Den här uppsatsen undersöker källkulten i Mellan- och Sydsverige, där syftet är att ta reda på om en kultkontinuitet eller diskontinuitet finns. Studien utgörs av tre fallstudie bestående av tre heliga källor, Svinnegarns källa, Gödåkers brunn samt Flistad brunn. Utöver fallstudierna undersöks heliga källor ur ett historiskt, sakralt och folkloristiskt perspektiv för att ge förståelse för seder och trosuppfattningar som angår heliga källor i Sverige. Studien söker efter data föratt styrka kultkontinuitet i källkulten. Kultkontinuitet fungerar därför som ett ramverk genom uppsatsen. Med en komparativ metod, samt genom litteraturstudier, nådde uppsatsen slutsatsen att en kultkontinuitet finns i källkulten. Källkulten har genomgått flera förändringar över tid och den huvudsakliga faktorn som varit drivande i kultens utveckling är kristendomen och kyrkan. / This essay investigates the spring cult in central and southern Sweden, where the aim is to find out whether cult continuity or discontinuity exists. The study consists of three case studies covering three sacred springs, Svinnegarns spring, Gödåkers well and Flistad well. In addition to the case studies, sacred springs are examined from a historical, sacral, and folkloristic perspective to provide an understanding of customs and beliefs concerning holy springs in Sweden. The study searches for data to substantiate cult continuity in the spring cult. Cult continuity therefore serve as a framework throughout the essay. With a comparative method and literature studies, the essay reached a conclusion that cult continuity exists in the spring cult. The spring cult has undergone several changes over time and the main factor that has been driving the cult's development is Christianity and the church.

The main purpose for this paper is to study iron artefacts excavated in the Black Earth harbour district of Birka. This locale, positioned on the island Björkö in Adelsö par. Sweden, is one of the mayor sites in regard to the Scandinavian Viking age. The how and why of the corrosive process will be touched upon. Specifically how archaeological iron interacts with the soil in which it is found, and what can be done to prevent unnecessary decay after excavation. This, in turn, leads to an observation of how methods have changed in regard to the conservation of archaeological iron, from the processes used in the early days of the field, to the more present day with the method utilized in this study. The conservation of said artefacts is for this study accomplished through the use of a conventional chemical method called EDTA. The usability of this method with waterlogged metallic artefacts is tested. The product of the conservation work revealed the objects to be mostly, iron rivets, bolts or nails. Not too surprising when the articles came from an area widely believed to be a harbour. This specific chemical solution proved not to be a sufficient conservation method for the waterlogged metal objects examined in this paper. This was due to the notably hard crust that covered the objects and the structural fragility of the artefacts. Specific analyses of some of the artefacts were undertaken due to the emergence of substantial amounts of depositions in the final steps of the process. Using XRD, XRF and IR-spectroscopy, the depositions were analysed and the result showed that the depositions most likely consists of a blend of non-water-soluble iron phosphates.

In Ancient Egypt, names were very important, in this life and the next. Gods had a multitude of names, and kings were usually given five names, but also private individuals could have several names, given at birth or later. One of these names was called rn nfr (the good name), and it was especially prevalent during the Old Kingdom. The term rn nfr slowly disappeared during the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom, but reappeared during the Late Period.The characteristics of all occurrences that could be found of rn nfr from the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom were studied and compared to the occurrences of rn nfr in the Late Period. They were also compared to the first names of the individuals who wore these rn nfr.The results of this investigation show that there are great differences between the earlier periods and the Late Period, especially in that the names of gods and kings are often prevalent in the rather long rn nfr of the Late Period, possibly used for official and religious purposes. The rn nfr of earlier periods are often short names, which people were probably called, on an everyday basis. They sometimes constitute abbreviations of first names, with phonological changes taking place, in the majority of cases only consisting of three consonants without any apparent meaning, perhaps used from a very early age, and in a few cases taking on the characteristics of true nicknames.

