Is Hedningahällan a settlement or is it not? With help of spatial analysis and comparing Hedningahällan with other settlements in the form of comparing scattering maps of finds, bone, ceramic sherds from Hedningahällan and the other investigated neolithic sites in southern Norrland. The site is mysterious and there is a missing link based on its location and its position in the landscape. Firstly, a settlement without any traces of house remains, and with finds indicating that we might have up to 4 cultures at least having some sort of contacts with each other. bone artifacts such as beads and amulets together with clay figurines and battleaxes and miniature axes shows evidence of something more ceremonial in nature. The whole settlement that we know of are located on a giant boulder and only hearth pits and ceramics are providing more solid evidence of continuous habitation. All other settlements from the neolithic are located at ground level usually on an ancient beach. I’ve therefore compared Hedningahällan with other sites from Gävleborg. The comparisons made between Hedningahällan and the other settlements clearly proofs its unique nature and therefore has it never been a regular settlement like the others ones presented in this study.

This bachelor thesis is based on a material of 45 battle axes from The Swedish History Museum, both miniature axes and regular boat axes from the middle Neolithic era. The geographical demarcation is the province of Västergötland in Sweden. The aim of the study is to analyze the axes, mainly morphologically and size-wise, to try to understand and define miniature axes in comparison to the regular boat axes. Another intention is to try to reveal if there are any differences between the miniatures and the regular axes regarding importance and function of the axes. The result is presented by dint of several tables of measures and attributes of all the axes as well as numerous scatter plots and pie charts showing physical attributes and signs of use of the axes in question. The results show for instance that miniature axes more often than not are sloppily made and more well-worn compared to the regular boat axes. According to the study this might have to do with the probability of the miniature axes being made for children.

The aim of this study has been to see what the Ajvide location and its surroundings mighthave been used as. The author is going to compare a couple of sites, Stora Förvar, Snausarve, Bjerges and Ajvide, and see if these sites might have some connection to each other. Thesesites are going to be studied and see what they might have been used as, maybe a burialground or a settlement.

Throughout the course of history flint has been used in Sweden. However, flint does not naturally occur in the northern parts of the country. Yet flint has been discovered in the North.This is the result of humans transporting the material from southern most Scandinavia and/or from south-eastern Karelia. This begs the question, which way did the flint travel to northern Sweden? This paper aims to try to answer this question by analyzing the distribution and concentration of flint that has been found in the Swedish counties of Norrbotten,Västerbotten, Västernorrland and Jämtland. To do this it is first necessary to gather information regarding finds of flint. This is the first task of this paper. Its second task is to analyze this information using Qgis, with its associated tools, to create maps showing the distribution and concentration of flint. It has also been assumed that the modes of contact might have changed over time, therefore additional maps were created showing the distribution of flint from two different periods. The paper's third and final task, through theuse of the maps, is to suggest and discuss possible ways of contact that allowed flint to find its way into northern Sweden. It has been observed that the flint is not distributed evenly across the North and that there are certain areas with higher concentrations of flint. It has also been noted that the distribution of flint from two distinct time periods have dissimilar distribution patterns suggesting different modes of contact.

The aim of this paper is to find where the earliest signs of farming are located in the municipality of Örnsköldsvik and to see if typical artefacts ascribed to farming societies are represented in that area. The study focuses especially on Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Literature on early farming in this area was utilized as well as archaeological reports from sites with noted signs of Neolithic and Bronze Age farming. A spatial examination of previously collected material eg. pollen analysis, artefacts and excavated sites are presented using a combination of maps. The relationship between soils and artefacts is also examined. Issues concerning why, how and what type of farming was practiced as well as by whom and where is also discussed.

Conflict in Archaeology is a subject which have risen in interest during the last decades. This essay will focus mainly on the conflict which can be seen on individuals found at Kanaljorden in Motala. The site was excavated between 1999 and 2013 and showed ten individuals buried on a stonebed nearby Motala stream. The individuals were seen with a large amount of trauma directed towards the skull and differentiated depending on sex. The way the individuals were buried and the large amount of trauma was unique for Scandinavia and the world. There have been many theories of why the people buried in Kanaljorden was selected and what purpose it had for the people that buried them there. There have been speculations from war trophies to ritual killings. This essay is therefore focused on making comparisons and analogies with other cases of burials and conflicts from Scandinavia and the world to get clues why the people of Kanaljorden was selected for burial. It could be concluded that skull trauma of the buried individuals was common in Mesolithic and Neolithic Scandinavia and world. The difference in injuries depending on sex indicate a structured society were women and men had different roles during war and conflict. Further was it concluded that the individuals found at Kanaljorden could probably have been deposited because of their importance for the tribe, or forefathers’ worship.

This paper will analyze archaeological material from a number of Stone Age sites, starting in the area of Södertörn, Sweden. There has been plenty of research on the Swedish Stone Age, however, there is an issue of classifying all Stone Age sites as settlements, regardless of what the archaeological material tells us. By comparatively analyzing the material from a number of Stone Age sites, a better understanding of these sites, and possibly the Stone Age in Södertörn and East Middle Sweden as a whole, will hopefully be attained. The paper will present information from a number of Stone Age sites in the area of Södertörn, along with material and interpretations from a few other Stone Age sites in East Middle Sweden, in order to help figure out if the term settlement is a correct one or simply something settled on. This in turn will help us find a clearer picture of how the Stone Age people of the area lived, which will be beneficial to current and future researchers.

Abstract  Alvastra pålbyggnad, en rituell samlingsplats? Alvastra pile dwelling, a ritual gathering place? The aim of this essay is to examine whether or not Alvastra pile dwelling in Östergötland, Sweden was used as a rituell gathering place for people living here during the prehistoric time that is refered to as neolitikum 4000-1700 B.C. This analysis is done by examining the objects that was discovered during the excavations in 1909-1930 and 1976-1980 and by comparing Alvastra pile dwelling to other similar places in Sweden and enclosures called pallisades during this period. The conclusion is that there are objects that can be interpreted to have been part in ritual contexts in connection to Alvastra pile dwelling and thus the place could have function as a ritual gathering place during this period.

The Norrlandic Slate Culture was a hunter-gatherer culture that emerged in northern Sweden during the transition from the late Mesolithic to the early Neolithic, c. 4200 BC. This paper deals with the Slate Culture’s relation to its neighbouring, contemporary cultures in Norway and Finland, and examines three types of typical finds related to the Slate Culture: enclosures of fire-cracked stones (Swe. skärvstensvall), petroglyphs and slate objects. The conclusion is that the Slate culture found inspiration to these phenomena from its neighbouring cultures and turned them into something of their own.

This paper deals with the question of neolithisation of Southern Scandinavia. The main goal is to give an overview of three theories regarding how agriculture and livestock breeding was introduced to the Southern Scandinavia. These are as follows: the immigration theory, the socio-economic theory and the historical explanation theory. Furthermore it is investigated which theory has the most probably support in material culture. There are obvious difficulties in interpreting the archaeological material. Some solutions which could resolve these problems are presented by the author. And finally suggestions are made where future resources in research should be aimed, to get the discussion regarding the neolithisation of Southern Scandinavia, to move forward.