In 1953, two individuals were excavated in Erik XIII’s alley, Visby, Gotland. After the excavation, the individuals did not undergo an osteological examination and were preserved for several years by the Gotland Museum. These two individuals were selected for this thesis to undergo an osteological analysis. The purpose of the essay was to identify and investigate the two individuals from Erik XIII's alley and illuminate the Viking age of Visby. A spatial analysis of Erik XIII's alley and the surrounding environment was carried out, to emphasize Visby’s Viking-age. Erik XIII's alley is in the northern part of Visby's inner city and is within walking distance of the two largest Viking-era burial grounds in Visby, Kopparsvik and Gustavsvik. Individual 1, who was judged to be a man, was approximately 182cm tall and was between 33-45 years old when he died. Individual 2 was judged to be a probable man and was between 17-25 at the time of his death and had an approximate length of 173cm. The individuals have only two common pathologies, which are osteophytes and tartar. Individual 2 had significantly fewer pathologies than individual 1, which may be a side effect of the age difference between them. In individual 1, enthesopathies were also identified, which were roughly consistent throughout the body, ligamente flava, pitting and osteoarthritis. Individual 2 showed changes from two different deficiency diseases, cribra orbitalia and enamel hypoplasia. The discussion is divided into three parts that emphasize the individuals, the comparison with other Viking-era individuals on Gotland and the spatial context. The individuals' pathologies are discussed, and possible interpretations of the individuals are presented. When the individuals from Erik XIII's alley are compared to other Viking-age individuals who have undergone osteological examinations, the result mainly varies. In the spatial context, possible interpretations of the graves are presented, which consist of an additional burial ground with different interpretations, as a burial ground for the king's company, or simple farm burials.

Uppsatsen analyserar och diskuterar kattbenen i materialet som grävdes ut i Västergarn, Gotland under våren 2021 och 2022. Analysen och diskussionen fokuserar på katternas roll i lokalsamhället, både fysiskt och i den lokala folktron. Materialet består av sex schakt med två identifierade husgrunder, en misstänkt smedja och en brunn med en datering på vikingatid och tidig medeltid. Materialet består av 151 ben och beräkningen visar på uppskattningsvis fyra individer. Analysen kom fram till att majoriteten av individerna var yngre än ett år gamla, med undantag från en med artros från hög ålder. En underkäke hittades med snittspår vilket i samband med åldern på individerna visar på att katterna har avlivats för pälsens skull, som har dokumenterats tidigare i både historiska och arkeologiska källor. Ett område identifieras där troligen en hel individ deponerats som husoffer för att skydda mot onda krafter. Katterna på platsen har förmodligen i livet använts som skadedjursbekämpning och magiskt skydd. / The essay analyses and discusses the cat bones in the material excavated in Västergarn, Gotland during the spring of 2021 and 2022. The analysis and discussion focus on the role of cats in local society, both physically and in local folklore. The material consists of six shafts with two identified house foundations, a suspected forge and a well with a dating from the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages. The material consists of 151 bones and the calculation shows approximately four individuals. The analysis concluded that most individuals were younger than one year old, with the exception of one with osteoarthritis from old age. A lower jaw was found with butchery marks which, in conjunction with the age of the individuals, shows that the cats have been slaughtered for their fur, which has been documented previously in both historical and archaeological sources. An area is identified where an entire individual was probably deposited as a house offering to protect against evil forces. The cats on the site were probably used in life as pest control and magical protection.

The purpose of this thesis is to study the symbolic role of weapons, specifically axes in Viking age burials. The thesis will also discuss the axe´s role in relaion to the character of the grave and the grave goods. A total 18 graves will be studied and analysed with help from J. Petersen´s typology of Viking age weapons and Holger Arbman`s works on anout Birkas burials and their grave goods. Qualative and quantative research methods will be used used to answer the thesis`questions. First the thesis will discuss what a weapon grave is and explain Petersen`s typology of axes and explain what other types of axes that exist in Birka. It will further analyse weapon and axe symbolism, explain different characteristics and grave goods. Finally, I will discuss different interpretations and patterns surrounding the different practices, grave goods, the types of depsotied axes and the symbolic role of axes in graves. Axes buried with rich grave goods shows that some types of axes have higher status than others. The axes aesthetics do not play a pivotal role in the graves and their placements in the graves do not have a symbolic or deeper meaning.