Two ceramic vessels of the Öland and Gotland type were in the summer of 2016 discovered at an archaeological excavation at the island of Gotland in the Baltic sea. They were produced with two different techniques of firing, resulting in two different colors of the surface of the pot. Ceramic vessels of the Öland and Gotland type dating from the Roman Iron Age are supposed to have been produced at these islands, but thin-section analysis of pottery found in Mälardalen in the mainland of Sweden show that at least some vessels are made of clay from Mälardalen. The type is distinct and differs both in form and composition of the clay from other ceramic vessels of more ordinary character. This type of ceramic vessel is supposed to be inspired of bronze vessels from the Roman Empire and ceramic vessels from both the Roman Empire and the Celtic area. In this thesis, the aim is to shed some light on the characters of this type of vessel with comparative and empirical studies of pots from Öland and Gotland. This is done by comparing vessels and described graves on the two islands. And for references a few pots from mainland Sweden is also studied. Is it possible to understand why the high-status pottery on Öland and Gotland differ from the rest of the Swedish mainland? Clearly, the wealth of the population on the islands was over average if we measure it in objects of foreign origin, compared with the Swedish mainland. Objects from the Roman Empire such as drinking equipment made of bronze and gold and silver coins made its way to the islands in bigger quantities than to rest of Scandinavia with exceptions from some local areas on the Swedish mainland. / • Vad exakt är en ölandskruka? • Varför finns en det en klar urskiljbar skillnad mellan den keramik vi kallar ölandskrukor/gotlandskrukor jämfört med andra kärl från samma period? • Vad kan dekor och utformning ha inspirerats av? • Är det klara skillnader mellan Öland och Gotland när det gäller ölandskrukorna, eller ser de lika ut på de båda öarna?Den kärltyp av keramik från romersk järnålder som vanligen kallas ölandskruka eller gotlandskruka i rapporter, litteratur eller andra arkeologiska sammanhang är vanlig i det öländska och gotländska materialet. Den hittas företrädesvis i gravar men även andra kontexter förekommer. Kärlen förekommer även sparsamt på det svenska fastlandet och hittas även där i gravar. Det är i de gravar som är rikast på föremål som den oftast påträffas och det pekar på att den är knuten till de personer i samhället som har högst social rang. Andra föremål som hittas tillsammans med ölandskrukor varierar en del mellan Öland och Gotland. Ett exempel på det är bronsskållor som mest är en gotländsk företeelse och endast förekommer sparsamt i det öländska materialet. Dryckeshorn i gravar är vanligast på Gotland och de förekommer ofta i gravar med sländtrissor. På Öland är det i kvinnogravarna vanligt att det förekommer krumknivar i samma grav som ölandskrukor medan mansgravarna ofta är så kallade vapengravar. Vapengravarna på Öland innehåller som regel ett svärd, minst en lansspets och en spjutspets men även fler förekommer, en sköld och en kniv.   Kärltypen som kallas ölandskruka är av tunt gods som glättats på ytan och oftast dekorerats med punktlinjer på den övre delen av skuldran. De är brända i en reducerad atmosfär som ger en svart yta på kärlet. I denna uppsats förekommer även en annan kärltyp med fyra stycken öron på skuldran, dessa kärl förefaller vara brända i en oxiderad atmosfär vilket istället resulterar i en brun eller rödbrun färg på ytan. Förutom dessa två kärltyper förekommer också kannor, de har en hank att hålla i när man häller och är i stort sett alltid dekorerade. Denna dekoration består ofta av olika fält på övre delen av kannan indelade i romber av linjer. I fälten finns olika stämpelmönster, till exempel cirklar, kryss, blomformade och trisklar. Kärlen är så kallad finkeramik som sannolikt inte användes till vardagligt bruk utan som serveringskärl vid till exempel gästabud och som gravgåvor i form av ett uppdukat bord till den avlidne. I en del fall även som benbehållare efter kremering. De kärl som betecknas som finkeramik förefaller ha använts till dryckesritualer och som serviser under gästabud. Även seden att ge den begravde ett dukat bord pekar på att kärlens betydelse var välkänd i det samtida samhället (Eriksson 2009:176ff). Ölandskrukorna introduceras i Mälardalsregionen under äldre romersk järnålder, men företrädesvis i elitmiljöer. Att det även på Öland och Gotland handlar om elitens föremål syns i gravmaterialet, då det är de gravar som är rikast på föremål som även har ölandskrukor, gotlandskrukor eller kannor (se bilaga 1 & 2). Inspirationen till kärlen kan vara bronssitulor som importeras till Skandinavien under denna period (Eriksson 2009:176ff). Den polerade ytan på keramik som förekommer under bronsåldern i Mälardalen försvinner under förromersk järnålder och den tidigaste återkomsten av polerad keramik i området dateras till tiden efter Kristi födelse (Eriksson 2009:127). Dessa kärl har en svartglänsande yta som mycket väl kan tänkas föreställa eller efterlikna metall. Liknande former på kärl har bland annat hittas i tidigare nämnda Gödåker där ett kärl har en dekor som är klart inspirerad av samtida metallkonst. Det kan även finnas kopplingar till dryckesglas eftersom en del kärl har imitation av slipade glasfacetter. Mellan Öland och Gotland finns en del skillnader i utformningen på kärlen. På Öland är foten på ölandskrukorna mindre eller saknas. Eftersom tillverkningsort för ölandskrukorna inte har kunnat fastställas i nuläget är det svårt att peka på om det beror på att ölänningarna har en annan utformning på sina kärl än gotlänningarna eller om det förekommer variationer i båda regionerna som sedan distribuerats olika.

