This study investigates the current discourses of Great Zimbabwe by analysing traces of colonial terminology within present-day literary illustrations. The aim is to identify western ideas and perspectives still dominant within the discourses and explore its implications. By conducting research on how Great Zimbabwe is being illustrated today within academic literature as well as more popular texts, the study demonstrates the role and power of discourse in relation to questions regarding who is authorized to write history and define heritage. Special focus is placed on discourse’s implications on the perception of reality and identity within a context heavily tainted by colonialism. This investigation is a pilot study which hopes to encourage further research on the representation of heritage sites that are vulnerable to political discourses. / Studien undersöker den nuvarande diskursen kring Stora Zimbabwe genom att identifiera och analysera spår från den koloniala terminologin inom dagens litterära illustrationer. Syftet är att urskilja dominanta västerländska idéer och perspektiv inom diskursen och granska dess inflytande. Genom att undersöka hur Stora Zimbabwe illustreras inom dagens akademiska och mer populära litteratur kan studien demonstrera diskursens roll och maktposition, vilket leder till frågor om vem som bär på rätten att definiera historia och kulturarv. Speciellt fokus har lagts på diskursens påverkan vad gäller hur människan uppfattar verkligheten och hur identiteter formas inom den koloniala kontexten. Underökningen är en förstudie som hoppas kunna uppmuntra vidare forskning som behandlar representationen av kulturarv som formats och påverkats av politiska diskurser.

The subject of this thesis is the animal bones deriving from foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and dogs (Canis familiaris) found in the Pitted Ware Culture site of Ajvide, located in the Eksta parish on Gotland, Sweden. The multiple excavations of this site have uncovered large amounts of osteological material, of which animal bones make up about 2500kg. The aim of this case study is to unveil the purpose and function of foxes on Ajvide, while also comparing them with the previously known dogs. Additionally, the relation between man and fox is also a point of interpretation. The osteological analysis has determined foxes and dogs are distributed decently evenly, the dog being a bit more common. The spatial analysis determined that both fox- and dog bones were most common in the activity areas called “black areas”. The analysis has determined that the foxes skulked around the locale, scavenging for slaughter waste from the human slaughter of seals and fish. It has also been theorized how the foxes of Ajvide did not possess a ritualistic significance to the peoples of Ajvide.

This thesis explores in what way the organisation IHOPE discuss the concept of Anthropocene in text. The texts analysed are based on a selection from publications on IHOPE’s webpage that encompass the word ‘Anthropocene’. The thesis further discusses the role of archaeology in the Anthropocene debate and glances at the agency theory in a discussion of the emergence of Anthropocene as defined as a new geological era. The thesis also discusses this definition and compares it to other alternative definitions as well as diving into the debate of the starting point of this proposed era. A short introduction is made of environmental determinism and its role in archaeology, and how that possibly relates to the background for the idea of Anthropocene. The texts analysed are presented through John Dryzek’s categories for discourse analysis on environmental issues in order to answer the research questions. / Studien utforskar hur organisationen IHOPE diskuterar konceptet Antropocen i sina texter. Texterna som analyseras baseras på ett urval av publikationer från IHOPE:s hemsida, specifikt de som använder ordet ‘Antropocen’. Studien diskuterar även rollen för arkeologi i debatten kring Antropocen och tittar på agensteori i en diskussion kring uppkomsten av Antropocen i dess definition som en geologisk period. Studien diskuterar även denna definition and jämför den med andra definitioner samt dyker in i debatten gällande när denna geologiska period anses ha börjat. En kort introduktion till miljödeterminism ges och dess roll inom arkeologi samt hur det kan relatera till bakgrunden för idén om Antropocen. Texterna som analyseras presenteras genom användningen av John Dryzeks kategorier som är utformade för diskursanalyser av miljörelaterade frågor. Metoden används för att söka besvara forskningsfrågorna.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the study of Nordic Bronze Age oakcoffin-burialmounds from dif-ferent Bronze Age periods. By presenting and analyzing casestudies such as: Håga, Borum Eshøj, Lusehøj and Skelhøj. With all cases representing different subperiods within Montelius periodization of the nordic bronze age: Skelhøj period II, Borum Eshøj III, Håga IV and Lusehøj V, thus presenting a good overview of the period as a whole. Analysis will be based on questions relating to discussions and interpretations that researchers have published regarding oakcoffin burialmounds. The is to aim contribute a deeper overall understanding of how researchers have dealt with the oakcoffin burialtradition during the Nordic Bronze Age. The results of my analysis indicate some common themes among researchers. Themes such as emphasis on: contact-networks, status, burial practice and conservation is often included in the study on oakoffin burialmounds. The main difference between cases is the opportunities that indi-vidual burials give researchers.

