Abstract Mortuary rituals express and cope with disorder brought about by a member's death in the community. The autonomous connection of the deceased with the community is disrupted through mortuary rituals. In many cultures the subsequent contacts with the realm of the dead are maintained in formalized practices, sometimes including or referring to objects or patterns that can be traced in the archaeological record. In this study it is asked, if the Bronze Age and Iron Age burial cairns (1200 BC - AD 1000) in the SW archipelago of Finland might be interpreted as monuments establishing a link between the landscape and the religious context of symbolic meanings, thus making it meaningful to examine the spatial references of grave sites. The field studies include excavations, surveys, boulder analyses, and weathering studies. The number of cairns in the area is 444. Examination of samples of boulders suggested that the stones were usually collected from the adjacent terrain. The Schmidt hammer technique was applied to measure the weathering differences between basal and lateral surfaces, and possible secondary interference. The chronology of the archipelago cairns is based on previous studies related to general chronological characteristics and datings of archipelago graves. Using discriminant analysis, the size of the cairn, the convexity of the surface at the grave site, and the topography of the terrain were identified as the variables most related to the differences between Group P, having a Bronze Age character (147 cairns), from Group R of Iron Age character (218 cairns). Two models representing the shorelines of 500 BC and AD 1000 were reconstructed using a digital elevation model (DEM). Monte Carlo-testing was applied when the visible areas around grave sites were compared to reference sets in four subareas. The grave sites in Group P were often directed towards the land, whereas the grave sites in Group R were typically directed towards the sea. The difference might be related to differences in subsistence strategies. The cairns represented a conservative burial custom that belonged to local communities in maritime and northern areas, as opposed to the southern agricultural environments. / Tiivistelmä Vainajan omaehtoinen yhteys elävien yhteisöön katkeaa vasta yhteisöllisen kuolemanrituaalin lopullisesti päätyttyä. Monissa kulttuureissa kuolemanrituaalin jälkeiset yhteydet vainajaan kiteytyvät muodollisiksi käytännöiksi, jotka voivat tulla arkeologisesti näkyviin aineellisissa jäännöksissä tai luonnonmaiseman paikkojen, tilojen ja elementtien suhteissa. Työssä tarkastellaan, ovatko Turunmaan saariston pronssikauden ja rautakauden hautarauniot (1200 e.Kr. - 1000 j.Kr.) tulkittavissa monumenteiksi, jotka yhdistivät maiseman symbolisten merkitysten uskomukselliseen kontekstiin. Kenttätutkimuksiin kuuluu kaivauksia, inventointi, lohkaretutkimuksia ja rapautumismittauksia. Hautoja on 444. Lohkaretutkimukset osoittivat kivien tulleen kerätyiksi hautapaikkojen läheisyydestä. Tapaustutkielmissa kiveyksen basaali- ja lateraalipintojen välistä rapautumiseroa ja sekundaarisia vaurioita tutkittiin kimmovasaramittauksin. Hautaraunioiden kronologia perustuu aikaisempiin tutkimuksiin kronologisista tunnusmerkeistä sekä saariston ajoitettuihin hautoihin. Erotteluanalyysissa kiveyksen laajuus, hautapaikan maanpinnan kuperuus ja hautapaikan suhde ympäröiviin huippuihin osoittautuivat muuttujiksi, jotka selvimmin jakavat aineiston pronssikauden tyypin P-ryhmään (147 hautaa) ja rautakauden tyypin R-ryhmään (218 hautaa). Numeerisesta korkeusmallista laskettiin kaksi maastomallia, jotka vastaavat rannansiirtymisen kehitysvaihetta 500 e.Kr. (P-ryhmä) ja 1000 j.Kr. (R-ryhmä). Hautapaikoilta näkyvissä olleita alueita verrattiin satunnaisesti valittuihin verrokkipaikkoihin Monte Carlo -testauksen avulla. Merkittävin ero oli, että P-ryhmän hautapaikat olivat tyypillisesti suuntautuneet merta ja R-ryhmän hautapaikat maata kohti. Ero liittynee toimeentuloon latautuneisiin odotuksiin ja epävarmuuksiin. Hautarauniot merkitsevät konservatiivista hautaustapaa, joka kuului enemmän mereisten ja pohjoisten paikallisyhteisöjen kuin agraarisen ja eteläisen asutuksen piiriin.

