This paper examines the relationship between the landscape at Bronze Age figurative rock art sites in the province of Södermanland in Sweden with the types of motifs and number of motifs present at the sites. For this purpose, six different properties in the landscape are studied with GIS: Height above sea level, cardinal direction of the slope, distance to the shoreline, cardinal direction to the nearest body of water, visibility of the rock art sites from major waterways and coastline, and type of rock at the site. While comparing the landscape properties of rock art sites grouped by the motifs present, the landscape properties height above sea level, and distance to the shoreline differed the most between motifs. Footprint- and human motifs diverge the most from general patterns. As for the comparison of landscape properties between figure-rich sites and those with only one figure in total, the biggest differences in landscape were the height above sea level and types of rock present at the sites. The conclusion drawn is that while certain landscape properties differ between motifs or figure-rich and single-figure sites, there are also certain properties and patterns that were consistently chosen for all rock art sites in Södermanland.

This study turns to what is for many an everyday item – yogurt – as a critical zone observatory, a synergistic, place-based laboratory which aims to integrate heterogenous representations of planetary phenomena as they are registered at a common surface. Yogurt has an impressive cultural endurance largely derived from its prominence in various paradigms of health. The product has culturally endured in another sense: as a common cultural medium where humans and microbes have met for generations. This study begins with a profile of yogurt as most encounter it today to consider how normative notions of health interface with the temporal and spatial imaginaries entailed in commodity geographies. Commoditized yogurt is characterized by a low and limited microbial biodiversity compared to yogurts produced outside of the commodity context. Yogurt is therefore presented as a micro case study to consider modes by which we sense and valuate ecological phenomena beyond the perceptible surface, how such sens-abilities intersect models of health, and to what effect. To trace a history of yogurt along these contours, I introduce it as a particular kind of artefact: a global object. As an object of environmental history, I define a global object as a global commodity with a high potential to be re-localized, and therefore with a high potential to re-shape commodity geographies. However, this trajectory is contingent upon framing yogurt as a critical zone observatory – a site where global phenomena like human-microbial interaction may become familiar and intimate. Guided by new materialist theory, I weave together historical and ethnographic case studies from the following consortium: resident yogurt bacteria, artisanal yogurt producers and home fermenters, a mystical immunologist, and an 11th century linguistic scholar. Through these perspectives, I both sketch and apply a framework for de-centered, interspecies histories of cultural (re)production through an extended metaphor of biofilm: the coagulative bacterial structure giving yogurt its characteristic texture. In so doing I provide a re-articulation of “the probiotic” as an integrative case of human and more-than-human health. The study concludes by directing these implications towards a consideration of aesthetic engagement by displaying how fermentation practice may enliven matters of re-diversification and re-localization.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate which type of society could supply the resources required to construct the cairn monuments along the coastal regions of Västerbotten during the Bronze Age. The study is centered on a cluster of cairns within the parishes of Bygdeå, Nysätra and Lövånger, situated at elevations between 31-52 meters above today’s sea level. Through analyses and calculations of the cairns themselves and their proximity to stone quarrying materials, the volume of each cairn within the chosen cluster has been used to evaluate how long it took these monument builders to complete the construction of the cairns. The workforce required is shown to heavily depend on the size of the cairn and its location from the stone material. Theoretically some cairns could have been constructed in just a few days, whereas some took significantly more time to construct. The indicated social types capable of providing the necessary resources were found to be avariation of nomadic band and/or semi-sedentary tribal communities composed of extended families. Powerful cheiftains and societies with greater resources weren’t necessarily found to be a requirement. The procurement of food and other resources varied and over time the economic foundations gradually shifted from a mainly hunting and fishing reliance to embracing cultivation and animal husbandry.

This paper will focus on the behavioral patterns around two hearths from two different settlements in Sweden during the late Mesolithic Stone Age, by studying stone tools and production waste around the hearths.

The Runic scripture is very unique and complicated and has evolved for over centuries and resulted in unique Runic variants such as Gothic Runes, Anglo-Frisian and more. But where did Runes come from and how did they spread throughout Europe is what this paper will attempt to answer by going over multiple Runic objects as well as different historical literatures and databases in order to establish potential routes for which Runes could have spread through. Such as from Rhine to Northern Europe or from Germany to the rest of Northern Europe or Gaul to Northern Europe. However the people that spread the Runes are partially unknown with some suggesting that it was a group from a Germanic area that spread it, but no clear evidence appears until around 400 AD when a clear migration of people was visible in Frisia and England.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the narration between Swedish and British textbooks in history differs, with focus on the era of the Cold War. This study will also examine how the narration between countries has developed in history textbooks between 1959 and 2020, with three textbooks from each country. One textbook from Sweden and Britain written at the beginning of the Cold War, one from each country at the end of the Cold War and finally one from each country written in modern time for a retrospective view on the era. From what this study has concluded is that Swedish and British textbooks in history does differ in the earlier history textbooks with Sweden having a focus on a democracy narration during 1959 and 1996, but changes it's pragmatic neutrality story to a story of equality between the decades. The British history textbooks from 1963 and 1989 have in contrast a different focus, it's narration. During 1963 Britain has a variability story which develops into a prosperity story during the 1990’s. In the modern era of the 21-centuary, the textbooks from both Sweden and Great Britain share a similar form of narration, as both tell a history with focus on democracy and a latter form of the equality story.

