<p>Abstract: Previous research on the Viking Age trade centre of Birka has suggested the parallel use of two harmonising standard weight units, differing in mass by five percent. As an explanation to this phenomenon, this paper puts forward a hypothesis of a trading fee, embedded in the weights. This is corroborated through a hypothetical deductive study; including a reassertion of earlier results by means of a new method for archaeometrological analysis, using a 3D scanner and Computer-Aided Design. Further, the role of silver, as a preferred unit of payment in Birka, is supported through a spatial analysis of the distribution of Islamic coins and Oriental beads in the provinces of Middle Sweden. Plausible manufacturing sites for the cylindrical lead weights, adhering to the Birka mitqal, are discussed as a possible way of falsifying the hypothesis. The results suggest that a trading fee was extracted, using the Birka mitqal for imports and the Islamic mitqal for exports. The metrological analysis was also expanded to weights from Sigtuna, which proved the Birka mitqal, as well the dual metrics system, continued to be in use there until, at least, the first half of the 11^th century. Finally, a short study on the origins of the Scandinavian/Islamic weight system suggests that the direct influence for the system primarily can be attributed the Volga-Bulgarians.</p>

<p>This paper deals with the connection between food and burial habits during the late Iron Age in present-day Sweden. The archaeological material used in the study consists of 16 potsherds from a burial site at Alsike hage, Alsike parish, in the province of Uppland in east-central Sweden. On these potsherds have been conducted FTIR- and GCMS-analyses, in order to see what types of food have been deposited in the burials. Furthermore, the result of the GCMS-analyses has been compared to contemporary material from both burial sites and settlement sites, in order to establish whether differences between the compared materials exist. The analyses show that there are differences between the material from burial sites compared with the material from settlement sites, but not any particular differences between the material from different burial sites. Among these differences we can see that the settlement sites show: a higher amount of total lipid content, a higher amount of vessels which contained lipids indicating that food was heated in them, a higher amount of vessels which contained lipids from crop products as the only content, and a higher amount of vessels which contained lipids from ruminant animals. The interpretation of these results is also discussed in the paper. Furthermore, the results of the FTIR-analyses also shows a good correlation with the results from the GCMS-analyses, it seems that the organic “foodcrusts” analysed with FTIR indeed stem from the same meal indicated by the GCMS-analyses.</p>