This paper is about food culture in Uppland under early iron age in Upplans, Sverige. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to analysis the lipids that were extracted from archaeological potsherds from Påtåker Raä 62, Sollentuna, Uppland. The result of the lipid analysis shows content of aquatic animal products, terrestrial animal products, vegetables and indication of being heated. Based on these results and what is considered to be a normal diet during the Iron Age, it is possible to say that there are similarities. These results are also compared with three sites from Late Iron Age – Vendel 1:1, Vendel 28 and Tuna, to see if there are any similarities. The reason to choose three sites from Late Iron Age, and not Early Iron Age, is because there haven’t been done studies like this on material from the early Iron Age. Vendel 28 was the site that was most similar to Påtåker, when it comes to its enviorment with meadows and woods, and the ceramics application areas. / This study is part of the on going research of Påtåker Raä 62, Sollentuna, Oppland.

The timeframe of the south Scandinavian rock art tradition extends from c.1700/1600 to 300 /200 BC. The chronological boundaries of the rock art phenomenon thereby coincide roughly with the timeframe of the Nordic Bronze Age, and rock art figures have come to be understood and interpreted as a Bronze Age phenomenon. It is argued that a dominant Bronze Age narrative has come to direct the discourse and fieldwork alike towards a focus on the origin , rather than the use, of rock art. The rock carver’s intention with the image, explicitly or implicitly, has come to equate with its meaning. The aim of the thesis is to approach rock art figures from a different perspective, with the aim of understanding how south Scandinavian rock art has been used and interpreted over time. The question of what archaeological evidence the use of rock art may have left behind is taken up, and the archaeological excavations carried out at rock art sites in southern Scandinavia​ are summarized and discussed. The survey shows that finds and features date to some extent from the Bronze Age, yet most of the dateable evidence comes from periods after the tradition of creating new images had ended, especially the Early Iron Age. This phenomenon is of particular interest given the explicit uses of the past-perspective of the thesis. It is argued that some of the rock art sites were still being used during later prehistoric periods. Other examples of later period´s uses of rock art sites are presented and discussed, such as runic inscriptions on rock art panels as well as the use of rock art and cup-mark sites during historic times. ​ A study of the chronological development of the rock art tradition in the Himmelstalund-region in the county of Östergötland is also presented, based on recently developed ship chronologies of rock art. The study shows that the earliest ship figures, which are found in the Himmelstalund area, were probably made in the Bronze Age period I/II. Yet the majority of the dateable ship figures date from the Bronze Age period II–III, after which the number of dateable ships declines in period IV, a development becoming even more prominent in period V-VI.  Another theme discussed in the thesis is archaeology’s own uses of rock art and how this has affected the interpretations of the material. The thesis shows it is feasible to combine a discussion on the prehistoric use of rock art sites and images with a critical view of interactions between archaeological and antiquarian practice and the source material. It has also shown the potential for a broadened discussion, where we regard the use of rock art, during the Bronze Age as well as during later periods, as integral and essential to rock art research​.

