Archaeological evidence has become an important part of the argument for the Indigenous peoples of several countries in legal proceedings concerning their rights. This thesis aims to explore how archaeologists and archaeological research are affected by acting as expert witnesses or being used as evidence in these proceedings. Another aim is to explore the differences and similarities between Sweden and Canada in these matters. The main material consists of interviews with seven archaeologists, four Swedish and three Canadian, whose research in various ways have been involved in legal proceedings concerning the rights of Indigenous peoples: The Sámi in Sweden and the Indigenous peoples of Canada. The analysis of the interviews is based on seven themes: awareness, impact, responsibility, experience, objectivity, archaeology and law and consequences. The result shows several things. It shows that the issue of archaeology in legal proceedings is a sensitive matter, and that the archaeologists have somewhat ambivalent feelings about it. It also shows that the involvement of archaeologists and archaeological evidence in these legal proceedings raises discussions about ethics, objectivity, and reputation. One conclusion to be drawn is that there is need for more open discussion and education on the subject.

Late Iron Age burials in Courland have primarily been used as signifiers of ethnical identity for larger groups of people, mainly based on later written sources. Based on gender theoretical perspectives, the burials can be understood as communicating different and varying, socially constructed identities. Dress pins are discussed as markers for a female identity among people of higher social standing. After the introduction of cremation burials, the need to communicate this identity through dress pins seems to disappear and women, as well as men, are buried with penannular brooches. A child’s grave indicates that this identity might have been adopted when the child reached a certain age and was considered to have reached social adulthood. / Vēlā dzelzs laikmeta Kurzemes apbedījumi galvenokārt tika izmantoti, lai izsekotu etnisko piederību lielākām cilvēku grupām, un balstās galvenokārt uz vēlākiem teksta avotiem. No dzimumu teorētiskā viedokļa apbedījumus var analizēt arī no dažādu un atšķirīgu sociāli konstruētu identitāšu skatu viedokļa. Rotadatas tiek apspriestas kā sieviešu identitātes izpausme no sabiedrības augstākajiem slāņiem. Pēc ugunskapu ieviešanas šīs identitātes izpausme ar rotadatām izskatās, ka pamazām izzūd, un gan sieviešu, gan vīriešu apbedījumos tiek atrastas pakavsaktas. Bērna apbedījums analīzes materiālā uzrāda, ka indivīda identitāte tika iegūta, kad bērns sasniedza noteiktu vecumu, kas tika pieņemts par sociāli pieaugušo vecumu.

The objective of this bachelor thesis is on Åsele and Lycksele church towns and early settlements in northern Sweden with the purpose of finding out if the archaeological source material shows the same or different results as the historical source material regarding when they were established, what sort of buildings and activities they had and if the proximity to the Sami people had any effect on the settlers. This is done by doing a comparative analysis between Åsele and Lycksele church towns through the excavated source material from archaeological surveys and their related reports.

A test of combining retrogressive analysis of historic maps of the Sigtuna area villages Billby, Bärmö, Eneby, Til and Venngarn from the seventeenth century with archaeobotanical results pertaining to the tenth, eleventh and twelfth century. The study examines meadow distribution and character while aiming to determine to what extent retrogressive and archaeobotanical methods can compliment each other. Through the combination of methods, landscape change is discussed.  I explore how these meadows changed from the eleventh century to the seventeenth, which meadows could reasonably be presumed to have originated in prehistoric or early historic times and whether the hypothetical habitats produced by a previous archaeobotanical study of Sigtuna macrofossils could be tied to the meadows. The study shows that the grassland was generally wetter in the eleventh century, and that thirteen out of twenty meadows may have originated already in prehistoric time and been more or less continually mowed until at least late seventeenth century. Wet meadows, calcareous wet meadows, water meadows and potentially calcareous fens could be detected in the investigated area. The study shows that the multi-disciplinary approach as well as source pluralism indeed results in a beneficial analysis synergy and that the meadows in question are possible points of origin for the macrofossils from some of Sigtuna’s oldest strata.

