This study aims to identify human interference and tendencies in the Bronze Age settlement of Malthi, Greece. It has employed a spatial analysis, a Kernel Density Estimate, to locate areas of anthropic interference and evaluate if the initial excavation report, despite its flaws, can be used in newer research. The study was able to identify intense Middle Helladic human presence on some of the areas of the settlement, mainly the ‘central terrace’, prove that Natan Valmin’s excavation report can still be used to gain new knowledge regarding the Bronze Age, and that a thorough investigation of the standing architecture needs to be done. / Syftet med den här studien är att identifiera mänsklig närvaro och tendenser på bronsåldersboplatsen i Malthi, Grekland. En rumslig analys, en Kernel Density Estimation, har använts för att lokalisera områden av mänsklig närvaro och har utvärderat om original utgrävningsrapporten, trots sina brister, kan användas i ny forskning. Studien kunde identifiera intensiv Mellanhelladisk närvaro i några delar av boplatsen, mestadels på ’central terrassen’, och kunde visa att Natan Valmins utgrävningsrapport kan användas för att få ny kunskap om bronsåldern, och att en ingående studie av de stående arkitektoniska elementen måste göras.

The intention with this thesis is to improve the method to assess dental wear as an age indicator by examining its correlation with the closure of cranial suture and the influence diet has on dental wear. This thesis explores this correlation through a comparative study between a collection of skulls with unknown context and a control group with known context. Age assessment of cranial sutures is one of the oldest and most questionable methods of physical anthropology. The studies that were carried out in the beginning of the 21st century have shown a useful correlation between the cranial sutures closure and age assessment. Research on food is essential for understanding a society, and dental health has always been important for wellbeing. A difference between populations today and historical populations is the dental wear that causes infections. All these premises make this research interesting to explore further, to learn more about what the teeth can tell us about historic populations.

Ättestupa has been a contentious practice ever since the translation of Gautreks saga. This senicide practice has largely been viewed as a parody of the culture of Västergötland and has received little attention. But with new interest in the modern practice of Death Cleaning, we might finally understand Ättestupa as a real tradition. By understanding the placement of burden, and views of suicide, as well as the investigation into the material world around aging and death Ättestupa can be viewed as the ancestor to Death Cleaning, and thus as a window into this past practice. By comparing these two practices we also build a framework for how modern death practices can be used to understanding the archaeology of aging and beyond through the use of various archaeological approaches that take into account different sources of knowledge and the different ways that these sources can be approached.

Lithic artifacts are used in the understanding of human history. In order to do so, analyses and categorizations are made of the artifacts with the use of several methods and terminology. In this thesis, the minimum analytical nodule analysis (MANA) is used as method to analyze assemblages of lithic artifacts from 16 archaeological sites in Sweden. The sites date to Middle Mesolithic (c. 6800–5500 BC) and Late Mesolithic (c. 5500–3900 BC). The aim is to try to understand activities at the sites, and the theory of social organization is used. The results of the study indicate that it is possible to divide the sites into three types based on activity scenarios. In addition to this, the words ‘mobility’ and ‘sedentism’ are problematized in an attempt to understand how mobility and sedentism can be interpreted, both in the light of previous research and based on the results of this study. / Litiska artefakter används i förståelsen av människans historia. För att göra det, görs analyser och kategoriseringar av materialet med användning av flertalet metoder och terminologi. I den här uppsatsen, används minimum analytical nodule analysis (MANA) som metod för att analysera samlingar av litiska artefakter från 16 arkeologiska platser (eng. sites) i Sverige. Platserna är daterade till mellanmesolitikum (ca 6800–5500 f.Kr.) och senmesolitikum (ca 5500–3900 f.Kr.). Syftet är att försöka förstå aktiviteter på platserna, och teorin om social organisation används. Studiens resultat indikerar att det är möjligt att dela in platserna i tre typer baserat på aktivitetsscenarion. Därtill, problematiseras orden ’mobilitet’ och ’sedentism’ i ett försök att förstå hur mobilitet och sedentism kan tolkas, både i ljuset av tidigare forskning och baserat på resultaten av den här studien.

Animal bones found on archaeological sites can be connected to the economic structures of the society and what activities the humans performed. During the Merovingian Period and the Viking Age on the island of Gotland there are several sites that have been difficult to interpret. One of these sites is Signallottan which has several finds that are connected to iron working but also a lot of cremated animal bones. The proposed study investigates how the animal bones are connected to the site and what purpose they had. The study also compares the site to other archaeological sites to see how they differ. This will be achieved by analyzing the animal remains found at the site. The material consists of roughly 56 kilograms of bones that were excavated during 2018 and is currently stored in the osteological laboratory in Visby, Sweden. This study leaves some questions open but most likely Signallottan has only had one main purpose. What this purpose is, is still unknown and needs further research.

