The aim of this study has been to see what the Ajvide location and its surroundings mighthave been used as. The author is going to compare a couple of sites, Stora Förvar, Snausarve, Bjerges and Ajvide, and see if these sites might have some connection to each other. Thesesites are going to be studied and see what they might have been used as, maybe a burialground or a settlement.

This thesis presents the results from a osteological analysis and a GIS-study aimed to examinedifferences in the located animal bones in different areas of the excavation site of Ajvde. The osteological material came from five excavated square meters on the site and was comparedwith osteological results from other researchers from different areas to create overview and try tosee differences between the areas. The GIS-study took data from all animal bone material excavated on the site, a total of about 2300kilos, and presented them in maps of spatial distribution for each layer (pictures 4, 5, 6 & appendixpicture 1) to see if there were any clusters of activity and changes between the layers. The dating ofthe culture layer and the burial field (pictures 7 & 8) were presented in maps to see if they could becorrelated with what was seen with the animal bones. Pictures of different shorelines were alsopresented (picture 9) to compare with the results that were seen in the changes of animal bones fromdifferent layers. The results of the GIS-study have shown that the activity on the site have moved over time alongthe hight differences of the land. The earlier layers show activity only on the higher elevation butlater moves down, and in the upper layers activity have been all over the excavated area. Clusters ofanimal bones were seen in the so called “black areas” of the sites (shown in picture 2) but also otherareas contained a lot of animal bones. The results of the osteological analysis have shown that there are differences in what species arefound in different areas. The most common are seal, wild boar/pig and fish. And the main differenceare shown between what are found within the black areas and outside. The bone material frominside the black areas are much more fragmented and contained more wild boar/pig bones, andoutside the black areas more bones from seal and fish were found in less fragmented condition (seepicture 10). The bone parts found from wild boar/pig were mostly cranium, teeth and bones fromthe feet, while there were all parts of the body found from seals. It is thereafter discussed that seal and fish may have been the common foods for the Ajvideinhabitants, which is also confirmed by C13-results, and the wild boar/pig may have been a morevaluable resource, not just as food at events like feasts, but also as material for tools. The black areas are discussed as maybe ritual areas for preparation for feasts in connection to burialceremonies, but this is something that needs more research to determine. The continuity of the blackareas are also discussed, but this also needs more research to know anything for certain. / Den här uppsatsen presenterar en sammanställning av osteologiska analyser och en GIS-studie medavsikten att undersöka skillnader i djurbensmaterialet på olika områden av utgrävningsytan påAjvide. Det osteologiska materialet kom från fem utgrävda kvadratmeter och jämfördes med andraosteologers resultat från andra områden på platsen för att skapa en översiktsbild av de olikaområdena och försöka se om det fanns skillnader. GIS-studien tog data från allt dokumenterat djurbensmaterial från utgrävningarna, totalt 2,3 ton, ochpresenterades i spridningskartor för varje lager (bild 4, 5 & 6) för att se om det fannskoncentrationer av aktivitet och förändringar mellan lagren. Dateringar från kulturlagret ochgravarna (bild 7 & 8) presenterades i kartor för att se de kunde kopplas samman med vad som sågs ispridningen av djurbensmaterialet. Strandlinjemodelleringar skapades också (bild 9) för att jämföramed resultaten från spridningskartorna över djurbensmaterialet. Resultatet från GIS-studien visade att aktiviteten på platsen har förflyttat sig över tid längs medhöjdskillnaderna i landskapet. De djupaste lagren visar enbart på aktivitet på de högre nivåerna,men i de övre lagren har detta förflyttats neråt och spritt sig över hela utgrävningsområdet. Storakoncetrationer av djurben kunde ses i de såkallade "svarta ytorna" men det fanns även mycketdjurben utanför dessa områden. De osteologiska resultaten visade att det fanns skillnader i vilka arter som påträffats på de olikaområdena. De vanligaste arterna var säl, svin och fisk. Den största skillnaden var vad som återfannsinom de svarta ytorna jämfört med utanför. Benmaterialet inom de svarta ytorna var mycket merfragmenterat och innehöll mer svinben, och utanför de svarta ytorna återfanns mer ben från säl ochfisk som även var betydligt mindre fragmenterade (se bild 10). Benelementen som återfanns frånsvin var mestadels kranium, tänder och fotben, medan samtliga kroppsdelar från säl påträffades. Det diskuteras därefter att säl och fisk kan ha varit den vardagliga födan för Ajvidebefolkningen,vilket också bekräftast av C13-resultat, och därmed enbart behandlats som matavfall, medan svinenkan varit en mer värdefull resurs, inte bara som mat vid exempelvis festmåltider, men även sommaterial till redskapstillverkning. De svarta ytorna diskuteras som möjliga platser för förberedelser för gravceremonier eller vid slaktvid festmåltider, men detta är något som behöver undersökas vidare för att avgöra. De svartaytornas kontinuitet och användning över tid diskuterades också, men behöver även det ytterligareundersökning och dateringar för att kartläggas.