<p>Under åren 1977–89 bedrev arkeologiska institutionen vid Umeå universitet en forskningsundersökning av en boplats från äldre järnålder på Genesmon i Själevad socken, norra Ångermanland. Under åren 1991–99 rekonstruerades delar av gården i Gene fornby, ett hundratal meter därifrån. Denna avhandling behandlar uppbyggnad och inredning av ett av gårdens långhus, hus II, samt den treskeppiga byggnadstypens konstruktion och funktion i en större kontext. Syftet med avhandlingen är att beskriva växelverkan mellan teori och praktik i rekonstruktion, att beskriva rekonstruktionsarbete som en föränderlig förklarings- och förståelseprocess samt att undersöka om rekonstruktion kan bidra till ökad förståelse av arkeologiska huslämningar. Efter nära 5000 års dominans i södra och mellersta Skandinavien upphör långhusen att vara det allmänna byggnadsskicket i slutet av yngre järnålder. Varför detta sker blev en viktig fråga för förståelsen av byggnadstypen.</p><p>En hermeneutisk modell används för att beskriva hur tolkningarna under rekonstruktionsarbetet kom att inverka på varandra i en serie av samverkande eller motverkande förklaringar till den arkeologiska lämningen. Utifrån arkeologiska och skriftliga källor beskrivs därefter indelning och inredning av långhuset i sju rumsfunktioner som kan benämnas bur, önd, skåle, fjös, stall, lada och eldhus. Eldens roll, hedersplatsens placering och byggnadstypens förändring i Island blev viktiga delar för att förstå byggnadens ideologiska betydelse. Genom flera experiment med uppvärmning har lösningar sökts på problem med en rökig bostadsmiljö. Erfarenheterna leder slutligen fram till ett förslag på lösning som också illustrerar hur påtagligt förebilden kom att styra tolkningsarbetet.</p><p>Rekonstruktionsarbetet ledde till resultat av olika karaktär: dels erfarenheter om konstruktion, funktion samt material - och tidsåtgång för uppförande av den specifika huslämningen hus II och dels nya generella frågor och ny kunskap som ökar förståelsen kring den treskeppiga byggnadstypen. Långsträckt form, takbärande stolpar, mitthärd och relation till kult och ideologi föreslås som karaktäristiska element för byggnadstypen över tid och rum och byggnadens relation till ideologi föreslås som en av förklaringarna till varför långhusen försvinner i samband med kristnandet. När övergången till ett nytt byggnadsskick med ramverkshus sker under vikingatidens slutskede diskuteras den politiska och kyrkliga makten som styrande till dessa genomgripande förändringar.</p> / <p>During the years of 1977-89 the Department of Archaeology at Umeå University conducted a scientific investigation of an Early Iron Age settlement at Genesmon in the parish of Själevad, northern Ångermanland. Subsequently, during the years 1991-99 parts of the farm were reconstructed at Gene Fornby, a couple of hundred meters away from the site. This thesis deals with the construction and furnishing of one of the farm’s longhouses (House II), and the wider context of the construction and function of the “three-aisled” building type. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the interaction between theory and practice in reconstruction, to describe the reconstruction process as a constantly changing process of explanation and understanding, and to investigate as to whether reconstructions can contribute to an increased understanding of archaeological house remains. At the end of the Late Iron Age, after nearly 5000 years of dominance in Southern and Central Scandinavia, the longhouse ceases to be the dominant form of construction. Understanding why this happened became an important problem in this work. </p><p>During the reconstruction work, different interpretations influenced one another in a series of positive and negative feedbacks into the explanations of the archaeological remains. A hermeneutic model is used to describe this phenomenon. From archaeological and written sources, division and furnishing of the long-houses can be described in terms of seven room functions. These can be classified as storage bur, porch önd, living room skåle, byre fjös, stable stall, barn lada and rough kitchen eldhus. In order to understand the ideological meaning of the buildings the role of the fire, the placement of the seat of honour and the change in the type of building in Iceland became important parts of this study. Numerous heating experiments have been undertaken in order to try to solve the problem of excessive smoke within the building. The experiments finally led to a possible solution that also serves to illustrate just how the model itself came to influence the process of interpretation.</p><p>The reconstruction work led to results of different character: partly data on construction, function and materials – and the time frame for the construction of House II from its archaeological remains; and partly knowledge and new theories which increase our understanding of the three-aisled building form. The elongated form, roof supporting poles, central hearth and a close association with ritual and ideology are suggested as characteristic elements for this type of construction, throughout its chronological and spatial extent. The relationship between the building and Norse ideologies is suggested as one of the explanations for the longhouse’s dissappearance with the introduction of Christianity. At the end of the Viking Age, there is a transition into a new framework based method of construction, and the political and ecclesiastical authorities are discussed as having governed these widespread changes.</p>

<p>What is located on the bottom in the water outside of Birka? Remains of a water palisade or jetties and other constructions.</p><p>Birka a Viking Age town that existed between AD 750 and 975 was located on the northwestern part of the small island of Björkö, in the Mälar archipelago of the Baltic Sea in Sweden. The Town was protected onshore by a hill fort and a town rampart. It is a widely spread assumption that Birka had a water palisade as a part of its<strong> </strong>defense. There are logs and other remnants on the bottom of the lake dating back to the Viking age. Uncertainty remains as to the origin of these remnants. The questions being, are they from a water palisade or the remnants of jetties and other constructions. The amount of fire wood alone needed to support 500 inhabitants for one year is equal to a wall of wood one meter high, one meter wide and two kilometers in length. This calculation does not take into account the wood used for transportation of other materials, people and animals. The conclusion is that future examination of the area is necessary to find out what is located on the bottom in the water.</p>

<p>This thesis is a historical archaeological essay and deals with the Frankish empire and its sway over the European area. The aim of this essay has been to examine if the sway of the Franks reached the Scandinavian area. The Frankish empire was the most influential power in Western Europe from the 6th century until the death of Charlemagne 814 AD, when the kingdom began to disrupt. The essay is divided into three parts. The first part is a background where I describe the Frankish empire in a historical context. The second part contains the archaeological finds. The third part contains a discussion and conclusions.</p>

<p>This thesis is a chronological survey over the hut and house remains from the Stone Age to the Early Middle Ages in Eastern Central Sweden. The thesis also contains a test which I have conducted to see which investigation method had the best results in identifying house remains at an archaeological site. I subsequently discuss the result of this test, what it represents and also what may be done differently in order to get other types of results.</p>