This thesis discusses what associations Viking Age women and weapons had according to extant sources and how they can present in the grave material. In order to achieve this, literary sources, iconographic representations, and grave material are studied and compared in order to reach a deeper understanding of these associations and what they look like in the archaeology. The literary and iconographic source materials in this thesis are limited those from within, or shortly after, the Viking Age. The grave material in this thesis is also dated to the Viking Age and consists of weapon graves with osteologically determined inhumed females located in Gerdrup, Kaupang, Aunvoll, Nordre Kjølen, and Birka.

Uppsatsen ämnar belysa kommensala gnagare inom arkeologin och förmedla potentialen för vidare forskning. Den medeltida bebyggelsen i Västergarn, Gotland agerar fallstudie där benen från små gnagare analyserats och diskuterats utifrån mikro- och makroarkeologins teoretiska vinklar. För den osteologiska analysen undersöktes benen med mikroskop för att se till ålder, spår av sjukdom och minsta individantal. I en rumslig analys sattes benen i jämförelse med de husgrunder som påträffats på platsen. Resultatet visade att materialet som fanns tillhandahållet endast innehöll de större benelementen, mest troligt till följd av den alltför stormaskiga sållen som användes vid utgrävningen. Benen som analyserades härrörde från mestadels mycket unga individer som befann sig i eller i anslutning till husgrunderna. Ett ben hade även en sjuklig förändring. Materialet visar på stor potential för framtida tvärvetenskaplig forskning där eventuella handelsrutter, sjukdomsrisker och matkonsumtion kan belysas. / This thesis aims to shed light on commensal rodents in archaeology and convey the potential for future research. The medieval settlement in Västergarn, Gotland was chosen for a case study where the rodent bones were analyzed and discussed based on micro- and macroarchaeological theoretical views. For the osteological analysis the bones were examined through a microscope to determine age, signs of disease and minimum number of individuals. The bones were put into context through a spatial analysis with the building foundations of the archaeological site. The results showed that the material at hand only contained the larger bone elements from the bodies, possibly because of the smaller bones falling through the big mesh sieve. The individuals were mostly very young and encountered near or within the building foundations. One bone had a pathological alteration. The material showed great promises for future interdisciplinary research where potential trading routes, risks of diseases and food consumption can all be made clearer.

Denna uppsats syftar till att kritiskt undersöka de akademiska diskurserna kring den symboliska tolkningen av förhistoriska Komari-motiv på Rapa Nui (Påskön). Genom att undersöka ett antal olika källor kommer uppsatsen att ge en översiktlig genomgång av de aktuella akademiska diskurserna samt diskutera de olika tolkningarna av symboliken hos komari-motiven. Genom att kombinera diskursanalys med ett feministiskt arkeologiskt perspektiv och ett postkolonialt perspektiv är huvudsyftet med uppsatsen att bedöma i vilken utsträckning den sociala konstruktionen av kön och sexualitet samt koloniala idéer har påverkat tolkningarna av symbolerna. / This essay aims to critically examine the academic discourses surrounding the symbolic interpretation of prehistoric Komari-motifs in Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The analysis will draw on a variety of sources and will give a brief overview of the academic discourses in question and discuss the different interpretations of the symbolism behind the komari-motifs. Combining discourse analysis with a feminist archaeology perspective and a postcolonial perspective, the main aim of the essay is to assess to what extent the social construction of gender, sexuality and colonialist ideas influenced the development of theories regarding the symbols.

