This essay is a comparative study on Migration period ring forts, centered on Sandbyborg, a ringfort situated on the southeastern shore of the Baltic island of Öland.Furthermore this essay focuses on the contemporary Iron Age society, and thestrategical implications of the ringforts in their function as fortifications. Certaininternational comparisons are made, in particular regarding the fortifications in theRoman empire.

This paper examined whether Sandby borg has had a domestic manufacture of pearls. Other locations in Sweden with early signs of glass production are presented to investigate possible similarities with Sandby borg. Ocular and chemical analysis of beads and raw glass material from Sandby borg has been made to obtain more information before interpretation. XRF is used in the chemical analysis of the glass material to obtain the composition in the glass. One of the objectives of this paper is to try to identify which sites are considered a central location. To investigate the selected locations and if they can be referred to as central places. I use two different models to ease the interpretations. The first is Charlotte Fabech and Jytte Ringtveds pyramid of the arkeological material in central places and the other Bertil Helgesson's concept phenomenon, function, location and person. To investigate the different places as a glass production site, different criteria are used to make it easier to interpret a domestic glassware making. / I denna uppsats undersöktes det om Sandby borg har haft en inhemsk tillverkning av pärlor. Andra platser med tidiga tecken på glashantverk i Sverige presenteras för att undersöka eventuella likheter med Sandby borg. Det har gjorts okulär och kemisk analys av pärlor och smältor från Sandby borg för att få fram mer information innan tolkning. XRF metoden används i den kemiska analysen av glasmaterialet för att få fram sammansättningen i glaset. Ett av målen med denna uppsats är att försöka identifiera vilka platser som betraktas som en centralplats. För att undersöka de utvalda platserna och ifall de kan benämnas som centralplatser använder jag två olika modeller för att underlätta tolkningarna. Den första är Charlotte Fabech och Jytte Ringtveds pyramid om centralplatser och den andra Bertil Helgessons begrepp fenomen, funktion, lokalisering och person. För att identifiera utvalda platser som glashantverksplats användes olika kriterierna som karakteriserar en glashantverksplats. Sedan presenteras resultat av den XRF undersökning som gjordes på materialet från Sandby borg. Därefter diskuterades frågan om det förekommit en inhemsk tillverkning av pärlor i Sandby borg och resultaten jämfördes med de andra utvalda platserna i Sverige.

This research concerns the digitalisation of archaeology, with a focus on Swedish contract archaeology. The aim is to understand how the archaeological discipline relates to the change that digitalisation brings and human involvement in these processes. The thesis is a study of its impact on processes connected to archaeological knowledge production and communication. The work problematises how digital data might be understood within these contexts but also illustrates where the potential of the digitalisation lies and how archaeology can make use of it. The theoretical approach re-actualises the concept of reflexivity in a digital context, combining it with various communication theories aiming to challenge the archaeological workflow and connect it more closely to present-day society. The digitalisation of archaeology can be seen across the whole discipline withan emphasis on academia. This digital development has greater opportunities in larger research projects which have sufficient funding than in contract archaeology. In those projects leading the digital development, the reflexive approach has been re-discovered and the digital enabled for new processes of knowledge production to take place. In case studies of Swedish contract archaeology several observations are made where it becomes clear that the digitalisation already shows positive effects at a government level, in organisations and projects within the sector. But there are also issues regarding digital infrastructure, knowledge production, archiving, accessibility and transparency. The biggest challenge is not technical but in attitudes towards digitalisation. The research concludes that digital communication based on archaeological source material can be something more than mediation of results. With digital interactive storytelling there are ways to create emotional virtual connections with the user, relating to the present and the surrounding society. By interlinking the processes of interpretation and communication an archaeological knowledge production might become an archaeological knowledge development. / Den här forskningen har studerat digitaliseringen av arkeologin med fokus på svensk uppdragsarkeologi. Målet har varit att öka förståelsen kring hur disciplinen förhåller sig till de förändringar som digitaliseringens innebär och människans roll i dessa processer. Avhandlingen är en studie av digitaliseringens betydelse för de arkeologiska processer som berör kunskapsproduktion och kommunikation. Arbetet problematiserar förståelsen av digitala data inom dessa kontexter men visar också på digitaliseringenspotential och hur arkeologin kan dra nytta av den. Forskningen aktualiserar på nytt det teoretiska angreppssättet reflexivitet i ett digitalt sammanhang och kombinerar detta med kommunikationsteorier i syfte att utmana det arkeologiska arbetsflödet och knyta det närmare dagens samhälle. Resultatet av denna forskning visar på att digital kommunikation baserad på arkeologiskt källmaterial kan vara något mer än förmedling av resultat. Med interaktivt historieberättande finns vägar att skapa emotionella virtuella kopplingar mellan användare och arkeologi som relaterar till nuet och detomgivande samhället. Genom att länka ihop den arkeologiska tolkningsprocessen med kommunikation, skapas möjligheten för kunskapsproduktion att bli kunskapsutveckling.