This thesis analyses the decoration on the pots of the Pitted Ware Culture on Gotland. The pottery from this period is richly decorated with various ornaments, the most common are the pits but other types of decoration occur. The purpose of this study is to get an insight into what the patterns meant to the people that made and used them and what role these may have played in their lives. The author will analyse the decoration on potsherds found from the three Pitted Ware sites of Visby, Ajvide and Hemmor on Gotland. This will be used in a comparative analysis to investigate if differences and/or similarities of the pattern occur between and among the sites. A comparative study of various ceramic found in dated graves with various temporal status from the site Ajvide is also done to see if changes in the patterning occur with time. Since pits are common on most pottery from all the sites from this time they will not be used in these analyses but the focus will be on other type of pattern. / Neolitiska livsstilar

In this essay the author has chosen to analyze the similarities and differences between some of the northern Europe’s late Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures. The research is of a processual standpoint and the information is mainly gathered from secondary sources as well as ethnological studies. The material collected has been analyzed in both a processual and a post-processual manner to most accurately study the foundations of the three primary theories describing the Pitted Ware Culture’s origin. During the course of the study the author also found a possible fourth alternative, and the possibility of exogamy as a factor in the emerge of the Pitted Ware Culture has also been questioned. This work has prompted for a rigorous collection of information to be able to properly present all theories strong and weak points, without bias for any theory. The conclusion of these studies is that it is very hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that has given the Pitted Ware Culture its typical cultural traits, although a possible sequence of events has been presented in this text.

This thesis has had its focus on ceramic shards found in a trench by the late neolithic western shore of the Ajvide site. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate if there are changes in the pottery between the test trench and the ceramics found by the graves, known as the main site. The author has compared the ornaments from the test trench with an ornament schedule made from over 50 000 shards from the assumed main site. Not only changes regarding ornaments has been noticed but also new techniques and raw material. The author has also implemented two 14C datings which backs his hypothesis that the shards from the test trench are younger than the shards that made the earlier ornament schedule. According to the author, due to cultural changes,he is of the opinion that some of the examined shards represent ceramics from a hybrid culture consisting material and ritual traits from the pitted ware culture and the battleaxe (boataxe) culture.

This one-year master's thesis investigates the late part of the Middle Neolithic on the island of Gotland. This thesis has been written without the influence of a singular theoretical pespective, and has therefore seen input from the processual, and postprocessual theories. By using several perspectives, an attempt is made to view the material remains used in the most objective manner possible. The specific aim of this thesis is to investigate whether the Mid-Neolithic inhabitants of Gotland were a part of the Corded Ware culture (or as it is called in Sweden, the Battleaxe culture or the Boataxe culture). Most recent literature has concluded that Gotland was never a part of the Battlexe culture, though this thesis has discovered many parallels with the mainland culture, including the production of similar objects and ritual practices. There are indications that the Gotlandic culture also integrated traits from several other coastal regions of the Baltic Sea, something most Battle Axe settlements did not. After investigating all the data that have been linked with the Battleaxe culture, this thesis concludes that the people on the island of Gotland were not fully assimilated to the Battleaxe culture, but were approaching the culture in both a material and ritual aspects. This leaves the conclusion that the Gotlandic culture towards the end of the Middle Neolithic was somewhat of a hybrid.