<p>Mounds of fire-cracked stones is a typical Bronze Age monument for the region around lake Mälaren. They are usually, because of their content, interpreted as piles of rubbish. But as they often have kerbs, are situated on cemeteries and sometimes contain human bones, the traditional interpretation is not fully satisfactory.</p><p>The main focus of this essay is on the mounds of fire-cracked stones which contain human bones in the region north of lake Mälaren. With a detailed study of these, and a comparison with those without human bones, my aim is to get closer to an explanation why the human bones were deposited. The essay consist of a comp­ilation  of 98 excavated mounds and a database with various information gathered from excavation reports and archive documents.</p><p>With different kinds of osteological aspects taken in consideration, the study shows that human bones have been found in about a third of the mounds. The mounds with human bones more often have kerbs. The same types of artefacts are found both in mounds with and without human bones. A significant difference is that the mounds with human bones contain more categories of artefacts and sometimes even bronze. The study also shows that there is nothing that indicates that the bones were deposited after the primary use of the mound. The human bones could therefore had been deposited contemporary to the “rubbish”. To understand this phenomenon I strongly believe that the mounds no longer only can be interpreted as heaps of garbage.</p>

<p>This thesis examines the Christian context of the former pagan sanctuary of Zeus Labrandeusin Caria during the Early Byzantine period, ca. 325-730 A.D. The focus is on the church, positioned outside the pagan sanctuary’s temenos area. The architecture of the church has been empirically analysed. It is argued that the church shows strong Syrian influences. The Syrian features are a tripartite sanctuary enclosed by a straight back wall, an interior supported by pilasters and a west part with two towers. The study of the architecture has also been used in an attempt to discuss the liturgy at Labraunda.The finds from the excavations of 1951-2005 have been categorized and examined in order to establish a <em>terminus post quem</em> for the Christian presence at the site of the church. This has been crucial for the dating of the church. Furthermore, the finds illustrate the social and economic conditions that prevailed at Labraunda during the Early Byzantine period. Finally, this study tries to enlighten the process of transition from a pagan sanctuary into a Christian place of worship.</p>

<p>This is a story about Lao Pako. Lao Pako is located on a small hill on the southern bank of the river Nam Ngum in central Laos. Four seasons of archaeological fieldwork have yielded considerable amounts of pottery, metallurgical remains, glass beads, stone artefacts, spindle whorls as well as other material and structural information that have created a foundation for interpretation. The archaeological interpretation presents Lao Pako as a place where people came to perform rituals c. 1500 years ago. In these rituals, sophisticated combinations of pottery depositions, infant burials and iron production produced a narrative about what it means to be in the world. Things in and on the ground created, and continue to create, non-verbal sentences about life and death, fertility, decay and worldly reproduction. </p><p>The archaeological interpretation is, however, not the only valid story about Lao Pako. This is a place where spirits are; it is also a tourist resort and a national treasure. These other stories all work to create Lao Pako as a place of interest and are used in this thesis to define the archaeological story, and to visualize the aims and agendas inherent in the production of archaeological knowledge. </p><p>Using the conceptual apparatus of postcolonial and other critical theory, the thesis aims to critically deconstruct the archaeology performed by the author and others. It entails an explicit critique of the deterministic temporal unilinearity that is inherent in the archaeological narrative of the evolution of humankind, as well as against essentialist notions of culture and the dissociation of the past as exotic otherness. Thus, the stories about Lao Pako demonstrate the need to critically revise the role of archaeology in a postcolonial world, and create archaeological stories by which we are touched, moved and disturbed, without resorting to imperialist notions of time and progress.</p>

<p>The thesis focuses on Bolivian Indians who are assimilated into ethnic groups as one of many consequences of the colonial past. An understanding of the complexity of this construction draws from disciplines such as Anthropology, Archaeology, History, Sociology, in an effort to expose the power relations behind the construction. Departing from written sources and the general belief that the area would lodge the most ancient of such Indians, the Uru from Lake Poopó, a specific location has been selected in the Oruro province of the mid Bolivian highlands. The province is named after this people. The identity of the Uru people has been established by reference to other Indians in the Bolivian Andes known as the Aymara or the Quechua. Colonial accounts written by the Spanish conquerors, including priests, soldiers and commoners, as well as modern sources are discussed and analysed. The fieldwork combines archaeological and anthropological methods. Finally, the importance of multidisciplinary approaches is discussed in an effort to contribute to an understanding of multi-cause phenomena in this case the constructed ethnic identity of the Uru people.</p>