals. In this thesis the material and the buildings are put into context and an attempt is made to link it to different phases of christianization. One connecting to the timbered stave church, and one to the later stone church. The results are then used to make a connection between this development and the formation of the parish system on the island and the increased stratification of church and society during the early Middle Ages in Sweden and Scandinavia.

Det finns många frågetecken kvar kring konsumtionsbeteende inom förhistoriska kulturer. Målet med denna studie var därför att studera och förbättra förståelsen av det arkeobotaniska materialet i ugnar gjorda för att torka sädeskorn och hur ugnarnas innehåll korrelerar med den växtbaserade matkonsumtionen, samt att försöka se potentiella samband mellan ugnarna, deponerade växtrester i gravar och de två mossliken Grauballemannen och Tollundmannens maginnehåll. De 14 ugnarna, belägna i Sydskandinavien och daterade till järnåldern, analyserades och jämfördes för att se hur deras innehåll förhåller sig både i tid och rum men även jämfört med det övriga åkerbruket från bronsåldern till medeltiden. Det arkeobotaniska fynden visade att i yngre bronsåldern odlades det Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare, vilket följdes av en period då Hordeum vulgare var. nudum odlades. Detta pågick till slutet av romersk järnålder då Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare igen blev den vanligaste grödan att odla. I slutet av järnåldern odlades både Avena sativa och Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare. Övriga sädeskorn som Triticum sp. och Secale cereale har även odlats, dock endast till en mindre grad enligt fynden från ugnarna. De arkeobotaniska fynden jämfördes sedan med den rådande bilden av matkulturen under järnåldern, vilket visar indikationer på att Chenopodium album, Fallopia convolvulus, Persicaria maculosa/lapathifolia, Plantago lanceolata, Poacea, Polygonum aviculare och Spergula arvensis troligen har konsumerats tillsammans med de funna sädeskornen. Flera av dessa påträffades i de samtliga analyserade fornlämningarna.  Jämförelseanalyser i dendrogram mellan gravarnas och ugnars makrofossila rester samt de båda mosslikens maginnehåll visade inga definitiva samband. Dock fanns det gravar som korrelerade relativt starkt med ugnarnas innehåll, möjligen på grund av dess stora fyndmaterial av makrofossil. Dessa kunde visa indikationer på mat och måltid har deponerats i gravar.

The thesis aim is to discuss the Gotlandic jewelry constellations and the difference in the jewelry assemblies between five Viking Age burial grounds on the island from an intersectional perspective. Differences or alikeness between the burial grounds are meant to highlight or decline a possible group dynamic on the island where different subgroups could be detected in an overall Gotlandic group. The subgroups could be a result of trad or local expression that show up in the jewelry constellations and by that means highlight an expression beyond the Gotlandic grouping. Following questions is discussed in relation to the different jewelry constellations in the graves, is there any differences between the jewelry constellations on the analyzed burial grounds that could indicate more than one group in the Gotlandic population during the Viking Age? How can different genders be visible in the jewelry constellations of feminine and masculine graves on the five burial grounds? If more than one group can be detected, is it possible to interpret a difference in possibility to express gender in the jewelry constellations between the burial grounds? The Gotlandic feminine jewelry has been interpreted as specific for Gotland during the Viking Age and has been discussed to show an overall group on the island. In relation to this, the five analyzed burial grounds show about a third of the graves having no jewelry in the graves and a varying jewelry constellation in the feminine graves. The thesis discussion shows a possible difference even between the jewelry in masculine graves on the burial grounds that has been analyzed which earlier studies have not highlighted. The result shows a variation both between the five burial grounds but also between the individuals. What earlier has been understood as the traditional Gotlandic feminine jewelry constellation has in the analyzes been shown to relate quite little to the actual material. Few feminine individuals have been buried with the traditional jewelry constellation, more often are they buried with a few Gotlandic jewelry items and with varying placements in the graves. In summary, the five burial grounds show a variation in local tradition and manifestations related to the Gotlandic grouping.