The aim of this thesis is to examine female Viking burials during the Iron Age. Issues such as what is a grave and in what way gender studies have influenced Viking woman`s research are the focus issues in this study. How has the view of male and female in graves changed over time and how have the objects in these graves influenced the gender approach?  I will in this essay delineate myself to the Viking age during the 800-1050 AD. The geographical demarcation is Scandinavia and my intention is to focus on analyzing three excavated graves interpreted as female. In this way I will try to understand various researchers interpretation of gender. This study is a qualitative research overview through literature studies.  The result showed that the objects in the graves were previously interpreted as typically female or male, but that earlier view must now go through a paradigm shift. The archaeologist must now interpret the graves in a completely new way, where you can use genus archaeology along with other analyzes to broaden the previous approach, and not interpret the subjects as typically male and female according to old standards.

Viking-age boat grave burials are a less common but still repeatedly used way to bury the dead during the late Iron Age. Boat burials are exceptional in many aspects, not only due to placing the individual in a boat with numerous burial gifts including animals, but also by burying the individual without prior cremation, a common practice during the Iron Age. The aim of this thesis is to genetically analyse inhumation boat graves and compare the genetic composition of the ancient individuals with modern populations through population genetic analyses. This will highlight these particular human remains in a mobility context. A total of 11 individuals was analysed, but only one yielded enough DNA for further statistical analyses. This one individual proved genetically exceptionally well preserved. The results clearly show that the individual (a female) has a genetic affinity to populations in northern Europe. However, the results do not discriminate between modern Baltic/Scandinavian populations, depending on the statistical test.

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Studies with primary focus on Viking age gilding techniques in Scandinavia has not been carried out since the sixties. During the past 50 years knowledge about prehistoric gilding techniques and traces of them in the archeological material, as well as the usage of natural sciences within archaeology, has developed considerably. The aim of this thesis was to revisit the topic of gilding and shed new light on Viking age metalworking in Scandinavia with focus on gilding techniques. The second aim was to determine the possibilities and limitations of the study of gilding with a non-destructive methodology. The surfaces of 13 metal objects, four of which are indigenous and the rest are imported goods, were analyzed with SEM-EDS. The chemical compositions of the gilded layers as well as the underlying silver- or copper alloys were analyzed. Furthermore, observations of micro morphological structures were carried out on the gilt surfaces. Interpretations of both chemical compositions and micro morphology were carried out in order to identify what technique or techniques have been used for gilding. The results show that two of artefacts have not been gilded at all, five of them have been fire gilded and the results of the remaining six objects are inconclusive mainly due to lacking reference data. It can be concluded that further research regarding the aging of gilt surfaces on gilded artefacts, more specifically the loss of mercury in fire gilded surfaces over time, needs to be carried out.

This study deals with runic carvings as a monument. Through map studies I try to locate runic carvings near water and other remains from the viking age. Previous research has put their focus on the inscription and not as much on the monument itself. The monument stands there in the landscape and communicates with its own appearance. During the Viking Age, communication by waterways was important as the roads on land were not the best. The starting point for this study was a waterway from the Baltic Sea to Mälaren through Södermanland county in Sweden. This waterway consists of several lakes and smaller streams. This study is an attempt to investigate and discuss the possible role of runic carvings along Viking Age water communication routes.

Trefoil brooches are one of the most abundant types of Viking Age jewellery in Scandinavia. This thesis delves into the journey of one such brooch, known as 555783, discovered in Birka, Sweden. Through an archaeological object biography approach this thesis examines the brooch's construction, provenance, transportation, transformation, and deposition in an attempt to shed light on how this and other similar examples evolved in Scandinavian society compared to their cultural origins. Furthermore, this research aims to uncover broader patterns in the Viking Age Scandinavian society's contact with and adaptation of foreign material culture through the incorporation of comparative examples, in order to explore what this illustrates about the Scandinavian people in general. The conclusion reached is that 555783 was likely made in Frankia then transported to Scandinavia through unknown means. There it was modified from a mount on a sword belt with male, martial associations into a piece of fastening-jewellery associated with female costume and display. It was also determined that the adoption and adaption of foreign material culture was primarily a way of displaying foreign connections in a way better suited to their own aesthetic and material preferences. / En av de mest rikligt förekommande smyckestyperna från vikingatiden i Skandinavien är treflikiga spännen. Den här uppsatsen undersöker livshistorien av ett treflikigt spänne (555783) som upptäcktes i Birka. Genom ett arkeologiskt objektbiografiskt tillvägagångssätt undersöker denna uppsats spännet konstruktion, ursprung, förflyttning, förändring och deposition. Undersökningen illustrerar hur spänne 555783 och liknande exempel utvecklades i det skandinaviska samhället jämfört med i sin ursprungskultur. Vidare syftar denna uppsats till att belysa ett bredare mönster i vikingatida skandinavers kontakt med och anpassning av främmande materiell kultur. Uppsatsen besvarar detta genom jämförelse med andra liknande exempel. Slutsatsen ernådd är att spänne 555783 troligen har tillverkats i det Frankiska riket och sedan transporterats till Skandinavien på ett okänt sätt. Där modifierades den från ett beslag på ett svärdsbälte med manliga, krigiska associationer till ett smycke förknippat med kvinnlig uppvisning av status. Det fastställdes också att inlemmandet och modifieringen av främmande materiell kultur i första hand var ett sätt att visa utländska kopplingar som var anpassat till deras egna estetiska och materiella preferenser.