This thesis examines the role of archaeology and its contribution to emergency relief work in areas struck by a disastrous event. At a time in our contemporary society where we may be extra vulnerable against disasters, archaeology can help us both prevent and reduce the risks of disasters. In areas where a disaster has struck it can instead help the survivors of the affected community to recover and to rebuild their society by using traditional archaeological methods and knowledge. Despite this, archaeology is not used to its full potential at disaster scenes.  Incorporating evidence from articles, personal correspondences and a survey, this thesis demonstrates that archaeology should be more involved in the initial phase of emergency rescue work due to the usefulness of archaeological excavation methods. Archaeology also shows great potential in regards to preventative measures and general research around disaster management.  This thesis argues for an increased involvement of archaeology and archaeologists in the initial phase of emergency relief in areas affected by a disastrous event. It also argues for more open discussions regarding the emotional difficulties that may arise from working at a disaster scene, allowing the workers to freely share their experiences with one another even in an academic setting.

Among the many shifts within public archaeology and heritage during recent years is an endeavour to find new methods of engagement which has been broadly undertaken within the field. This thesis suggests one such method could be found in the use of Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs). It does so by examining the current issues in public archaeology and how an intersection between archaeology and game studies could be applied. This includes the importance of empathy and roleplaying in understanding of the past and how this could be applied to the field of public archaeology. / Under de senaste åren har det funnits en strävan av att hitta nya metoder för att presentera och engagera människor för arkeologi och kulturarv. I den här uppsatsen har en sådan metod i form av brädspel som inkluderar rollspel (TTRPGs) presenterats och analyserats. I uppsatsen tas aktuella frågor inom publik arkeologi upp och hur interaktionen mellan arkeologi och spelstudier skulle kunna tillämpas och bidra till att engagera människor i arkeologi och kulturarv.  Studien inkluderar betydelsen av empati och rollspel och hur detta skulle kunna appliceras inom området publik arkeologi.

Bread is an important cultural and social marker, and it occurs in many contexts, often preserved as carbonised. However, as bread fragments are typically small and anonymous, their total value of them is not appreciated. Often bread material is grouped simply as organic and not considered. Material from Late Iron Age and the early Medieval times Gamla Uppsala, Valsgärde, and Gnista (Uppland County, Sweden) is analysed here. In this text, both settlement and ritual contexts were taken into consideration in the trends concerning bread production and/or consumption. This thesis aims to establish a protocol for distinguishing bread from other carbonised materials, including a macroscopic description that can be used in the field. Micro morphological and lipids analyses are relevant resources to study charred bread-like fragments recovered in archaeological contexts. Other laboratory methods, including FTIR, GC–MS, and GCIMS, were used alongside these methods. Experimental archaeology allowed for the build-up of a list of references to compare the material collected in the field. Developing a method to study these remains sheds light on the cultural value of bread, one of the most spread foodstuffs, and its connections with conviviality. / Bröd är en viktig kulturell och social markör, och det förekommer i många sammanhang ofta bevarat som förkolnat. Men eftersom brödfragmenten vanligtvis är små och anonyma, uppskattas inte deras fulla värde. Brödmaterial sorteras ofta endast som organiskt material och tas inte i vidare beaktning. Material mellan yngre järnålder och tidig medeltid från Gamla Uppsala, Valsgärde och Gnista (Upplands Län, Sverige) analyseras här. I denna text har både bosättnings- och rituella sammanhang beaktats för att undersöka trenderna kring brödproduktion och/eller konsumtion. Denna uppsats syftar till att identifiera bröd från annat förkolat material inklusive en makroskopisk beskrivning som kan användas i fält. Mikromorfologiska analyser och lipidanalyser är relevanta metoder för att studera förkolnade brödliknande fragment från arkeologiska sammanhang. Vid sidan av dessa metoder användes andra laboratoriemetoder, som inkluderade FTIR, GC–MS och GCIMS. Experimentell arkeologi gjorde det möjligt att bygga upp en lista med referenser för att jämföra det material som samlats in i fält. Dessa metoder används för att belysa det kulturella värdet av bröd, ett av de mest spridda livsmedlen och dess kopplingar till social gemenskap.