Yes / Icelandic settlement (Landnám) period farmsteads offer opportunities to explore the nature and timing of anthropogenic activities and environmental impacts of the first Holocene farming communities. We employ Bayesian statistical modelling of archaeological, paleoenvironmental and documentary datasets to present a framework for improving chronological robustness of archaeological events. Specifically, we discuss events relevant to the farm Hrísbrú, an initial and complex settlement site in southwest Iceland. We demonstrate that tephra layers are key in constraining reliable chronologies, especially when combined with related datasets and treated in a Bayesian framework. The work presented here confirms earlier interpretations of the chronology of the site while providing increased confidence in the robustness of the chronology. Most importantly, integrated modelling of AMS radiocarbon dates on Hordeum vulgare grains, palynological data, documented evidence from textual records and typologically diagnostic artefacts yield increased dating reliability. The analysis has also shown that AMS radiocarbon dates on bone collagen need further scrutiny. Specifically for the Hrísbrú farm, first anthropogenic footprint palynomorph taxa are estimated to around AD 830–881 (at 95.4% confidence level), most likely before the tephra fall out of AD 877 ± 1 (the Landnám tephra layer), demonstrating the use of arable fields before the first known structures were built at Hrísbrú (AD 874–951) and prior to the conventionally accepted date of the settlement of Iceland. Finally, we highlight the importance of considering multidisciplinary factors for other archaeological and paleoecological studies of early farming communities of previously uninhabited island areas.

The study of human palaeopathology has developed considerably in the last three decades resulting in a structured and standardised framework of practice, based upon skeletal lesion patterning and differential diagnosis. By comparison, disarticulated zooarchaeological assemblages have precluded the observation of lesion distributions, resulting in a dearth of information regarding differential diagnosis and a lack of standard palaeopathological recording methods. Therefore, zoopalaeopathology has been restricted to the analysis of localised pathologies and ‘interesting specimens’. Under present circumstances, researchers can draw little confidence that the routine recording of palaeopathological lesions, their description or differential diagnosis will ever form a standard part of zooarchaeological analysis. This has impeded the understanding of animal disease in past society and, in particular, has restricted the study of systemic disease. This research tackles this by combining the disciplines of human palaeopathology and zoopalaeopathology and focusing on zoonotic disease. The primary aim of this research was to investigate the skeletal manifestation of bTB in cattle, sheep/goat and pig to establish differential diagnostic criteria for its identification in zooarchaeological assemblages. Methods commonplace in human palaeopathology were adapted and applied to zoopalaeopathology, in addition to radiography and aDNA analysis. The results emphasise the difficulties but also the potential associated with the identification of systemic diseases in zooarchaeological assemblages. An approach to the classification of potentially infectious lesions is presented that enables the calculation of crude prevalence in disarticulated assemblages. In addition, the potential for a DNA analysis to shed further light on animal disease in the past is emphasised. / Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) / Many of the images have been removed from the online version due to copyright restrictions. The embargo period for the thesis ended: 16th January 2018.

During the 9th and 10th centuries large amounts of Islamic coins arrived in Scandinavia. Most of them were used as silver in a bullion-economy and were often fragmented because of this. However, their use was not limited to only economic purposes because we see large amounts of pendants made of these coins. By suspending a coin with a loop or only a hole you transform it into something completely different, something that has a new meaning. This new meaning is the focus of this thesis and by analysing graves where Islamic coin pendants were deposited, we can conclude how they were thought of and used. In this thesis I conclude that Islamic coin-pendants were used as status objects during the Viking-age, by both elite and non-elite people in Uppland. The Islamic inscriptions on the coins were most likely not understood and probably only seen as symbols and patterns similarly to other European coin-pendants.

