<p>Mainly focusing on the big picture regarding the research concerning the religious sphere in Bronze Age Scandinavia, the research field has been missing out on the smaller picture. The results have a tendency to produce a picture where the big landscape monuments, social structures and cosmology appear in the foreground. This essay is a comment to this phenomena and a methodological and terminological discussion regarding the way in which we as archaeologist’s works with questions about religion and rites. The main task though is to make an attempt in trying to identify the ritual performers and to answer the question whether it's possible or not to do that. This kind of work needs empirical studies with a theoretical background. The grave material can be the key to find these individuals since it's a context where the person’s belongings can be connected with the individual. The theoretical stance is that the Bronze Age research has been unable to identify these performers and that this in factcan be done. The etuis of belongings discovered for the first time in 1845 with the archaeological excavation of the Hvidegaard grave outside Copenhagen in Denmark, containing objects referred to as magical objects, can be one way to make these actors of rites come alive.The etuis of belongings and other grave material are presented in this work and a discussion about the graves material is made. The approach to study the bigger picture by studying the small empirical material is also made in this essay where a model of the ritual sphere is presented in the results with an attempt to show a none official cult existing side by side and in interaction with the official one.</p>

Scandinavian countries are usually assumed to be less disposed than other countries to involve associations as welfare producers. They are assumed to be so disinclined due to their strong statutory welfare involvement, which “crowds-out” associational welfare production; their ethnic, cultural and religious homogeneity, which leads to a lack of minority interests in associational welfare production; and to their strong working-class organisations, which are supposed to prefer statutory welfare solutions. These assumptions are questioned here, because they cannot account for salient associational welfare production in the welfare areas of housing and child-care in two Scandinavian countries, Sweden and Norway. In order to approach an explanation for the phenomena of associational welfare production in Sweden and Norway, some refinements of current theories are suggested. First, it is argued that welfare associations usually depend on statutory support in order to produce welfare on a salient level. Second, it is supposed that any form of particularistic interest in welfare production, not only ethnic, cultural or religious minority interests, can lead to associational welfare. With respect to these assumptions, this thesis supposes that political parties are organisations that, on one hand, influence statutory decisions regarding associational welfare production, and, on the other hand, pursue particularistic interests in associational welfare production. It is hypothesised that political parties attempt to mould statutory decisions on associational welfare provision in accordance with the interests of associations with “congruent constituencies.” The aim of this thesis is to examine whether political party preferences for certain welfare associations might help to explain variations in statutory support for associational welfare provision. Two questions are raised: First, do parties differ in their attempts to influence statutory subventions and regulations of associational welfare provision, resulting in more or less favourable conditions for associational welfare? Second, do parties systematically differ in their policies with regard to more or less “congruent” associations? In order to investigate these questions, a comparison is made between political parties’ attempts to influence statutory regulation and subvention of Norwegian and Swedish associations active in the areas of day-care and housing. For this purpose, information is drawn from public documents and official statistics in order to identify more or less favourable policies and related partisan policies. In addition, supportive parties and favoured associations are compared with regard to their “constituencies.” The findings partly support the hypothesis. Although political parties partly pursued consensually association-friendly policies, they often varied their support for welfare associations, whereby both right-wing and left-wing parties partly advocated and partly rejected association-friendly policies in a conflicting way, resulting in varied degrees of statutory support. Furthermore, supportive parties shared “congruent constituencies” with those associations supported by respective parties’ policies. These findings indicate that partisan policies indeed make a difference for associational welfare production, whereby parties of any political colour can support associational solutions. Furthermore, partisan policies vary according to the involved associations’ more or less “congruent constituencies,” which can pursue welfare production out of various particularistic interests, be they religious-cultural or socio-economic in nature.

This dissertation deals with male and female social identities during the Middle Bronze Age (1600-1300 BC) in southern Scandinavia and northern Germany. South Scandinavian Bronze Age research has traditionally focused on the male sphere, while women have seldom been seriously considered or analysed in terms of their roles, power or influences on society. This study addresses the imbalance through discussing the evidence for gender relations, social structures and identity. The topic will be approached using case studies from different areas of northern Europe and from a variety of angles (e.g. costume and appearance, age, violence, long distance contacts), always drawing on the rich material from burials. How people presented themselves varied not only between different areas, but also over time. Groups that treated material culture in a fairly similar way during Period IB (c. 1600-1500 BC) start treating it in different ways during Period II (c. 1500-1300 BC). In southern Scandinavia during Period II the material culture is fairly similar on the whole, but the different geographical groups use the artefacts in different ways. The level of violence seems to have fluctuated in the area during the Middle Bronze Age, with some areas showing more signs of violence at certain times. On the other hand the view on ageing seems to have been fairly similar over a large part of central and northern Europe, and from age 14 one seems to have been regarded as an adult. The dissertation also shows that long distance contacts were important and wide-ranging, and people seem to have moved across large areas of Europe, even if the visible exogamous marriage pattern seems to have decreased in distance from Period IB to Period II. In conclusion, although there seems to have been a general European pattern concerning e.g. the view on age, the archaeological record reveals many local variations in how this was expressed, e.g. on the body.