KARLSTADS UNIVERSITET Termin: vt 23 Ämne: Kulturstudier Nivå: GrundnivåKurskod: KVGCO2 ABSTRACT Angelica Nylén Vikingen, endast en bärsärk? En undersökning av grundskolans läroböcker och hur bilden av vikingen skapasThe Viking, only a berserker? A study of the role of textbooks and how the image of the Viking is constructedAntal sidor: 39The image of the Viking is more popular than ever, in popular culture there are computer games, TV series and movies. In Sweden children learn about the Vikings in school, but what have children been taught about the Viking? The study uses four different textbooks published 1868-2012 to find out how the Viking has been portrayed over time, Läseboken för folkskolan from 1868, Läseboken för folkskolan from 1935, Lärobok I Fäderneslandets historia from 1964 and Puls Historia from 2012. The textbook Läseboken för folkskolan from 1868 was the first textbook that united all of Sweden's pupils in primary school. The study shows that the content about the Vikings in the textbooks no longer depend on the Icelandic sagas, rather the texts rely on research-based science. Using Norgren’s theory of the use of history and Koselleck’s conceptual history, the study shows how the image of the Viking is constructed in the textbooks. The study also shed light on how and if women are portrayed in the textbooks.   Nyckelord: Historiebruk, Begreppshistoria, Viking, Grundskola, LärobokPostadress  Karlstads universitet          651 88 Karlstad Telefon 054-700 10 00

Runstenarna i Sollentuna följer ungefär samma mönster som de i resten av Uppland vad gäller fördelning av vilka som reste stenarna och till vilkas minne. Därför är det självklart att förhållandena var också det samma vad gäller arvsmönster, där bakarv, delade arv och kvinnliga arvingar var ett vanligt inslag. Av de 83 runstenssponsorer som syns på ristningarna var 67 (80 %) män och 16 (20 %) kvinnor. Av de 44 runinskrifter där man kan tydligt se antalet sponsorer så hade 18 (40 %) en sponsor och 26 (60 %) flera. Av de 67 ihågkomna var 55 (82 %) män och 12 (18 %) kvinnor. De utlandsfärder som gjordes av Sollentunabor gick i österled, tydligen främst till Grekland och det tycks ha funnits minst en släkt som ordnade dessa expeditioner som bodde i området, kanske fler. Runstenarnas placering visar också att det redan på vikingatiden stod en kyrka i Spånga och en i Ed. De antyder också att när folk valde var de skulle resa sina runstenar, speciellt de större och mer påkostade verken, så brukade man välja de platser även tidigare generationer hyllat sina döda. Mot slutet av perioden förvandlades runstenen till slut till en variant av den kristna gravstenen. Förutom att hylla sina döda släktingar var runstenarna också ett sätt att stärka sin egen ställning i samhället, genom att visa upp vem man var släkt med och som ett sätt framhäva sin rätt att ärva egendomar och även titlar och makt. Brostenarna och de stenar som nämner utlandsfärder visar på några mäktiga och rika släkter inom området. Om man också ser brobyggandet som en form av avlat är de också ett tecken på kristendomens genombrott. / Uppland is the most runestone dense region in Scandinavia and Sollentuna is no exception to this.The goal of this paper is to analyse the inscriptions on the runestones found in Sollentuna härad andthrough them discuss society and familial relationships at the time. Comparisons of the material in Sollentuna to research done on runestones in other areas are done. As runestones are generally Christian monuments they also provide information on the spread of Christianity in the late Vikingage. Their positioning may also provide hints regarding the locations of the earliest churches in the area. They are also considered a tool to assert rights of inheritance and thus also provide informationon the rules of inheritance at the time they were made. Finally, a few of them mention expeditions abroad and provide some information regarding the destinations of these travels as well. Considering the large number of runestones in the area, it is likely that the erection of runestones was popular among most land owning people. Some runic inscriptions are much larger than the others and it is likely that their sponsors wished this to reflect their wealth, prestige and power.

