This bachelor thesis is a compilation of previous master and bachelor theses written by osteology students at Högskolan på Gotland and Uppsala University Campus Gotland, with a focus on palaeopathology in individuals from the island of Gotland, from the Stone Age through the Middle Ages. The purpose of this thesis is to shed light on the history of disease on the island of Gotland on a bigger scale than previous theses have done. Most master and bachelor theses have typically focused on one site or settlement, set in a particular time period in their study, whereas I chose to combine all of the studies into one cohesive examination of all disease surveyable in the skeleton of these individuals. This, in order to see if there are differences to be found in the various time periods, or even differences among the population within a specific time period. And there are some differences to be seen, indeed; most notably perhaps between the Iron Age and the Middle Ages, where a difference in the dental health can clearly be seen. When comparing the other time periods however, caution must be advised; the skeletal material is lacking in most eras other than the Iron Age and the Middle Ages.

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 bachelor’s thesis is based on the charred archaeobotanical material from a settlement at Eikebakken, Norway dated to the end of Bronze Age. The study focuses on determining the potential use of weeds and the oil plant flax (Linum usitatissimum). The archaeobotanical samples contained large amounts of charred flax seeds, and to determine whether it was used for oil or textile production a morphometric study of the material was undertaken and compared to other morphometric studies from Northern Europe. An experiment on modern flax seeds, carbonised at different temperatures, was used to expand current knowledge about how flax seeds change through the carbonisation process and why flax seeds are so rarely preserved in prehistoric contexts. The experiment results compared to the carbonized flax seeds from Eikebakken are shown with different diagrams and visualisations. The morphometric analysis together with the experiment provides new knowledge about the flax seeds complications with preservation and that flax in Norway's earliest stages was most likely grown for textile fibres, a contradiction to earlier assumptions.

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​.

This essay researches cultural behaviour and rites surrounding wells in Uppland County, Sweden. The wells examined in this paper are mainly medieval with a few exceptions from Scandinavian Iron age (550 BC – 1050 AD). The material is compared with other forms of ritual activities surrounding water from the same area, as well as excerpts from the Poetic Edda. The purpose of this study was to find patterns of ritual behaviour surrounding the wells and argues for a ritual use spanning a longer time period than what previously has been assumed.

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.

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.

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.

The complex process of manufacturing woolen textiles contains a long chain of cooperation between resources, techniques and society. With a focus on South and Central Sweden, this study aims to trace the development of woolen textiles and its manufacture, how and why it changed and obtained an increased meaning from the Early Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. Archaeological biography and materiality are used as theoretical concepts to firstly explore how textile tools, sheep husbandry and woolen textiles changed in occurrence and appearance over time and space. Secondly, by comparing these results, the study analyzes how the different source materials may have affected each other towards the advancement of woolen textiles. The results suggest that a successive increase of sheep among settlements, caused by probably ecological and/or economic factors, possibly led to an increase in wool that sparked the textile development with the creation of more advanced tools and techniques for making woolen textiles in a gradually higher quality. The relationships between people and woolen textiles, as well as its components of manufacture, also seems to have altered during the investigated period, sometimes probably due to influences from the outside world.

Eriksson, J.E. 2021. Hallar och kulthus i södra Skandinavien under äldre järnålder: När Oden och härskaren blev grannar.Eriksson, J.E. 2021. Halls and cult houses in southern Scandinavia during early iron age: When Odin and the ruler became neighbours. The intention of this paper is to investigate why halls and cult houses were built close together and at the same time in southern Scandinavia during the Roman Iron Age and the Migration Period and how this can be linked to the development of administrative and military power. The thesis has been divided into three parts, namely a review of archaeological and historical research, a description of three archaeological sites and analysis. This means that the theoretical starting point of the thesis is to compare research with recent years reported archaeological results. The paper focuses on the time from the Roman Iron Age to the end of the migration period, from the year 0 to 550 AD and the geographically area being studied to southern Scandinavia. The result of the study shows that leaders inspired by the Roman Empire built and took control over the halls and cult houses around the year 250 AD to legitimize and manifest their power, acquire wealth and loyalty from subjects. Archeological remains show that the Norse god Odin was worshiped in the cult house and the stability of this cult can be traced to the end of the Viking Age.