This study deals with the phenomenon of graves without any bone material combined with an application test of a portable X-Ray fluorescence detector (pXRF) instrument on simulated burial soils to see if we could get any closer understanding of this phenomenon. To test the instruments applicability on these types of conditions, an experiment was conducted with three different soil types. These were placed in separated, specifically pre prepared plastic tubes in groups of three per soil type and then prepared with circa 9 grams of cremated animal bones that was grinded down to a powder. The tubes were then subjected to eater flow equivalent to circa 50 years of rainfall. The tubes were thereafter disassembled and soil samples where gathered and analyzed with a pXRF. The results showed little movement of the bone powder and clear spikes of Ca and P could be seen at the place of disposal of the bone powder and some spreading sideways and down in the tube. The study also search for Mg as an indicator for bone material alongside Ca and P but no clear results could be reached due to excessive variation.   The method of using pXRF in the search for bone material in soils has, as seen in the results of this study, great potential even though more research is needed to reach a better understanding of the methods limitations.

This thesis studies the famous boat graves in Valsgärde, Sweden and Sutton Hoo, England.  Its purpose is to understand the affects these graves had on the people who surrounded and visited them. Affect describes the first reaction when a person experience somthing new. The other focus of this thesis is the boat graves that seemingly lack buried people, and why the bodies in the graves are missing. There are some fragments of both humans and animals in the Valsgärde graves. In Sutton Hoo there are small amounts of remains from humans or animals, the osteologists have not been able to ascertain which of the two. There are some theories that the burials have been open for everyone to see, the question is then why and if this is the case, how did people react to this phenomenon, that is the boat-graves affects. The thesis concludes that the now missing bodies may have been exposed in the open for a long time, before they were buried. The soil´s acidity at Sutton Hoo is at pH 3,8 at the lowest, which has an impact on how well bodies are preserved in the ground. Both the soil and the exposing of the bodies might have done an equal amount of damage to the bodies.

In 1963 came Ricardo Caminos to the conclusion that the shrines of Gebel el-Silsila functioned as cenotaphs. However, his views have never been reassessed by contemporary Egyptologists, which has led to the shrines still being interpreted as cenotaphs today. This study shows that the term cenotaph perhaps is not the correct word to use for their function. The focal point of this study are the decorations and inscriptions of the shrines, their religious character and the importance of the Nile. The following research compares the shrines of Gebel el-Silsila with similar shrines at Qasr Ibrim in order to reveal their similarities and dissimilarities. In order to achieve this, two publications were chosen, by Caminos, who assessed both sites in the 1960s and briefly compares the Qasr Ibrim shrines to Gebel el-Silsila. Furthermore, the shrines of Gebel el-Silsila resemble tombs in the Theban necropolis, where some of the tombs of the shrine-owners have been uncovered. For this reason, a comparison between the shrines and tombs has been made in order to reveal why the shrines cannot be tombs, and to display why the shrines still are mortuary monuments. Lastly, the following study assessed the shrine-owners in order to answer how the shrines were financed. However, although many of the shrine-owners are well-established noblemen of which several accounts are known, only their titles are taken into account for they provide a principal overview of their status. This has provided the information required to establish how they were financed. It was necessary to make this restriction due to limited amount of available space and was a more elaborate study of the inscriptions and decorations considered of greater importance in order to reveal the religious function of the shrines. The result shows that the shrines were privately financed and that the shrines did not mean to serve has cenotaphs that the family of the deceased could visit to remember him. They were deliberately placed close to the water, even though it would subject them to destruction during the annual inundation of the Nile. The water in relation to the mortuary decorations of the shrines, make the shrines symbolize the underworld and do they not have a practical function / År 1963 kom Ricardo Caminos med slutsatsen att helgedomarna i Gebel el-Silsila fungerade som kenotafer. Hans idéer har sedan den tiden inte omvärderats av samtida egyptologer vilket har lett till att de fortfarande tolkas som kenotafer idag. Denna studie visar att termen kenotaf möjligtvis inte är det rätta ordet för att beskriva deras funktion. Den huvudsakliga fokusen i denna studie ligger på dekorationerna samt inskriptionerna i helgedomarna, deras religiösa karaktär och Nilens betydelse för platsen. Studien jämför helgedomarna i Gebel el-Silsila med liknande helgedomar i Qasr Ibrim, i syfte att klargöra vilka likheter det finns och hur de skiljer sig. För att uppnå detta har två publikationer valts, skrivna av Caminos, som undersökte helgedomarna på de båda platser under 60-talet och ger en kort jämförelse mellan Qasr Ibrim och Gebel el-Silsila. Dessutom liknar helgedomarna i Gebel el-Silsila gravar i Tebe, där gravarna av några ägare av helgedomarna har hittats. Därför har det gjorts en jämförelse mellan tebanska gravar och helgedomar i Gebel el-Silsila för att visa att de inte är gravar men samtidigt är begravningsmonument. Avslutningsvis har denna studie undersökt ägare av helgedomarna för att klargöra hur de var finansierade. Även fast de flesta ägare var väl kända adelsmän, varav flera dokument har hittats som styrker detta, kommer endast deras titel användas i studien. Detta för att det ger en tillräcklig bra överblick för att kunna bedöma deras status i samhället, det har gett tillräckligt med information för att avgöra hur helgedomarna var finansierade. Denna begräsning var nödvändig att göra på grund av platsbrist, och för att en djupare undersökning av inskriptionerna respektive dekorationerna ansågs vara av större vikt för att kunna klargöra vilken religiös funktion helgedomarna hade. Resultatet visar att de var privat finansierade och att helgedomarna inte fungerade som kenotafer som familjemedlemmar kunde besöka för att minnas den döde. De har avsiktligen placerats nära vattnet, även fast de blev förstörda på grund av den årliga översvämningen av Nilen. Vattnet i kombination med begravningsdekorationen, tyder på att helgedomarna symboliserar underjorden och inte hade en praktiskt funktion.