This study means to interpret two vase-painting and document the vases as they are unpublished. The method used to interpret is Panofsky’s three stage iconographic analysis. Different part of the motifs has been analyzed to see if the paintings should be interpreted in a context of wool-working or if another interpretation would be better suited. Kalathoi are a type of basket normally used to store wool and is depicted in the context of wool-working, and both vases in this study depict women with kalathoi. The interpretation is based on the various parts of the motifs, the wool baskets, an object that can be either a mirror or a spindle, a headdress, and the clothes the women in the paintings wear. At first glance there is no obvious reading of the paintings. Because of this, ambiguous motifs are discussed. The study’s theory is based on the idea that pictures have a deeper meaning than simply aesthetically pleasing. The vases are dated to the fifth century BC and are believed to be Attic in origin. Other vases from the time period and of the same vase type and motif has been compared to those in the study. A possible context for the vases is discussed as the original is unknown and who could have owned those vases. The study results in that the interpretation of the vase-paintings most likely is not directly related to wool-working. Instead, they are meant to represent the respected wife’s responsibilities in the household. Wool-working is an activity strongly connected to the household and kalathoi have because of that become a marker for the home. However, the motifs do not lose their connection to wool-work, it has been grouped together with the other responsibilities. The studied vases also were most likely owned by women and because of the history of the vase type in funerary context they are interpreted to have been originally deposited in graves.

This paper is a study of the Swedish fornborg Torsburgen on Östergarnslandet, Gotland. This is the largest fornborg on Gotland and it has an area of 112 hectares. The northern, eastern and western parts of the plateau, on which Torsburgen is lying, has natural cliffs of up to 30 meters, while there in the southern part is a two-kilometer-long wall. During the 1980´s a part of the wall was excavated in an attempt to date the construction. The conclusion was, that it had many different building stages. The earliest find was dated to the later Roman Iron Age (AD 200-400) and that period is therefore also the focus of this paper.  The aim of this paper is to explain different hypotheses of why this wall was built (for what reason) and what purpose did it fulfill in society. Archaeological finds from Gotland, dated to the period of the later Roman Iron Age, often show connections to the Roman Empire and therefore the construction could be a result of influences from that part of the world.  It is however, with today’s knowledge, not possible to point out one specific reason why the wall of Torsburgen was built and for what reason they needed to fortify the area of 112 hectares. It could have been an invading force, but it could just as likely have been a need of a hideout to protect the inhabitants on the island from an invading force. Other hypotheses are that it could have been a place for religious practice or a hideout for exiled people, which some people claim that an episode in the Gotlandic legend Gutasagan is about. Hopefully archaeological finds in the future could lead to new knowledge and maybe result in an answer of why this monument is standing there.

Conflict in Archaeology is a subject which have risen in interest during the last decades. This essay will focus mainly on the conflict which can be seen on individuals found at Kanaljorden in Motala. The site was excavated between 1999 and 2013 and showed ten individuals buried on a stonebed nearby Motala stream. The individuals were seen with a large amount of trauma directed towards the skull and differentiated depending on sex. The way the individuals were buried and the large amount of trauma was unique for Scandinavia and the world. There have been many theories of why the people buried in Kanaljorden was selected and what purpose it had for the people that buried them there. There have been speculations from war trophies to ritual killings. This essay is therefore focused on making comparisons and analogies with other cases of burials and conflicts from Scandinavia and the world to get clues why the people of Kanaljorden was selected for burial. It could be concluded that skull trauma of the buried individuals was common in Mesolithic and Neolithic Scandinavia and world. The difference in injuries depending on sex indicate a structured society were women and men had different roles during war and conflict. Further was it concluded that the individuals found at Kanaljorden could probably have been deposited because of their importance for the tribe, or forefathers’ worship.