The exclusive bronze and gold objects found in the Iron Age ship and rider burials of Vendel, Valsgärde and Sutton Hoo are well known. Less known, however, is the grave field of Vallstenarum on Gotland, where some similar finds have been made. Vallstenarum is located in a highly interesting landscape with former bays and lagoons, Bronze Age monuments, hill forts and a long continuity of human activity. While many of the impressive Bronze Age graves and monuments are widely visible in the landscape, Iron Age burials are more descrete. Therefore, this paper aims to shed light on the people in the Iron Age Vallstena community, their social organisation and their communication with the rest of the world. This will be achieved by analysing grave objects in relation to status and hierarchy, but also in relation to the surrounding landscape and in chronology with nearby archaeological sites. By comparing where similar finds have been made, the paper also discusses the location of Vendel Period central areas and Iron Age trade and communication. The results show a highly symbolic landscape, where the domestic area was separated from the grave fields. The find material also implies that the Vallstena area was involved in a vast communication network during the Vendel Period and possibly functioned as a trade hub through its strategic location next to the Gothem river. The grave activity in the central area of the parish seems to peak during the Vendel period, and the peripheral areas of the parish starts to get more intensively populated in the Viking Age. / I ”Tjelvars” fotspår- Rekonstruktion av det forntida landskapet vid Lina myr på Gotland under 9000 år

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In the year of 2012 a unique three dimensional figurine was found in Hårby, Denmark depicting what seems to be a woman holding a sword and a shield. Immediately it was defined as a Valkyrie, a female servant of the Viking god Odin. However, this is most likely a simplified interpretation since most female figurines from the Viking age is interpreted in this way. This thesis questions this interpretation, creating an identity crisis for the Valkyries due to their interpretation no longer being obvious and simple. Instead this thesis recognizes the gender ambiguous features of the Hårbyfigurine and tries to determine what it can tell about the perception of gender during the Viking Age. The purpose of this thesis is thus to present how gender theory, queer theory and a comparative method can be used to interpret a gender ambiguous object from the Viking Age. This is done based on the Hårbyfigurine and its different attributes and concludes that the arguments against that female figurines from the Viking Age depicts Valkyries are more numerous than the arguments that support this identification. Alternative interpretations for the figurine is therefore suggested. The thesis also shows that the interpretations gender theory, queer theory and comparative method can produce differs in its complexity and in how they handle the gender ambiguous qualities of the Hårbyfigurine. The conclusion drawn from this is that gender ambiguous objects cannot be interpreted in one single way but must be tackled with a variety of theories and methods to be able to tell something about the worldview of the people who lived in the Viking Age. The term gender ambiguous is also re-evaluated throughout the thesis and turns out to be an interpretation applied to objects based on a modern way of defining gender and sex and is not a trait of the object itself. This means that gender is not defined in the same way today as it was in the Viking Age. Gender is thus strongly connected to the ruling culture and not stable, but ever changing.

