In this study bone material from six stone ship settings and a total of seven deposits of bones from two sites on the island of Gotland have been analyzed. Four ship settings from the burial site at Gålrum in Alskog parish and two from Tängelgårda in Lärbro parish. The ships contained both cremated remains and inhumations.  Human remains were identified in five of the analyzed ship settings and a minimum of six individuals was identified in total.  Animals were found in three of the ship settings, where one of them contained only the burned remains of a dog. Two of the ships contained inhumations, one in Gålrum and one in Tängelgårda. The one from Gålrum was determined to 17-19 years of age but of undetermined sex. The inhumation from Tängelgårda was determined to a male of 35-64 years of age.  Of the cremated remains none could be determined to sex but all were determined as adult individuals. The temperature that the cremated bones had been exposed to during the cremation was similar between the different ship settings, with one exception which had been exposed to a slightly higher temperature. The results of the material have also been compared with those of other osteological analysis from ship settings on Gotland. The interpretation of this has been that the amount of bone and the number of individuals that has been buried in stone ship settings vary from different sites. Some ship settings have contained several burials and have been interpreted as family graves (Pettersson 1982) which do not fit with the results from this analysis where all the ship settings contained a maximum of one or two human individuals, so the results from the ship settings on Gålrum and Tängelgårda differ from earlier interpretations of ship settings on Gotland.

This thesis is an attempt to gather and discuss the archaeological and osteological results that has been found in stone ship settings on Gotland. The bone material from five ship settings, one stone setting and a cairn from the bronze age complex at Rannarve in Klinte parish on Gotland has been osteologically analysed during this study to further expand the osteological results that are available from ship settings on Gotland and try to interpret this site. The aim is to try to find what artefacts and bone patterns that can be distinguished from the material found within ship settings. What patterns can be seen in artefacts, age, sex and burial contexts that has been found in ship settings? What are the most common patterns? / Den här uppsatsen är ett försök till att samla och diskutera vilka arkeologiska och osteologiska resultat som påträffats i skeppssättningar på Gotland. Benmaterialet från fem skeppssättningar, en stensättning och ett röse i Rannarve i Klinte socken på Gotland har analyserats osteologiskt för att utöka de osteologiska resultaten som finns tillgängliga för skeppssättningar på Gotland samt för att försöka tolka platsen. Målet är att försöka se vilka föremål och benmönster som går att urskilja från materialet och se vilka mönster som finns mellan fynd, ålder, kön och gravkontext i de olika skeppssättningarna, samt vilka mönster som är de mest vanliga.

The aim of this bachelor essay is to study the relation between stone ship settings in Sweden and the symbols occurring on rock carvings, picture stones and metalworks. Are the stone ship settings meant to make the final journey for the dead over to the other side? And serve as a link between our world and the land of the dead? By comparing the theories and interpretations of different scientists and archaeologists I will analyze the different findings and forms of the stone ship settings. The mythology tells tales of the importance of the ship, that it drags the sun from left to right during the day and during the night it goes down under water at the horizon, usually accompanied by animals like horses, fish and snakes. This could be why the direction of the stone ship settings are generally southwest towards northeast, because the sun seems to be at its highest point towards south. A general discussion will be performed during this essay, and to view other archaeologist’s interpretations and research to find answers to what stone-ship settings stands for.