Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed February 17, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-268).

Thesis--University of Copenhagen. / Translated by W.E. Calvert. Reprinted from Acta archaeologica. Summary in Danish. Bibliography: p. 227-229.

Thesis--Frankfurt am Main. / A part of the author's larger work with title Äxte und Beile in Österreich, which will be published in its entirety as Abt. IX, 9 of Prähistorische Bronzefunde. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>In this essay I have chosen to write about graves, settlements and historical, important central places during the late Iron Age and the introduction of Christianity in the east of Blekinge. The reason why I have chosen to write about this is because the area has many ancient monuments and not much have been written about the area. The main question is who where the people who lived there and why did they choose to settle there.</p>

In this study, four dogs from three graves from the Iron Age burial field Broa in Halla 48: 1 will be analysed. What can an osteological analysis of the dog’s skeletons tell about them? How big were they, how old, and were there some diseases? Can the relationships between dogs and the individuals from the graves be seen? How were the dogs killed? What can the dog tell us about society in Broa Halla during the Iron Age? Why were dogs buried with hu mans? Is it a hunting companion who faithfully follows its owner to life after death or is it a symbol of something? This study has examined similar tombs from Sweden to see if there are any similarities and/or differences. Such an example is Halla Broe 46:1 which has been interpreted to be part of the same burial ground as Broa Halla. Examination and comparison of the graves from Vendel and Valsgärde is added as well. The conclusion in this essay is that the graves have dogs that are large with a shoulder-height between approximately 60-73 centimeters. They have probably been used in hunting with horses when the graves also have horses in them. Larges dogs in this size are first seen in archeological materials from the iron age. Two of the dogs have some similarities with the greyhound type but this can not be conclusory proven due to the deteriorated state of the remains. This type of dogs shows that the humans in the graves have had a high societal standing in the community in Broa at their time and shows to contact with other places and import. This can also be evidence of breeding that targets different uses of dogs.

This essay aims to gain a deeper understanding for the beliefs and identity of the sami people in Sápmi, northern Scandinavia through observation of their material culture. More specifically the object of interest is different types of jewellery made from materials like horn, silver and tin dat- ed to iron age 500 BC to 1300 AD. Metal deposits, or places of sacrifices used by sami are key interest to understand the usage of jewellery and the symbolism behind it, if there is any. The discussion is based on earlier research made by archaeologists and other scientists. The purpose being to understand and illuminate a culture with a long history that’s still alive. This will be conducted with an archaeological perspective.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate syncretism in burial mounds that were active burial places during the Iron Age and the change of religion from pre-christianity to christianity in Mälardalen. The study consists of a comparative analysis of two burial mounds that was recycled and has two different burials pracites on its primary and secondary graves. The essay is a literature study and based on fieldwork reports from excavations of the two burial mounds and the burial fields Spånga RAÄ 193 and Valsta RAÄ 59. Tombs can have been a visible power symbol in the landscape during the Iron Age. A physical link between the dead and the living, between people and the ownership of the earth and the odal concept. The grave ship during the Iron Age had a great variety. Concepts like syncretism can be difficult interpreted because it was used as a concept in religious history from the beginning. It deals with the process of diffrents religions meet and the consequences of that meeting.

Gamla Uppsala is a spectacular area filled with archeological remains dating back to the Iron Age. There have been several excavations in the area, the biggest one carried out between 2012 and 2013 with the construction of a tunnel that is a part of the railroad Ostkustbanan.An important tool in understanding the Iron Age civilization in Gamla Uppsala is to know what houses were used for. This is where a method called macrofossil analysis can be used with great success. By analyzing earth samples from postholes, graves, wells and hearths macrofossils like seeds and slag can be found and used to interpret a house based on the material.This study is going to use samples that were not prioritized during the excavations for the analysis in order to answer what function these houses had.The macrofossil analysis conducted during this study showed a lot of fresh seeds but also charred material that consisted mostly of grain seeds. An interpretation of the houses using the material found within the earth samples was made and the postholes was likely dwelling houses.Hopefully this study can contribute to a further understanding of Gamla Uppsala during the Iron Ages.