This bachelor thesis deals with the correlation between social status and health at the medieval church ruin S:t Hans in Visby. Osteological analysis has been performed on nine adult individuals from the site of S:t Hans. The material was obtained at Gotlands Museum and has diary number 7498/89. The main question was if it is possible to indicate some kind of correlation between social status, in other words the placing of the graves, and the pathological differences in the material. Age, sex, stature and pathological differences has been documented during the osteological analysis to get an understanding of the individuals health status. To understand social status at the site spatial analysis was performed. A grave was explained as ”high status” or ”low status” depending on where at the grave site these were situated. Graves in the church is considered to be of high status while the ones at the older church yard is considered to be of lower status because of its distance from the church. A hypothesis was that individuals in the high status graves would show less pathological differences than the ones in the low status graves. The results obtained from the study tells two different, but interesting, stories. Yes, social status and health status does correlate in some cases, while in other cases they don’t. / Osteoporos och osteoarthritis, då och nu

The cave Stora Förvar, excavated in the end of the 19th century, yielded a vast archaeological assemblage, providing great insight into the stone-age occupation of Stora Karlsö, an island a few kilometers off the west coast of Gotland. The bones of around ten humans dating to the Mesolithic have previously been identified among the four tons of faunal remains recovered from the cave. The human bone material featured cut-marks and split tubular bones. This, along with the apparent mixing of human- and animal bones in the cave, was interpreted as signs of anthropophagy. Later researchers have tentatively proposed that the individuals represented in the bone material might have been shamans, deviants, human sacrifices or low-status individuals. In the author’s opinion, this assertion is based on the dichotomies nature/culture and profane/sacred which produce a separation between the human bones and the animal bones. It is shown that defleshing and disarticulation were widespread practices during the Mesolithic, which could explain the marks found on the bones from Stora Förvar. Similarly, the mixing of human- and animal remains is a common feature of many Mesolithic sites across Europe. Employing a theoretical framework inspired by posthumanism and the ‘ontological turn’, the author argues that the assemblage should be understood through an alternative ontological premise where human and animal, hunter and prey, were not regarded as fundamentally different.

This master's thesis is intended as a foundation for further development of methods for digital marine osteoarchaeology. The main purpose of this thesis was to examine and problematise the process of locating, documenting, and analyzing skeletal remains in marine archaeological, and other hard to reach sites. Three forms of osteological analysis' was performed and assessed: one based on analysis of physical skeletal remains, another based on 2D documented skeletal remains, and a third on analysis on 3D reconstructed skeletal remains. The secondary purpose of this thesis was to problematise the taphonomic effects on bodies, body parts, and bones in marine environments, necessary for the evaluation of the different methods. The analysis' has been conducted on source material provided by the research projects for the naval ships Mars and Gribshunden, the National Maritime Museum of Sweden, the Sandby Borg project, and the Çatalhöyük project. In addition, a test was carried out, with eight volunteer osteology students at Campus Gotland, Uppsala University, during a seminar exercise. The results collected through the osteological analysis' performed on the three different formats and the students osteology exercise could be used in order to highlight a variation of data available in the different formats. The results was then used in order to create a basis for future digital documentation methods that may be applied in the field. The secondary aim of this thesis was addressed through the use of the naval ships Mars and Gribshunden as case examples in order to address the limited amount of skeletal remains located so far at the marine archaeological sites. / Denna master uppsats är ämnad som grund för vidare utveckling av metoder för digital marinosteoarkeologi. Det huvudsakliga syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka och problematisera problemen kring at lokalisera, dokumentera, och analysera skeletala kvarlevor vid marinarkeologiska, och andra svåråtkomliga lokaler. Tre olika slags osteologiska analyser utfördes: en baserad på analyser av skeletala kvarlevor, en annan baserad analyser av 2D dokumenterade skeletala kvarlevor, och en tredje baserat på analyser av 3D rekonstruerade skeletala kvarlevor. Det sekundära syftet uppsatsen var att problematisera den tafonomiska påverkan på kroppar, kroppsdelar, och ben i marina miljöer, nödvändiga för utvärderingen för de olika metoderna. Analyserna har utförts på källmaterial som tillgängliggjorts genom forskningsprojekten för skeppen Mars och Gribshunden, Statens Maritima Museer i Sverige, Sandby borg projektet, och Catalhöyük projektet. Utöver detta har även en studie utförts tillsammans med åtta frivilliga osteologistudenter vid Campus Gotland, Uppsala Universitet, under en seminarieövning. Resultaten som samlades in genom de osteologiska analyserna av de tre olika källmaterialen och student studien användes för att kunna understryka den datavariation som fanns tillgänglig för de olika källmaterialen. Resultaten användes för att skapa en grund för framtida digitala dokumentationsmetoder som kan appliceras i fält. Det sekundära syftet med studien besvarades genom att använda skeppen Mars och Gribshunden som exempel för att kunna diskutera den begränsade mängden skeletala kvarlevor som hittills hittats vid de marinarkeologiska lokalerna.