Both the government and the museums agree on the fact that museums should be available to everyone and that the fact that it might not be is an enormous problem that need solving and that some of the ways to solve it is with digitalization and by cooperation with schools. This paper analyses the Sandby borg exhibition at Kalmar county museum in Kalmar, Sweden. The analysis is constructed from three main categories; inclusion, digitalization and cooperation. These categories are used to discuss how a museum exhibition should work and be used and then how it works in reality at Kalmar county museum.

Jugs with tubular handles are a special type of ceramics, which is rarely discussed in the literature. The jugs has a beautiful decor and a handle with a channel. The vessels have been interpreted as puzzle vessels, mugs for kids or vessels for libation. The sites where these jugs have been found are very exclusive and the decoration on the vessels can be related to ideas from the Nordic mythology. In some cases, the decor is telling the story about Suttung’s mead. Two places are of special interest namely the ringfort at Sandby borg, Öland and the settlement on the island of Helgö in Lake Mälaren, central Sweden.

This paper aims at analyzing in what ways ethnographical stories such as myths, legends, and other stories about archaeological monuments can contribute to public archaeology. The public archaeology in Sweden is currently debating how to engage with the public in meaningful ways. At present, the general standpoint in archaeology is that ethnography is to be considered separately from archaeological monuments, as the ethnography is not part of archaeology. Several European and American archaeologists who have studied the use of folklore and similar ethnographies, however, argue that ethnographies can contribute to the understanding and social impact of archaeological monuments. Their theories are then applied to two Swedish archaeological monuments, Sandby borg on Öland and Högarör in Småland. The results are that ethnographical stories can be used in public archaeology to provide nuance to archaeological monuments. The ethnographies can also interest parts of the public who do not have a keen interest in archaeology. Furthermore, archaeology can play a part in producing new ethnographies about monuments, which is something archaeologists should be aware of. / Föreliggande arbete har undersökt vilka etnografiska berättelser som finns om utvalda arkeologiska platser och hur de berättelserna kan användas inom publik arkeologi. Utifrån det etnologiska synsättet i arbetet betraktas fornlämningar som något kulturskapande och analysen har visat att den kulturella påverkan av fornlämningar är viktig för arkeologin att ta hänsyn till. Det teoretiska fokuset för arbetet är artiklar av europeiska och nordamerikanska arkeologer som diskuterar hur etnografisk information om fornlämningar kan nyansera bilden av en fornlämning samt gynna förståelsen av fornlämningen. Diskussionen i arbetet tar sin utgångspunkt i de etnografiska berättelser som finns om Sandby borg på Öland och Högarör i Småland. Resultatet av diskussionen är att ett etnologiskt synsätt på fornlämningar kan gynna den publika arkeologin i att nyansera betydelsen av en arkeologisk plats. Den etnografiska information som finns om fornlämningar kan också vara av värde för människor som är mer intresserade av traditionen än arkeologin kring en arkeologiska plats.

Sandby borg, an Iron Age ringfort on Öland, Sweden has been and is still at the center of attention in media and archaeological research. The massacre uncovered at the site during recent years opens many doors for analyses on the Migration Period (c. 400-550 AD) Iron Age skeletal remains. Eighteen teeth (molars) from 12 individuals and three rodent teeth were chosen for strontium (87Sr/86Sr) analyses. This was done to establish whether these individuals were locals or non-locals to Öland. The analyses displayed a, for the most part, local 87Sr/86Sr ratio. Two non-locals were identified, as well as a pattern of higher 87Sr/86Sr peaks on numerous of the individuals during a certain age span, which could indicate a local weaning process with a special food. / Sandby borg

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.

