This paper deals with three mediaeval churches in the town Visby, Gotland. These churches were located in different areas in Visby. Allegedly the areas where St Hans and Ste Gertrud were located were inhabited by wealthier people, and the more peripheral area where St Mikael was located was where the poor lived. Therefore, the people that were buried at St Mikael should be of lower social status than the people buried at St Hans and Ste Gertrud. Based on the fact that an individuals diet was dependant on his or hers social status, dietary studies on skeletal remains from the three different churches have been conducted to find out dietary patterns among the individuals buried at each church respectively. The studies have included stable isotope ratio analyses, δ13C and δ15N, in human bone collagen. The results support the hypothesis that there were differences between individuals buried at different churches as stated above.

This dissertation deals with male and female social identities during the Middle Bronze Age (1600-1300 BC) in southern Scandinavia and northern Germany. South Scandinavian Bronze Age research has traditionally focused on the male sphere, while women have seldom been seriously considered or analysed in terms of their roles, power or influences on society. This study addresses the imbalance through discussing the evidence for gender relations, social structures and identity. The topic will be approached using case studies from different areas of northern Europe and from a variety of angles (e.g. costume and appearance, age, violence, long distance contacts), always drawing on the rich material from burials. How people presented themselves varied not only between different areas, but also over time. Groups that treated material culture in a fairly similar way during Period IB (c. 1600-1500 BC) start treating it in different ways during Period II (c. 1500-1300 BC). In southern Scandinavia during Period II the material culture is fairly similar on the whole, but the different geographical groups use the artefacts in different ways. The level of violence seems to have fluctuated in the area during the Middle Bronze Age, with some areas showing more signs of violence at certain times. On the other hand the view on ageing seems to have been fairly similar over a large part of central and northern Europe, and from age 14 one seems to have been regarded as an adult. The dissertation also shows that long distance contacts were important and wide-ranging, and people seem to have moved across large areas of Europe, even if the visible exogamous marriage pattern seems to have decreased in distance from Period IB to Period II. In conclusion, although there seems to have been a general European pattern concerning e.g. the view on age, the archaeological record reveals many local variations in how this was expressed, e.g. on the body.

This thesis examines the wetland sacrifices that were performed in Northern Europe in the Iron Age. Skedemosse on central Öland is the largest wetland sacrifice in Sweden and was the site of a cult which sacrificed animals and humans. Between the late second century and well into the fifth century the place was also used for large sacrifices of military equipment. New radiocarbon dates has shown that the place functioned as a ritual place from the Pre Roman Iron Age and into the Late Viking Age. Both in the Iron Age and later wetlands seem to have been both venerated and feared and the thesis discusses why this came to be, and how it can be seen in the archaeological material. A smaller part of the sacrificial site of Skedemosse was selected for a closer study and it was possible to establish several depositions which appear to have been treated slightly different from each other. The investigations of the animal sacrifices have focused on the horses as they are the most common animal. The horse was an important mythological animal in the Iron Age and they were equally important in the cult. The horses in Skedemosse were eaten in ritual meals, and it is possible that some of them took part in ritual races along the ridge east of the former lake.  Such races were called skeið and the name Skedemosse may be derived from this word. Skedemosse is also rare because the remains of ca 38 people have been found in it. Some of these people have suffered a violent death. They are compared to other bog bodies from northern Europe and the follow a similar pattern to those; In the Pre Roman Iron Age mainly women and children were sacrificed and after the first century AD mainly men ended up in the lake.