The aim of this study is to semantically analyze the use of marked and unmarked adjunct clauses in Middle Egyptian documentary texts in order to investigate the limits of choosing an unmarked form in more informal language use. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in the analysis. The results show that marked adjunct clauses are more frequent than unmarked, and the choice between these two is to a great extent based on the semantic role of the clause. Additionally, unmarked forms can often be regarded as marked, e.g. by tense or mood, and the overall co(n)text, which indicates that markedness should be seen as a continuum, instead of two polar opposites marked and unmarked. Consequently, the results indicate that markedness – although in different forms – is the norm in non-literary Middle Egyptian texts, thus differing from the official language that is used in literary, royal, and religious texts. Furthermore, the present study has a diachronic dimension. The comparison between texts from the earlier and later Middle Kingdom clearly show the development in the use of adjunct clauses that took place between Old and Late Egyptian, when marked forms eventually became the norm in all language use. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att semantiskt analysera markerade och icke-markerade bisatser i mellanegyptiska dokumentära texter för att klargöra gränserna för användningen av icke-markerade former i ledigare språkbruk. För denna studie tillämpades både en kvalitativ och en kvantitativ metod. Resultaten visar att markerade bisatser är mer frekventa än icke-markerade, och att valet mellan dessa två former i stort sett beror på bisatsens semantiska roll. I många fall kan icke-markerade bisatser dessutom vara mer eller mindre markerade, bl.a. med hjälp av tempus och modus. Därför bör fenomenet markerad och icke-markerad betraktas som ett kontinuum istället för två motpoler. Resultaten tyder med andra ord på att markering – om än på olika sätt – är norm i det mindre formella mellanegyptiska språkbruket. Denna norm skiljer sig i detta avseende från det officiella språkbruket, som är typiskt i bl.a. litterära och religiösa texter. Denna studie innefattar dessutom en diakronisk del. Jämförelsen mellan tidigare och senare texter från Mellersta riket visar tydligt den utveckling i användningen av bisatser som skedde mellan gammalegyptiska och senegyptiska, då markerade bisatser till slut blev norm i allt språkbruk.

This bachelor’s thesis aims to reconstruct the coastal road of northern Sweden during the Finnish war 1808–1809. The thesis purpose is also to discuss what kind of archaeological remains can be found in northern Sweden from the war 1808-1809 and if the archaeological remains are vulnerable to future exploitation. Reconstruction of the road and mapping of the archaeological remains are done through an ArcGIS-analysis, where past conditions such as soil type and postglacial rebound are studied. The old coastal road was used by the military in 1808-1809 to move troops and shipments between different coastal settlements and cities. Today, large parts of the old coastal road are overlapped by highway E4, but some parts remain. A good number of archaeological remains from the war 1808-1809 can be found along the coastal road and there is a high concentration of remains around Sävar, Umeå and Kalix. The largest upcoming and ongoing project in northern Sweden is the construction of the railway “Norrbotniabanan” between Umeå and Luleå. This type of exploitation has showed to interfere with parts of the old coastal road, as well as some of the archaeological remains from the war 1808-1809.

This essay is about the earliest sites in the county of Norrbotten, Sweden. The sites are dated to the Mesolitic period through radiocarbon dating. This essay includes an analysis which is based on the lithic material from fourteen archaeological examined sites in the county of Norrbotten. The aim of this essay is to investigate if there are any significant differences between the sites comparing lithic raw-materials and artifacts. The quantitative analysis confirms differences between the sites and their lithic material. There are visible differences within the raw-materials, artefacts and amount of lithic material. The possible reasons for differences in the lithic material are discussed through the essay: settlement patterns, chronology and geographical location of the sites.