This master's thesis is intended as a foundation for further development of methods for digital marine osteoarchaeology. The main purpose of this thesis was to examine and problematise the process of locating, documenting, and analyzing skeletal remains in marine archaeological, and other hard to reach sites. Three forms of osteological analysis' was performed and assessed: one based on analysis of physical skeletal remains, another based on 2D documented skeletal remains, and a third on analysis on 3D reconstructed skeletal remains. The secondary purpose of this thesis was to problematise the taphonomic effects on bodies, body parts, and bones in marine environments, necessary for the evaluation of the different methods. The analysis' has been conducted on source material provided by the research projects for the naval ships Mars and Gribshunden, the National Maritime Museum of Sweden, the Sandby Borg project, and the Çatalhöyük project. In addition, a test was carried out, with eight volunteer osteology students at Campus Gotland, Uppsala University, during a seminar exercise. The results collected through the osteological analysis' performed on the three different formats and the students osteology exercise could be used in order to highlight a variation of data available in the different formats. The results was then used in order to create a basis for future digital documentation methods that may be applied in the field. The secondary aim of this thesis was addressed through the use of the naval ships Mars and Gribshunden as case examples in order to address the limited amount of skeletal remains located so far at the marine archaeological sites. / Denna master uppsats är ämnad som grund för vidare utveckling av metoder för digital marinosteoarkeologi. Det huvudsakliga syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka och problematisera problemen kring at lokalisera, dokumentera, och analysera skeletala kvarlevor vid marinarkeologiska, och andra svåråtkomliga lokaler. Tre olika slags osteologiska analyser utfördes: en baserad på analyser av skeletala kvarlevor, en annan baserad analyser av 2D dokumenterade skeletala kvarlevor, och en tredje baserat på analyser av 3D rekonstruerade skeletala kvarlevor. Det sekundära syftet uppsatsen var att problematisera den tafonomiska påverkan på kroppar, kroppsdelar, och ben i marina miljöer, nödvändiga för utvärderingen för de olika metoderna. Analyserna har utförts på källmaterial som tillgängliggjorts genom forskningsprojekten för skeppen Mars och Gribshunden, Statens Maritima Museer i Sverige, Sandby borg projektet, och Catalhöyük projektet. Utöver detta har även en studie utförts tillsammans med åtta frivilliga osteologistudenter vid Campus Gotland, Uppsala Universitet, under en seminarieövning. Resultaten som samlades in genom de osteologiska analyserna av de tre olika källmaterialen och student studien användes för att kunna understryka den datavariation som fanns tillgänglig för de olika källmaterialen. Resultaten användes för att skapa en grund för framtida digitala dokumentationsmetoder som kan appliceras i fält. Det sekundära syftet med studien besvarades genom att använda skeppen Mars och Gribshunden som exempel för att kunna diskutera den begränsade mängden skeletala kvarlevor som hittills hittats vid de marinarkeologiska lokalerna.

The subject of corpses from mass violence is surprisingly unexplored, even though the materiality of the corpse carries strong symbolic capital in conflicts. The aim of my PhD research is to create new knowledge about the implications of unburied corpses that stem from intergroup conflicts, and subsequently to add knowledge concerning how intergroup violence is organised to achieve desired social agendas. In the licentiate thesis presented here, I research the conditions for postmortem agency and how treatment of corpses can be studied in prehistory, specifically through the material remains of unburied corpses from the Sandby borg massacre. The Sandby borg case study is explored through a bioarchaeological perspective. Inside the Iron Age ringfort, the remains of at least 26 individuals have been recovered hitherto. Several of the dead display traces of lethal intergroup violence. By integrating osteology, archaeology, taphonomy and social theories, I show how bioarchaeological research can contribute to the understanding of past postmortem agency in relation to intergroup violence as a social process. The thesis is comprised of four articles.