The purpose with this thesis is to study how the arranging of archaeological objects in permanent exhibitions has changed over time. To find out about this I have been analysing three museums with prehistorical permanent exhibitions. The exhibition at Statens Historiska museum was produced in 2005, Nationalmuseum in Köpenhamn was produced in 1972 with additions from 1988 and 1995 and, finally, Malmö Museer exhibition which was produced in 1977. These exhibitions have been compared to analyse developments during the last 30 years. The result shows that there are different ideals within the exhibitions. Over time, these ideals have been focused more on the visitors and they have tried to appeal to the visitors through themes where the objects have been placed into a narrative. However there are many styles of exhibiting prevalent today that go back all the way to the beginning of the 20th century. / Uppsatsens syfte är att ta reda på hur sättet att ställa ut arkeologiska föremål i basutställningar har förändrats över tid. Detta har jag undersökt genom tre utställningsbesök på Statens Historisk museum som hade en forntidsutställning som var producerad 2005, Nationalmuseum i Köpenhamn vars utställning var från 1972 med tillägg 1988 och 1995 samt Malmö Museer utställning från 1977. Dessa utställningar har sedan jämförts för att se vad som har hänt under de senaste 30 åren. Resultatet blev att det finns olika ideal inom utställningarna. Över tid har idealen blivet mer publikvänliga och har försökt tilltala publiken i större utsträckning genom teman där föremålen sätts in i en berättelse. Dock finns det mycket gestaltningsmässiga grepp som lever kvar sedan början av 1900-talet.

Jag har gjort en jämförande studie mellan utvecklingen i Danmark och utvecklingen på Gotland under romersk järnålder. Som underlag har jag framförallt använt Lotte Hedeagers avhandling Danmarks jernalder – Mellem stamme og stat (Hedeager 1992) och Kerstin Cassels redovisning av det arkeologiska källmaterialet från Gotland i hennes avhandling Från grav till gård – romersk järnålder på Gotland (Cassel 1998). Syftet med studien var att undersöka om Hedeagers slutsats att det etablerades en centralmakt med territoriell kontroll, en tidig stat, i Danmark redan i övergången mellan äldre och yngre romersk järnålder, även skulle gå att dra vad gäller Gotland baserat på det gotländska källmaterialet, och i så fall om detta kunde förklara uppkomsten av stengrundsbebyggelse och fornborgar. Jag har jämfört det arkeologiska källmaterialet från Danmark och Gotland avseende gravfynd och offerfynd, bebyggelseutveckling och landskapsutnyttjande samt vapenoffer och försvarsanläggningar. Vad gäller gravfynden går det att se stora likheter både i hur gravgodset ser ut och i de förändringar som sker mellan äldre och yngre romersk järnålder. Det går också att se stora likheter i kulturlandskapets utveckling med en övergång från ett extensivt åkerbruk med kollektivt brukande till familjejordbruk med intensiv odling. Både på Gotland och i Danmark kan man datera storskaliga försvarsanläggningar till slutet av äldre eller yngre romersk järnålder. Exempel på detta är Olmerdiket och Torsburgen. En väsentlig skillnad mellan Danmark och Gotland är hur praktföremål fördelas mellan offerfynd och gravar övertiden från förromersk järnålder till folkvandringstid. Det jag kommit fram till är att likheterna är så stora att man genom att tillämpa Hedeagers analysmodell kan dra slutsatsen att omläggning av jordbruket, uppkomst av stengrundshus och stensträngar, och anläggande av försvarsborgar gjorts på initiativ av en centralmakt med kontroll över det gotländska territoriet.

In this study bone material from six stone ship settings and a total of seven deposits of bones from two sites on the island of Gotland have been analyzed. Four ship settings from the burial site at Gålrum in Alskog parish and two from Tängelgårda in Lärbro parish. The ships contained both cremated remains and inhumations.  Human remains were identified in five of the analyzed ship settings and a minimum of six individuals was identified in total.  Animals were found in three of the ship settings, where one of them contained only the burned remains of a dog. Two of the ships contained inhumations, one in Gålrum and one in Tängelgårda. The one from Gålrum was determined to 17-19 years of age but of undetermined sex. The inhumation from Tängelgårda was determined to a male of 35-64 years of age.  Of the cremated remains none could be determined to sex but all were determined as adult individuals. The temperature that the cremated bones had been exposed to during the cremation was similar between the different ship settings, with one exception which had been exposed to a slightly higher temperature. The results of the material have also been compared with those of other osteological analysis from ship settings on Gotland. The interpretation of this has been that the amount of bone and the number of individuals that has been buried in stone ship settings vary from different sites. Some ship settings have contained several burials and have been interpreted as family graves (Pettersson 1982) which do not fit with the results from this analysis where all the ship settings contained a maximum of one or two human individuals, so the results from the ship settings on Gålrum and Tängelgårda differ from earlier interpretations of ship settings on Gotland.