The purpose of the study has been to investigate women's theft crime in northern Gotland during the 1840s, and whether the women have committed co-offending together with other perpetrators. The study uses the method of hermeneutic text analysis. The study used court books from Gotland's northern district court from the years 1845 to 1847. The study uses gender theory, which is used to analyze and emphasize power relations between women and other perpetrators. The results of the study show that most women have stolen because of poverty. Clothes and food were the most common items stolen. In the court records, it appears that women are described differently than men. Several women had poor knowledge of Christianity and had given birth to children out of wedlock and were therefore more vulnerable. When co- offending was studied, conclusions could be drawn that women often co-offended with men, and in court, several women declared that they had been forced or threatened to steal. Through the gender theory, it is possible to see tendencies towards unequal power relations within marriage, where women have a lower status than men. Women who co- offended with other women are more likely to have done so consensually. The didactic question of the study dealt with the subject of historical awareness, where the topic of the essay can be linked to discussions about women and crime and what change may be seen over time. The discussions are expressed in terms of gender and how gender patterns can change over time.

De kvinnliga kultledarna som vi känner som völvan eller valan tolkas traditionellt utifrån de materiella tingen som följt kvinnorna i graven. Ofta är dessa gravar enastående i sin sammansättning där de värdefulla och kännetecknande föremålen signalerar om den upphöjda statusen vilka dessa kvinnor ägt och förvaltat. I sammanhanget lyfts ofta två sådana völvagravar, Osebergsgraven och grav 4 i Fyrkat där de botaniska lämningarna också har förstärkt denna kontext utifrån växternas verkningsgrad som drog med vanebildande och hallucinogena egenskaper.  Med en utgångspunkt i arkeobotaniken och ett tvärvetenskapligt förhållningssätt undersöks hur specifika botaniska spår kan tolkas i flera olika kvinnogravar som anlagts under järnåldern. Ofta finns en etnobiologisk och folkloristisk historia kring växtmaterialet som kan fungera som användbara verktyg för den arkeologiska tolkningen. De botaniska lämningarna är oftast underrepresenterade i det arkeologiska materialet vilket också ofta ger en uteslutande bild av dess närvaro och betydelse. Genom att vända på perspektivet och låta de botaniska lämningarna styra materialsamling, undersökning och analys kan också andra tolkningsvärden, för hur vi definierar völvan, uppnås. / This essay presents alternative ways to interpret how we can connect the völva to archaeological material. This is traditionaly done thrue high status objects and personal belongings. The völva also represents an adecvat knowledge of healing, magic and also the power to anticipate the future which included a props of botanical skills. With that starting point, with the botanical remains as a reference, and what we can se and interpret in the archaeobotanical remains I want to, if possible, extend how we characterize the concept of the völva.

In this study the aim is to analyse lived religion in the miracle stories relating to the twoSwedish saints Brynolf of Skara and Nikolaus of Linköping. The purpose of the study isto contribute to the knowledge about the religion of individuals in the Middle Ages inSweden to give a broader view on religion. Along with analysing individual religiosityan analysis of the didactical possibilities of miracle stories has also been made. Ahermeneutical method has been used to analyse the material. The analysis of the miraclestories mostly aligned with earlier research. The study found among other things that ifan illness healed after a saint was called for help, then it did not need to be an instantrecovery. If the illness was concluded not to be able to heal on its own or with humanassistance, then recovery was regarded as a miracle.

Öland during the Migration age is known for its vast landscape, with a great amount of preserved house foundations covering the island. Previous research has yielded knowledge regarding its continuity and function in a largely developed agrarian landscape. However, one large category which has not been a focal point in archaeological studies is household pottery. Consequently, there is little knowledge regarding its craft and function. During recent excavations of a house foundation in Gamla Skogsby, many different vessels were found in situ. These findings contribute with a unique opportunity to study local household pottery from a known context. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the craft and use of the household pottery from the Migration age at Gamla Skogsby. In order to achieve the aim, analyses of thin sections have been conducted in consideration of studying craft traditions. Furthermore, an organic residue analysis was carried through to investigate the content of the vessels in relation to the agricultural practises. The thin section analysis demonstrates little variation regarding the choice and processing of the raw materials, which is interpreted as a well-developed craft tradition. Furthermore, the organic residue analysis did not yield any large amount of lipids; therefore, the pottery is interpreted as storage vessels.