Le Sud-Ouest de la France présente, au Second âge du Fer, une situation socio-économique particulièrement originale, dans un espace où circulent biens, hommes et idées. Plusieurs peuples sont ici en contact dont deux ethnies majeures, les Celtes et les Aquitains. Bien que la céramique soit de loin le mobilier le plus abondant sur les sites de cette époque, on connaît mal sa chaîne opératoire et son mode de diffusion. Le travail de thèse s'est ainsi attaché à réétudier dans un premier temps la production céramique à partir des ateliers de potier qui offrent dans le Sud-Ouest la concentration la plus importante de l’Europe celtique. La présence régulière de mobilier détritique dans ces ateliers peut suggérer que toute la céramique régionale n’est pas forcément le reflet de la production. Cette céramique a pu être analysée en suivant un protocole discriminant, notamment en relevant les macrotraces. Cette démarche a permis de dégager les conditions dans lesquelles on peut considérer que ces céramiques sont bien le reflet de la production des ateliers. La céramique a également été étudiée d’un point de vue technologique, typochronologique et stylistique. Dans le secteur du Toulousain, nous avons étendu la réflexion à des sites de consommation (habitats groupés et établissements ruraux), ce qui a permis d’étudier les relations entretenues entre ces sites, mais également avec les ateliers de potier du secteur. À travers le cas d’étude des jarres estampillées de type Aiguillon, la question de la diffusion régionale des productions céramiques a pu être abordée d’une manière plus concrète grâce à des analyses pétrographiques. Enfin, le travail de thèse a permis de relire l'histoire des sociétés du sud-ouest de la France en s’intéressant au statut des potiers, au rôle joué par les ateliers de potier dans l’économie de production céramique et enfin aux problèmes non résolus que posent les faciès de culture matérielle de la région. / In the Second Iron Age, the Southwest of France showed a particular socio-economic situation in a space where goods, men and ideas were circulating. Many peoples were in contact there, including two major ethnic groups, the Celts and the Aquitains. Although pottery is by far the most abundant furniture found in the settlements of this period, we do not know well its chaîne opératoire and its way of circulation. First, this Phd research focused on restudying the ceramic production based on potters’ workshops, as the Southwest concentrated the most numerous workshops in Celtic Europe. Wasted pieces of furniture have been found in these workshops and suggest that local ceramics encountered there did not necessarily represent the overall production. This ceramic has been analysed thanks to a discriminant protocol, including a focus on macro-traces. This approach has underlined the conditions in which these pieces of ceramic can be considered to be the reflection of the whole workshops’ production. Pottery has also been analysed from a technological, typo-chronological and stylistic point of view. In the area of Toulouse, we have extended the study to consumption sites (grouped settlements and rural settlements), which allowed us to study not only the relationships between these sites, but also between the pottery’s workshops within that area. Through the study case of Aiguillon type stamped jars, the question of the regional circulation of ceramic productions has been approached in a more concrete way thanks to petrology analysis. Finally, the history of the societies of Southwestern France has been reevaluated through the PhD research by paying a particular attention to potters’ social status, to the role played by pottery’s workshops in the economy of the ceramic production, and to unsolved issues about the facies of the material culture in the area.

Resource management have been, and still are essential for humans, partly because of the constantly changing environment. The landscape provides basic material for survival and therefore it becomes important to understand the different stages of environmental influences and developments in parallel to the increasing complexity of Bronze- and Iron Age societies. Investigating the causes for human interactions with the environment and the following consequences for the biodiversity provides crucial information about organized systems for a sustainable resource management in our modern society. Finding archaeological traces of “hävd” (claimed land) and other types of manifestations in the landscape stress the fact that land becomes a more valuable resource from both a social and practical view. Over a longer perspective the process of going from a mobile hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a sedentary agricultural one also becomes a process of going from a collective to a private managing of resources. This project aims to investigate that development.