This paper contains an analysis of the bronzed keys with bird motifs that were discovered during archaeological investigations between the years 1991 and 1997 at Kyrksundet, in the archipelago of southwestern Finland. Bronzed keys with bird motifs have never been found in Finland before, but similar keys have been found both in Birka and on Gotland, Sweden. The aim with this paper is firstly to analyse and compare the keys from Kyrksundet, Birka and Gotland, and their find contexts. Secondly, together with the results from the analysis, the following questions will be discussed; What is the meaning behind the bird motif, why can these keys be found at Kyrksundet, and who were the people that had these keys in their possession during the Viking Age. The symbolic aspect of the keys is a strong theme in this discussion, because the underlaying theory in this paper is that the keys most likely had both a worldly and a cosmological meaning. Earlier archaeological investigations mainly have associated these keys with the Nordic peoples and their eastern connections during the Viking Age. Reason behind this association is that the birds on the motif have been interpreted as falcons and the falcon has a relatively strong connection to the Rurik dynasty that ruled in Novgorod and Kiev. Whether the bird is a falcon or not, is however a question that will be discussed in this paper. The analysis performed in this paper, shows that the bird motif on the keys shares more similarities with a raven motif that was used on the British Isles than with the falcon motif that was used in Novgorod and Kiev. This paper will therefore include a suggestion for another perspective, where the keys might be connected to the Nordic peoples and their western connections.

Cremated bones from animals has been recovered in conjunction with a number of hearths in Visby, Gotland. This find has started a controversial discussion in the archeological field regarding usage of bones as a supplement in iron working. Archeological investigations often tend to overlook the information that could be gained from osteological materials. Animal bones can give us insight and contribute with new perspectives on economics, diet, livestock and much more. The aim of this bachelor is therefore to look closer at the relations between bones and iron working and to establish if the bones were used to enhance the phosphorus levels of the iron. This will be achieved by analyzing cremated bones from the archeological site Visby RAÄ 230. The material will also be compared with previous studies regarding iron working.

This thesis will investigate how Roman monumental architecture in Tergeste dating to the first and second centuries AD reflected and reaffirmed the social order of the city, and how it was used in the creation and maintenance of identities. The material used will be two select structures, the basilica and theater, located in the eastern and north-eastern sections of Tergeste, respectively. By using theories of social architecture, agency, identity, and compounding them with the ideology of Roman urbanism, focus will be placed on how movement within a structure and the occupation of its different locales influenced the adoption of particular roles and self-conceptions. A number of statues and dedicatory inscriptions associated with the architectural structures will serve to further corroborate these points, and to add information about whether a specific type of identity was favored above others in the city. The results will provide a first overview of how architecture responded to the social reality in Roman Tergeste, in the hope to encourage further research in this direction.

This paper deals with how different operators use Sami history, what kind of use of history they apply. The material I have analysed are lesson plans from Samiskt informationscentrum, The Sami – an Indigenous People in Sweden by Sametinget and the government, brochures by Gaaltije/Sydsamiskt kulturcentrum and the journal Samefolket the years 1969-2018. The study answers two main questions: - Which use of history is made by the actors claiming Sami history? How do they use Sami history? - In what way are global historical references used in the writing of history? I have used a hermeneutic method as a tool in my analysis to try to understand in what aim the use of Sami history is made. My main conclusions are that there often are deep historical arguments that are used, where the authors in my material are trying to legitimize the presence of the Sami people as far back in time as possible. A genealogical perspective is used in all the material, where the history that is important for them is shown, as well as that the actions of the Sami peoples ancestor is often raised. This is connected with an ideological use of history, because arguments like “the Sami have been here as long as anyone can remember” are used. This is linked with the existential use of history where I see it as an aim to legitimize the rights of land, fishing, hunting and reindeer husbandry. There is also a moral use of history that are shown in connection with an existential use of history, where I see it as strive for remembering the history of the Sami, but also a reconciliation and restoration with the past. Often the moral, ideological and existential use of history is used together to achieve the same thing – more rights for the Sami’s. There is a political dimension of history culture that I see in my material where the history is used to legitimize, in this case, the rights of the Sami people. The use of global historical references is partly showed in Samefolket, some of the brochures and in one of the lesson plans about colonialism; where there are comparisons with how the Jews, the indigenous Americans and aborigines were treated.

Facial reconstructions, like archaeology, consists of many layers that one must get through to understand the whole picture. The development of the methods that reconstructions rely on, occurred during the 20th century. By focusing on the various elements such as studies of tissue depth, chemical processes (DNA and isotope analysis), solid craftsmanship and the development of computer technology, researchers around the world have been able to build a method that can give us an extended understanding of history. However, a lot of opinions have risen for the subject, people begin to question it ́s accuracy and what the real purpose really is. Besides the reliability of facial reconstruction, the experience of how a facial reconstruction is perceived by another person is equally important, the ethical principles have been brought up to discussion because it involves human remains. Discussions may occur during cases when facial reconstructions are inevitable, one example could be with minority groups that have a different view on how a body should be handled and treated after death. These scenarios are more likely to develop in the identification in forensic contexts, but the problem may also increase in archaeological contexts if the remains are from more recent times and the individuals as a population group has suffered repression. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss such questions but also embark on a mission to perform a facial reconstruction of an individual from the medieval church of St. Hans and the challenges that may occur during the way. The American method used in this essay shows that you can get a good result by following the instructions and guidelines that are displayed in various books and articles.