This study concerns a selection of prehistoric metal objects of animalistic design, published at the internet site of the Swedish Statens Historiska Museum. It seeks to give an impression of the design elements used, and to find likely models for the motifs among live animals. The method used is a qualitative hermenuetic comparative study of objects, where the distinct significant design elements are being identified and interpretated. Several significant design elements are identified, and some are interpretated as representing certain animals. The amalgamation of differentiating design elements in some objects however, leads to interpretations of compound animal motifs, where some motifs are considered ambiguous and some are rendered uninterpretated. The study also points to the question of relations between period motifs, mythology and religious cult.

This essay consider ritual death during the ironage, and through a presentation of historical and archaeological sources. Considered ritual death I think we should study both historical and archaeological sources, to get a vider view and a new perspective. To make the essay easier to understand I have split up the early and the late Iron Age in the discussion. In order to study the ritual death I have shown archaeological examples like bogsacrifices in the early ironage, and decapitated victims in the Viking society. The victims have been considered as slaves by some archaeologist. An example of this is the grave in Bollstanäs, Uppland, when archaeologist found a cremated male with personal equipment. They also found two beheaded males. Ove Hemmendorff imply that they were slaves, buried as gravegoods, and he based this opinion of drawing parallels with other similar graves, and to literary sources like Ibn Fadlans story.

<p>This study concerns a selection of prehistoric metal objects of animalistic design, published at the internet site of the Swedish Statens Historiska Museum. It seeks to give an impression of the design elements used, and to find likely models for the motifs among live animals. The method used is a qualitative hermenuetic comparative study of objects, where the distinct significant design elements are being identified and interpretated. Several significant design elements are identified, and some are interpretated as representing certain animals. The amalgamation of differentiating design elements in some objects however, leads to interpretations of compound animal motifs, where some motifs are considered ambiguous and some are rendered uninterpretated. The study also points to the question of relations between period motifs, mythology and religious cult.</p>

During the three first centuries A.D the cult to roman emperor was practiced over the absolute majority of the known world. It was based on the idea of the deified ruler, where religion was used as a way of legitimizing a social position of an absolute few. It arrived from below but was promoted and spread from above as a way of governmental control. During the same period of time did a new aristocratic social group emerge in remote Scandinavia that eagerly sought new ways to identify themselves and their newly found social standing. With a base consisting of an economic surplus they wanted to create an acceptance for their new way of life and thus in doing so change the very foundation and core beliefs of their own society.The central theme of this study is the cultural exchange that took place between these two cultural spheres and mainly of the effect that the cult to the roman emperor had on the emergence and identification process of the Scandinavian aristocracy.

<p>This essay consider ritual death during the ironage, and through a presentation of historical and archaeological sources. Considered ritual death I think we should study both historical and archaeological sources, to get a vider view and a new perspective. To make the essay easier to understand I have split up the early and the late Iron Age in the discussion. In order to study the ritual death I have shown archaeological examples like bogsacrifices in the early ironage, and decapitated victims in the Viking society. The victims have been considered as slaves by some archaeologist. An example of this is the grave in Bollstanäs, Uppland, when archaeologist found a cremated male with personal equipment. They also found two beheaded males. Ove Hemmendorff imply that they were slaves, buried as gravegoods, and he based this opinion of drawing parallels with other similar graves, and to literary sources like Ibn Fadlans story.</p>

Beyond the vicinity A study of swords in the mountain region of Jämtland County during the LateIron Age and a discussion of their interpretation. This bachelor thesis discusses the function of swords found in the mountain region of Jämtland County during the Late Iron Age. It focuses on the discussion whether the swords found in the mountain region can reflect on resource utilization in the mountain region during the Late Iron Age from a socioeconomical perspective. The thesis also brings up difficulties in the intrepretations whether or not the swords in the mountain region should be defined as a grave, because of the lack of human remains in some of the sites in the mountain region containing swords. The data used in the thesis is mainly processed in GISand Microsoft Excel and is discussed on a critical basis. The results are presented as maps showing spatial relations between the collected data. The presence of swords in the mountain region can be seen as evidence of more widespread resource utilization of the mountain region in Jämtland County.

No description available.

The gallery graves in Kronoberg county, Småland, are well known and archaeologists have been studying them since the 19th century. They were built in the Late Neolithic but this essay studies how these monuments were used in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. A total number of 73 monuments have been analyzed. During the Early Bronze Age, the elite of the society was buried with high status metal objects in the gallery graves. Studies of the same kind of monuments in the neighboring county of Scania demonstrate that here they were used by the non-elite indicating variations in-between neighboring regions. Also, in the Late Bronze Age and in the Iron Age the gallery graves in Kronoberg county were used for burials, but these graves are generally less spectacular. The results demonstrate that the gallery graves in Kronoberg county have a long-term use and that the use of the monuments changed through time. The monuments’ biography begins in the late Neolithic and continues to the present, from being a monument and a grave to a gravel pit or a dump and now it is protected by law and an object of study.

This thesis examines the concept of phosphoric iron as a distinct type of iron. A key assumption in current archaeometallurgy is that the prehistoric blacksmiths deliberately produced and used phosphoric iron. If, how and in what quantities a blacksmith can perceive the properties of phosphoric iron through the human senses is nevertheless taken into consideration. By applying a craft perspective based on perception, this thesis examines the presence and quantities of phosphoric iron in prehistoric artifacts and compares it to other ferrous alloys. The results show that no indications of deliberate use of phosphoric iron can be seen in the examined objects. The phosphorus contents encountered in the object are low compared to international results, and the differences in properties have probably been perceived as a difference of degree and not kind, if noticed at all. Few objects have been chemically analyzed, however, and more analytical research must be conducted to discuss the concept of phosphoric iron.

Northern Sweden’s petty kingdoms have been described in historical documents dating as far back as the Roman iron age, as more-or-less independent and self-governing smaller principalities. Previous examination of them has determined at least thirteen probable independent petty kingdoms during the Swedish iron age and migration period, which could be an interpretation influenced by the historical accounts of Prokopios. This paper aims to re-examine their makeup and function from historical sources, geographical and archaeologically contextual factors and whether the term “petty kingdom” is the descriptor most apt for them or not. There are possible origins from and connections to middle Sweden, to Finland, Estland and Russia which puts the independence of these pettykingdoms in question, as well as archaeological analysis of the identified kingdom sites from a perspective other than as an administrative and/or political center, which could lead to an understanding of their purpose and use.