Uppsatsens syfte var att undersöka hur vikingakvinnan framställs i två stora populärkulturella medier. Detta för att närmare förstå vilken bild som förmedlas via film och skönlitteratur, och i förlängningen vad som når den stora publiken. De fyra populärkulturella titlar som undersöktes valdes ut på grund av deras popularitet samt att de ger analysen ett större tidsspann. Dessa fyra titlar var Vikingarna (Fleischer, 1958), Vikingablot (1995), Tusenårsriket (Gulløv, 2019) samt The Northman (Eggers, 2022). Analysmetoden utgjordes av både kvantitativ samt kvalitativ analys för att säkerställa att resultatet blev så empiriskt och uttömmande som möjligt. Den kvalitativa analysen bestod av frågor att besvara medan den kvantitativa utgick från frågor i tabellform. Båda analysmetoderna byggde på könsnormativa nyckelord. Den kvantitativa analysen visade på androcentrism, ett manligt fokus, men även på att kvinnor filmtekniskt inte missgynnas. Den kvalitativa analysen identifierade flertalet stereotypa element, men samtidigt även sådant som inte befäste normativa könskonstruktioner. Fem kvinnoroller identifieras; Trälinnan, Nornan, Sköldmön, Modern och Frillan. Dessa kan kombineras, med undantag Trälinnan. Dessutom identifieras vilka aktiviteter som vikingakvinnor upplevs utföra i de utvalda populärkulturella medierna samt vilken social ställning kvinnor upplevs ha i dessa framställningar av vikingatid. Slutsatsen blir att då kvinnan inte upplevs äga sin egen kropp kommer hennes sociala ställning aldrig att vara annan än låg, oavsett andra statusindikationer. / This paper took a closer look at the gender roles within popular culture that portraits the Scandinavian Viking age. Both a quantitative and a qualitative analysis was used to identify the roles that Viking women play in the chosen novels and movies. The analysis was able to detect five different roles and several activities performed by Viking women in the novels and movies, along with the conclusion that the women’s social status is low since they never are in power of their own bodies.

<p>This paper deals with the late Viking age/early medieval grave field in Björned, Torsåker parish, Ångermanland County in northern Sweden. The grave field in Björned is rare because it has all the signs of being Christianized before the surroundings. This awakes questions such as if the people of Björned came from another place and brought the religion with them or if someone else did that for them. To find these answers I have analysed the stable isotope ratios [delta]13C, [delta]15N and [delta]34S in human bone collagen. Through these stable isotopes we can not only see what the people consumed but also where their food had its origin. It seems like several people from the grave field had a different origin then the rest.</p>

<p>This paper deals with archery in the Viking Age settlement of Birka and in particular the presence of Euro Asiatic, steppe nomadic archery equipment at the Birka Garrison and one Birka grave. The equipment contains for example closed quivers and a bow case. This paper also contains a discussion of archery battle techniques and tactics in Viking Age Birka and the implications of the above mentioned equipment to this discussion. The analysis insinuates the importance and status of archery in 10th century Birka.</p>

<p>The purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss clinch-nails found at an excavation at terrace II in the Garrison of Birka, on the island of Björkö in Sweden. This type of clinch-nails is common in Viking age Sweden and is usually interpreted as coming from boats. The study will try to show that these types of nails could have been used in several kinds of wooden constructions. It will also show how the nails were made and what kinds of tools were used by the Viking smiths. The study has shown that this type of nails were used in several different types of wooden constructions such as boats, sleds, cart bodies, coffins, Birka's ramparts and buildings. Nothing confirms the use of rivets in Viking age buildings but the material from terrace II probably contains clinch-nails from the other categories. The largest portion of the clinch-nails comes from disused boats and from the ramparts surrounding Birka's hill fort Borg. The tools for making nails have not been found in the Birka Garrison.</p>