Ce travail se veut une synthèse sur l'artisanat de Gaule méridionale entre la fin du VIIIe s. et la fin du IIIe s. av. n. è., thématique encore peu abordée dans son ensemble pour cet espace géographique. Il vise à définir les facteurs de la spécialisation des tâches et des individus et à traiter de l'évolution du travail dans les sociétés indigènes. Successivement, seront approchées les activités associées aux arts du feu la métallurgie, la céramique et le verre - et les productions dérivées du travail vivrier les textiles, le cuir et les matières dures animales -. À chaque fois, il s'agira d'identifier les procédés techniques attestés à l'âge du Fer, d'examiner les degrés de technicité associés à chaque activité et de dépeindre l'environnement dans lequel ces opérations se déroulent. Une fois ces considérations posées et à la lumière de cette documentation, les aspects économiques attachés à la production d'objets manufacturés et notamment le rôle de l'artisanat dans le processus de complexification sociale dans lequel les communautés sont alors engagées seront analysés. Enfin, compte tenu de l'importance fondamentale de la composante sociale dans le développement du travail spécialisé, les thèmes liés aux lieux dédiés à la production et à l'apparition des ateliers, au statut et à la place des artisans ou à l'apprentissage seront tour à tour abordés, parfois pour susciter plus de questions que de réponses. / This documentation presents a synthesis concerning the handicrafts of Southern Gaul between the end of the VIIIth and the end of the IIIrd century B.C., a topic that has not been overly dealt with globally with respect to that geographical area. It aims at defining the factors determining the specialization of tasks and individual people as well as discussing the evolution of activities within the indigenous societies. Subsequently the activities associated with the arts of fire will be dealt with, i.e. metallurgy, ceramics and glass as well as the products derived from cottage industry, i.e. textiles, leather and hard materials stemming from animals. There always arises the need of identifying the technical procedures bearing witness to the Iron Age, of examining the degrees of technical achievement associated with each and every activity and of depicting the environment where these operations take place. Once those considerations are established - and in the light of that documentation - we shall analyze the economic aspects underlying the production of hand-made objects and namely the role played by handicrafts in the creation of an ever more complex society made up by the individual communities. Finally, given the fundamental importance of the social component in the development of specialized activities, the topics connected with the actual place of production, with the appearance of workshops, with the status and place of the craftsmen or with the institution of apprenticeship will be alternately dealt with; sometimes giving rise to more questions than answers.

A number of phenomena, such as new ways of farming, new crops and new domestic animals, derived from the Roman Empire during the Roman Iron Age. In this study, an attempt is made at describing the dispersion of the domestic cat to and in Southern Scandinavia. Domestication of animals in general and of the cat in particular is described, along with the Romanization of Europe. A description is made of a number of archaeological investigations carried out in Denmark and Southern Sweden where remains of the domestic cat have been found. Questions of representativity and criticism of sources are discussed.                                The results of this study imply that the domestic cat first appeared in Jutland in the second century AD, then spread east to the rest of Denmark, to the larger Baltic Islands and mainland Sweden at approximately the same time as Roman artefacts and some domestic birds. The intentions of the Romans and the Scandinavians are discussed and the conclusion is drawn that the Romans probably dispersed cats along with other gifts for diplomatic rather than commercial purposes and that the Scandinavians initially regarded cats as prestige objects rather than rodent killers during the Roman Iron Age. Later, cats where distributed over Scandinavia and took on other tasks. They were sometimes buried with humans and may have taken on a certain status and mythological meaning.

In the spring of 2018, a prospection and subsequent research excavation of a previously unstudied area related to the rampart of the Viking age town of Birka, Sweden, was undertaken by students and professors from the archaeological science department affiliated with Stockholm University.The purpose of this paper is to examine and categorise the various excavated finds, the ensuing conservation and preservation of the metal objects as well as to investigate the context and possible function of the site regarding the spatial distribution of said finds.The main method used is that of metal conservation with the wet-chemical technique EDTA; a method that was deemed adequate for the treatment of the dry metal finds from the rampart excavation.The conservation and categorisation suggest that the metal posts consist of assorted metal objects, predominately rivets and nails as well as unidentified fragmented objects; the occasional slag fragment was evident. The material category of clay and ceramics contains assorted burnt clay and ceramic sherd fragments, some with decoration. Whetstone (or hone stone) and flint fragments make up most of the stone finds while the category of glass consists of a few bead fragments. The bulk of the osteological material consists of burnt and unburnt animal bones, some with slaughter marks in the form of cuts and hacks. Two human bone fragments were found; a humerus- and cranial fragment.Post holes and charcoal in the context of the rampart suggests the possibility of wooden supports and/or a superimposed wooden structure on the rampart itself that likely burnt at some point in time. The interpretation of the excavated area, based on the distribution of the finds and material categories, is that of a dumping site for discarded town refuse, most likely set against or near a walled construction; the rampart. The dating of the site is based on object similarities as well as stratigraphy and set to; Early to Late Viking Period, c. A.D. 820-1000(1150).The analyses, materials and the stratigraphy of the site together with a contextual analysis of the objects in question furthers the knowledge of Birka’s rampart and will enable future scientific inquiries into this specific rampart as well as similar fortification structures.