Sigtuna’s trade and production has been the subject of an increasing amount of archaeological investigations during the last 30 years. However, most of the research has been conductedregarding the buildings, coin mints and precious metal objects. This thesis will instead research one of the basics of the production, namely the iron. By reviewing the iron objectsand currency bars from house X in the city block Humlegården 3. Through high precision studies with conservation and scanning electron microscope I will be able to come one step closer to identifying what sort of items were produced on the site and discerning what status and function the smithy had. I will also investigate the possibility to track the origin of the iron. / Sigtunas handel och produktion har varit föremål för ett ökande antal arkeologiska undersökningar de senaste 30 åren. De flesta av dessa undersökningar har handlat ombyggnader, mynthus och föremålsstudier. Den här uppsatsen kommer istället att undersöka ett av hantverken som krävs för att kunna utföra många andra hantverk, nämligen järnhantverk. Genom att undersöka järnfynden och ämnesjärnen från hus X i kvarteret Humlegården 3, via detaljerade studier som inkluderar konservering och Svepelektronmikroskop, kommer jag att komma ett steg närmare vilka föremål som producerats på platsen samt utröna vad för status och funktion smedjan hade. Jag kommer även undersöka om det är möjligt att säga någonting om järnets ursprung.

The first part of this essay focuses on how we relate to the landscape at the international and the national level today. The landscape convention is presented and compared to actual current Swedish policies. Different definitions of landscape are discussed. The second part renders the landscape in different archaeological contexts. The central theme is the attempt to investigate if and how we can approach prehistoric man by looking at the landscape as a socially constructed concept. How we should relate to thelandscape from a prehistoric standpoint today is the topic of the third and final part of the study.

Mainly focusing on the big picture regarding the research concerning the religious sphere in Bronze Age Scandinavia, the research field has been missing out on the smaller picture. The results have a tendency to produce a picture where the big landscape monuments, social structures and cosmology appear in the foreground. This essay is a comment to this phenomena and a methodological and terminological discussion regarding the way in which we as archaeologist’s works with questions about religion and rites. The main task though is to make an attempt in trying to identify the ritual performers and to answer the question whether it's possible or not to do that. This kind of work needs empirical studies with a theoretical background. The grave material can be the key to find these individuals since it's a context where the person’s belongings can be connected with the individual. The theoretical stance is that the Bronze Age research has been unable to identify these performers and that this in factcan be done. The etuis of belongings discovered for the first time in 1845 with the archaeological excavation of the Hvidegaard grave outside Copenhagen in Denmark, containing objects referred to as magical objects, can be one way to make these actors of rites come alive.The etuis of belongings and other grave material are presented in this work and a discussion about the graves material is made. The approach to study the bigger picture by studying the small empirical material is also made in this essay where a model of the ritual sphere is presented in the results with an attempt to show a none official cult existing side by side and in interaction with the official one.

One of the most discussed archaeological subjects is the neolitisation, and the start of a neolithic lifestyle which is characterized by several significant events. The traditional view has been that settled people were cultivating and breeding, but this picture has been questioned and changed in later years. The development is principally based on two models; that already neolithic people immigrated and took over, or that the new lifestyle gradually developed out of the existing cultures. Southern Scandinavia was characterized by a settlement pattern with permanent settlements which were complemented by temporary special settlements, but in time more domestic settlements originated. On the British Isles the settlements didn´t consist of permanent agricultural settlements but instead did the people here move freely between several short term settlements.