<p> The Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Viking Formation at Harmattan East and Crossfield, Alberta, contains two regionally extensive erosion surfaces, VE3 and VE4, separating three allomembers, A-B, D and E. These erosion surfaces can be mapped over large areas of the Alberta basin allowing for the creation of a Viking allostratigraphy. </p> <p> The allostratigraphic base of the Viking alloformation in the study area is informally designated BV. The BV log marker is overlain by allomember A-B, which in turn is overlain by the regionally extensive ravinement surface VE3. The VE3 surface is sharply overlain by allomember D, a northeastward thinning clastic wedge composed of storm dominated facies and nonmarine deposits. Allomember D is in turn overlain by the regionally extensive ravinement surface VE4. Allomember E, which overlies this unconformity is a complex succession of coarse grained facies interbedded with dark mudstones. The upper . part of allomember E is composed of dark mudstones bounded at the top by a regionally extensive condensed section (Base of Fish Scales) that informally marks the allostratigraphic top of the Viking alloformation in the study area. </p> <p> Viking sedimentation began with the deposition of basinal and offshore transitional mudstones, siltstones and sandstones of allomember A-B. A major drop in sea level allowed valleys to incise into these sediments. Nonmarine and upper shoreface deposits of allomember A-B were eroded at Harmattan East during the ensuing transgression that produced the VE3 ravinement surface. A second relative sea level lowering resulted in northeastward progradation of allomember D. Renewed transgression modified the older subaerial erosion surface on top of allomember D, forming the marine ravinement surface VE4 and the overlying deposits of allomember E. Multiple stillstands or slow rates of transgression produced the "steplike" southwestward climbing morphology on the VE4 surface. Fluvial systems supplied coarse sediment to each shoreface incision ("step"). During minor sea level falls, storm and tidal currents reworked sediment at these shorefaces and also transported sediment basinward over older "stepped" shorelines forming onlap markers EO to E5. Continued transgression blanketed the coarse grained interbeds with offshore dark mudstones (Colorado Shale). A major pause in basin deposition led to the formation of a condensed section of fish skeletal remains (Base of Fish Scales). The base of this unit marks the end of Viking depostion in the study area. </p> <p> The Harmattan East Viking oil field is producing from the coarse grained transgressive lag that overlies VE4. It is separated from Caroline field (along depositional strike) by a rise in the VE4 surface. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

I intend to design an interactive educational experience that teaches guests about the culture, society, and beliefs of Scandinavian peoples during the Viking age. The concepts are illustrated through a dynamic narrative designed to be experienced through exploration of a themed environment. Immersion into the narrative is intended to instill a sense of active participation with the culture itself. This interaction is intended to inspire guests to further investigate the culture and history outside the limits of the experience. These qualities, unique to an immersive environmental themed experience, capture the lasting attention of an audience such as other mediums may not. Design and narrative decisions in the experience will be supported and justified by research of primary sources (untranslated medieval sagas from Iceland and Norway, archeological artifacts from the region and period, the prose and poetic Eddas) and secondary sources (translations and interpretations of Viking age literature and mythology, archeological documentation and interpretation of primary sources.) One goal of this experience will be to dispel common misconceptions of medieval Scandinavian culture and society propagated by popular literary, film, television, and video game representations, and to present a historically justified representation as equally compelling. Strict historical exactitude, however, is not the intent. A model of a historical Viking archeological site could be accurately created. However, it will not necessarily be as engaging as an endeavor that takes certain creative license. This thesis is also an experiment in establishing a groundwork for educational representations of historic and modern cultures in themed experiences. I use Viking iv Age Scandinavia, a culture with which I have significant academic experience prior to this thesis, as a test case for this idea. The scope of the project includes a designed and planned themed experience expressed through written and visual mediums where appropriate, as well as historical justification for design and narrative choices.