Leather is a material that throughout history has been very important for humankind. Up until recently is has often however, together with other organic materials, not been given the attention it might deserve. This essay investigates how leather from the Late Iron Age in Scandinavia can be studied, if specialisation within leather related crafts can be identified and what this can tell us about how crafting skills were spread in a society. First a broader analysis is made of related crafts in the Late Iron Age, which is then put into relation to three chosen Vendel Age graves from the Valsgärde burial ground. Both leather production through hunting and tanning, and item production techniques like for example sewing and scabbard making are reviewed. Problems with preservation are discussed and possible alternative ways to study the subject are explored. The essay concludes that leather crafting included many techniques spread in society, practiced by common people. Still, several explicit specialisations also existed, which created high-quality leather products. Finally, suggestions for future research are made. / Läder har som material varit mycket viktigt genom hela den mänskliga historien. Fram tills nyligen har det, tillsammans med andra organiska material, dock ofta inte fått den uppmärksamhet det kanske förtjänar. Den här uppsatsen undersöker hur läder från den sena järnålderns Skandinavien kan studeras, om specialisering inom läderhantverk kan identifieras och vad detta kan berätta för oss om hur hantverkskompetens var spritt i ett samhälle. Först görs en bredare analys av relaterade hantverk under den sena järnåldern, vilket sedan sätts i relation till tre vendeltida gravar från gravfältet i Valsgärde. Både produktion av läder genom jakt och garvning, och tekniker för produktion av föremål såsom sömnad och tillverkning av svärdsskidor granskas. Problematik med bevarandeförhållanden diskuteras och alternativa sätt att studera ämnet utforskas. Slutsatserna av uppsatsen är att läderhantverk inkluderade många olika hantverkstekniker, som var spridda i hela samhället och praktiserades av vanligt folk. Flertalet explicita specialiseringar existerade dock också, vilket gav upphov till högkvalitativa läderprodukter. Slutligen ges förslag till framtida forskning.

This thesis addresses radiocarbon (C-14) dating of bioarcheological finds from Sandby borg, an iron-age ring fort on the east coast of the Baltic Sea island of Öland, Sweden. Archaeological evidence suggests that Sandby borg was used during the European migration period and that its main period of usage was terminated by an isolated incidence of inter-personal violence where the inhabitants were killed or abducted. Radiocarbon dating of individual archaeological finds from this period becomes imprecise due to fluctuations of C-14 ratios in the atmosphere during the period 420-530 AD. In the work presented here, Bayesian modelling, whereby multiple finds as well as chronological information from typology and stratigraphy are combined into a statistical model is deployed, together with an estimate of the percentage of maritime products in the diet of individuals subjected to C-14 dating. The outcome of this analysis suggests that the usage ranges from 410-537 AD (95.4% probability) and that the lethal attack took place between the years 532 and 558 AD (95.4% probability). This latter dating interval is about 40-60 years later than what has been suggested from previous studies. The reliability of the modified chronology and its consequences for our understanding of the Sandby borg site is discussed, and some future directions of research are proposed.