Cette thèse se démarque des études traditionnelles des assemblages céramiques archéologiques conduites au Kenya qui mettent l’accent sur les décorations et les formes. L’approche ici privilégiée est l’approche technologique. Elle a pour objectif d’offrir des informations additionnelles sur une poterie dont la caractérisation ethno-linguistique soulève des débats contradictoires. Cette thèse pose la question de l’origine de la « Tana Ware » (7ème siècle avant JC), où le terme de « ware » décrit un ensemble d’attributs intrinsèques (style et matériau). En appliquant l’approche technologique à la Tana ware, cette recherche a pour objectif : -d’une part de tester l’hypothèse d’Abungu (1989) d’après laquelle la Tana ware est une production des groupes Cushitic,-d’autre part de tester l’hypothèse de Chami (1994) d’après laquelle la Tana ware est une production des groupes Bantu.La thèse ici présentée aboutit aux résultats suivants : 1. La Tana Ware a été faite par des groupes Bantu ; 2. Le groupe Meru-Tigania dont la tradition est proche de celle de la Tana ware pourrait correspondre à un groupe qui vécu sur la côte jusqu’au 17ème siècle ; 3. Les décorations de la Tana ware ont été empruntées auprès des Cushitic. Cette thèse avance que ces emprunts sont issus d’interactions entre les deux groupes ethnolinguistiques durant l’âge de fer ou même avant ; 4. les interactions entre les deux groupes ont pu être de l’ordre non seulement du contact, mais aussi du mariage, la technique de façonnage du colombin pour faire le bord, telle qu’elle est observable sur la Tana ware, ayant pu résulter d’un emprunt auprès des Cushitic. Cet emprunt pourrait précéder l’âge du Fer et ne concerner qu’une partie du groupe Bantu. Les résultats obtenus au cours de cette thèse ouvrent dès à présent de nouvelles perspectives pour identifier les groupes ethnolinguistiques qui ont participé au peuplement du Kenya. En particulier, ils invitent à revoir les assemblages céramiques Urewe, Kwale et Gatung’ang’a considérés jusqu’à présent comme des marqueurs de l’expansion Bantu. / This thesis is a departure from the traditional archaeological pottery analysis in Kenya, where emphasis has been on decorations and forms. It uses a technological approach to offer additional information on Bantu pottery whose social boundary has been a cause of disagreement between different researchers. Pottery decorations and forms have been/are still powerful instruments in defining archaeological spatial and temporal distribution of prehistoric populations, but the ability of these attributes as social boundary markers is limited by their overt visibility on the finished product. Whilst this explicit visibility is an advantage for archaeologists who seek to explore temporal and spatial distributions of different wares, it is also disadvantageous since it makes it possible for communities which are socially, ethnically, and linguistically distinct to copy from each other hence making these two salient pottery features unreliable indicators of social boundaries. Therefore, this study puts emphasis on the forming stage, which is not obvious on the finished product and must be learnt by apprenticeship only through kinship, as demonstrated by numerous ethnographic studies. Using chaîne opératoire as an analytical tool for archaeological material and ethnographic, experimental and ethno-historical data as reference and interpretive tools, this study sought to establish the social boundaries of makers of Tana ware which is a disputed Iron Age pottery of Bantu speakers. Some archaeologists attribute its origins to Bantu speakers whilst others attribute it to Cushitic speakers. Archaeological data was collected from Manda and Ungwana sites assemblages and ethnographic reference data was collected from Cushitic and Bantuspeakers from the Coastal and Highland regions of Kenya. Ethno-historical data was derived from library resources while experimental data were obtained from the field. This study demonstrated that due to the nature of archaeological peopling and interactions which exposed different ethnolinguistic groups to material cultures of the other, borrowing of cultural traits took place causing distinct populations to have pottery of similar decorations and forms. It has also demonstrated that pottery chaîne opératoire can show population continuity or discontinuity from archaeological to modern times. Most importantly, this thesis has demonstrated that Tana ware has its origins from Bantu speakers, and that its decorations have their origins from Cushitic speakers. It has also confirmed the movement of Meru ethnic group from the Coast of Kenya to Mt. Kenya region, by providing tangible data to linguistic, historical and oral evidences. The last part of this work gives directions of future research on pottery analysis in Kenya, and outlines some questions pertaining to Bantu and Cushitic speakers which remain to be answered.

Hillforts in Scotland are smaller than their counterparts in southern Britain and extremely difficult to define as a site category. This is even more true in the western and northern parts of the country traditionally described as Atlantic Scotland, where the plethora of small enclosed sites forms a continuum in terms of size and morphology that cuts across the boundaries of current classifications. Using the recent definition of a hillfort by J.D. Hill as a site type that is not a farmstead, this thesis attempts to analyse enclosed sites in terms of their area enclosed, morphology/architecture and particularly their landscape position to try to identify groups of sites or individual monuments that are these ‘not-farmsteads’. Three case study areas have been chosen for GIS-based analysis. Skye and Kintyre are in Atlantic Scotland. The former is a region where brochs have always been central to interpretations of the Iron Age, but it has a considerable number of larger hilltop enclosures classed as forts, and small, less regular drystone enclosures classed as duns. The forts of Kintyre in Argyll have been more studied, but their social role, as well as their relationship with and distinctiveness from the duns of Kintyre are still unknown. The final case study area is the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, part of Galloway, in Prof. Piggott’s Solway-Clyde province. Generally included with southern Scotland and the Borders in syntheses of Scottish prehistory, it has many aspects to its later prehistoric archaeology that may be considered ‘Atlantic’ in nature, such as small prominent drystone enclosures, promontory forts and sites with complex, traditionally Atlantic architecture. However, there are also hilltop enclosures classed as forts that are much larger than in the other two case study areas. GIS based analyses have been used, and combined with statistical testing to try to identify patterns in the landscape positioning of certain classes or sizes of enclosed site. Sites have been analysed in terms of their distance from the sea, altitude, topographic prominence, visibility in the landscape, and proximity to/visibility of agricultural land. These results have been interpreted to try to refine present site categorisations, and to attempt to identify those sites that are different from merely farmsteads.