Jag har gjort en jämförande studie mellan utvecklingen i Danmark och utvecklingen på Gotland under romersk järnålder. Som underlag har jag framförallt använt Lotte Hedeagers avhandling Danmarks jernalder – Mellem stamme og stat (Hedeager 1992) och Kerstin Cassels redovisning av det arkeologiska källmaterialet från Gotland i hennes avhandling Från grav till gård – romersk järnålder på Gotland (Cassel 1998). Syftet med studien var att undersöka om Hedeagers slutsats att det etablerades en centralmakt med territoriell kontroll, en tidig stat, i Danmark redan i övergången mellan äldre och yngre romersk järnålder, även skulle gå att dra vad gäller Gotland baserat på det gotländska källmaterialet, och i så fall om detta kunde förklara uppkomsten av stengrundsbebyggelse och fornborgar. Jag har jämfört det arkeologiska källmaterialet från Danmark och Gotland avseende gravfynd och offerfynd, bebyggelseutveckling och landskapsutnyttjande samt vapenoffer och försvarsanläggningar. Vad gäller gravfynden går det att se stora likheter både i hur gravgodset ser ut och i de förändringar som sker mellan äldre och yngre romersk järnålder. Det går också att se stora likheter i kulturlandskapets utveckling med en övergång från ett extensivt åkerbruk med kollektivt brukande till familjejordbruk med intensiv odling. Både på Gotland och i Danmark kan man datera storskaliga försvarsanläggningar till slutet av äldre eller yngre romersk järnålder. Exempel på detta är Olmerdiket och Torsburgen. En väsentlig skillnad mellan Danmark och Gotland är hur praktföremål fördelas mellan offerfynd och gravar övertiden från förromersk järnålder till folkvandringstid. Det jag kommit fram till är att likheterna är så stora att man genom att tillämpa Hedeagers analysmodell kan dra slutsatsen att omläggning av jordbruket, uppkomst av stengrundshus och stensträngar, och anläggande av försvarsborgar gjorts på initiativ av en centralmakt med kontroll över det gotländska territoriet.

Bakgrund: Marknadsföring är ett ständigt föränderligt område, och den tekniska utvecklingen har medfört både problem och lösningar. Digital produktplacering, vilket möjliggör infogning av produkter och varumärken i efterbearbetningen av en film- eller tv-inspelning, kan ses som en lösning på den traditionella produktplaceringens brister. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att presentera en konceptuell jämförelse mellan traditionell och digital produktplacering med fokus på att, inom ramen för det senare, beskriva, analysera och skapa en förståelse för fenomenet. Studien innefattar att en definition av digital produktplacering skapas, samtidigt som dess bransch exemplifieras och framtidstron utreds. Genomförande: Efter genomförd förstudie användes dokumentstudier, och intervjuer med fem aktörer inom produktplaceringsbranschen samt en medieforskare, för att studera fenomenet utifrån vårt valda syfte. Slutsats: Vår definition av digital produktplacering, ur marknadsföringssynpunkt, lyder: Digital infogning av produkter, eller varumärken, i tidigare inspelat medieinnehåll i syfte att påverka den avsedda målgruppen. Fenomenet anser vi komplettera traditionell produktplacering som marknadsföringsmetod och kommer därför troligen inte att ersätta densamma, utan istället verka i symbios. Däremot tycks framtiden se positiv ut för de båda fenomenens användande. / Background: Marketing is a constantly changing field, and technological developments have brought both problems and solutions. Digital product placement, which enables the insertion of products and brands during the post-production of a television program or film, can be considered a solution to the flaws of traditional product placement. Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study is to present a conceptual comparison between traditional and digital product placement, focusing on describing, analyzing, and creating an understanding for the latter. The study involves creating a definition of the phenomenon, as well as exemplifying its industry, and investigating the beliefs regarding its future. Completition: Following a pre-study, document studies and interviews with five industry players within the product placement industry, and one media researcher, was used to study the phenomenon. Conclusions: Our definition of digital product placement, from a marketing point of view, is: Digital insertion of products, or brands, into previously recorded media content aiming to influence the intended target group. We believe that the phenomenon complements traditional product placement, which is why it will probably not replace the same, but rather operate in a symbiotic relationship. Nevertheless, the future seems to be positive regarding the use of both phenomenons.

Mainly focusing on the big picture regarding the research concerning the religious sphere in Bronze Age Scandinavia, the research field has been missing out on the smaller picture. The results have a tendency to produce a picture where the big landscape monuments, social structures and cosmology appear in the foreground. This essay is a comment to this phenomena and a methodological and terminological discussion regarding the way in which we as archaeologist’s works with questions about religion and rites. The main task though is to make an attempt in trying to identify the ritual performers and to answer the question whether it's possible or not to do that. This kind of work needs empirical studies with a theoretical background. The grave material can be the key to find these individuals since it's a context where the person’s belongings can be connected with the individual. The theoretical stance is that the Bronze Age research has been unable to identify these performers and that this in factcan be done. The etuis of belongings discovered for the first time in 1845 with the archaeological excavation of the Hvidegaard grave outside Copenhagen in Denmark, containing objects referred to as magical objects, can be one way to make these actors of rites come alive.The etuis of belongings and other grave material are presented in this work and a discussion about the graves material is made. The approach to study the bigger picture by studying the small empirical material is also made in this essay where a model of the ritual sphere is presented in the results with an attempt to show a none official cult existing side by side and in interaction with the official one.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Bachelor's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.