I Jönköping finns idag tre synliga bronsåldersgravar fortfarande stående. I början av1900-talet var detta numret 10. Vissa fynd från bronsåldern i området som Sagaholmshögenhar fått mycket uppmärksamhet av forskare, men få landskapsanalyser har utförts över dettaområdet. På andra håll har landskapsanalyser av gravhögar ofta utförts över betydligt störreområden, och dessa har fått tolkningar som bland annat territoriemarkörer baserat påmonumentens visuella aspekt. Uppsatsen analyserar bronsålderslandskapet i Jönköping utifrånsiktlinjer med hjälp av GIS, och med syftet att undersöka relationen mellan de monumentalagravarna och andra synliga aspekter av landskapet för att försöka nå varför dessa uppfördesdär de står. Resultaten av analysen visar att synlighet troligen inte var en särskilt betydandefaktor för uppförandet av gravarna, men att ett samband i intervisibiliteten mellan dessa kananas, samt belyser uppsatsen några källkritiska problem med tillgängliga strandlinjemodelleroch digital fornminnesdata. / In Jönköping there exists today three visible and still standing barrows from the bronze age.In the beginning of the 20th century these numbered 10. Some findings från the bronze age inthis area like the Sagaholm-barrow have garnered a lot of attention by researchers, but fewlandscape analyses havebeen performed over the area. In other parts of the country landscapeanalyses have been performed across much larger areas, and these have gotten interpretationssuch as markers of territory based on the visual aspects of these monuments. This thesisanalyses the bronze age landscape in Jönköping based on sightlines with the aid of GIS, andwith the goal to explore the relationship between the monumental graves and other visibleaspects of the landscape in order to try and reach an understanding as to why these arestanding where they are. The results of the analysis show that visibility likely wasn’t anespecially important factor in raising the graves, but that a correlation regarding intervisibilitycan be suspected. Furthermore the thesis shines light on a few sources of critique with theavailible shoreline models, as well as the digital data on ancient remains.

This study was made with the express purpose to shine a light on how we use the present to understand the past. My focus was directed at how the view on gender during the last couple of hundred years has influenced how we construct arbitrary gender norms for a Scandinavian bronze age society. To complete this study, I looked at the Swedish gravemound “Hågahögen”, on the outskirts of Uppsala, and compared it to three Danish mounds with similar properties. Hågahögen consists of the cremated remains of one, or possibly two, individuals who have been interpreted as male due to the presence of a sword in the grave. The Danish graves are all located on the Danish mainland, known as Jutland, and are called Egtved, Borum Eshøj and Trindhøj. Due to the extraordinarily well-preserved remains in these graves they proved to be an excellent counter to Hågahögen. Because of this the biological sex of these individuals are not in question, therefore I could use them to compare various arguments and how their sex was being portrayed. My sources consisted of various articles, archaeological textbooks, reports and popular science books. My results show that graves that contain males are generally valued higher than those that contain females. Power is more often attributed to the male remains while the females are often seen as objects to empower males. The women I studied were either seen as mothers, wives or sexual objects. The men were seen as chieftains, kings, ritual masters or they weren’t described in enough detail to conclude a role for them. The individual in Hågahögen was given masculinity because of the sword in the grave, but also due to the implied sway and power over those who built the grave after their death. That sort of power is rarely seen as a feminine trait, therefor it was impossible for the archaeologists of old to see the occupant of the grave as anything other than male.

Après deux années d'études sur les dolmens du Languedoc-Roussillon, nos recherches se sont orientées vers la reconnaissance des tumulus qui enserrent les chambres funéraires mégalithiques. Comment sont-ils construits, avec quels matériaux et quels moyens? Quelles sont leurs fonctions ? Peut-on dégager une typologie, des disparités/ressemblances géographiques et/ou culturelles ? Peut-on cerner leur évolution chronologique à travers la dynamique architecturale ? Au-delà de la reconnaissance des tumulus, il s’agit également d’étudier la périphérie de ces monuments, leur implantation dans le paysage et dans l’espace humanisé. Le peu d'informations scientifiquement utilisables sur ces structures implique la réalisation de nouvelles fouilles selon une méthodologie adaptée. Le cadre géographique global de cette recherche est le bassin ouest méditerranéen avec plusieurs fenêtres d'étude spécifiques recoupant les grandes zones de concentration du phénomène mégalithique : l’est des Pyrénées, les Garrigues héraultaises, le bassin du Salagou, la bordure méridionale des Grands-Causses. Huit dolmens ont été fouillés dans le cadre spécifique de ce travail. Nous proposons ainsi un modèle de compréhension de ce type de sites, du choix de leur implantation jusqu’à leur abandon en passant par leur construction et leur évolution. Ces nouvelles informations permettent de s'interroger sur les fonctions multiples qu’ont pu avoir ces monuments pour les sociétés de la fin du Néolithique et du début de l’âge du Bronze. / After two years of studies on Languedoc-Roussillon’s dolmens, our research is directed towards the recognition of tumuli which enclose the megalithic burial chambers. How are they built, with what materials and how? What are their functions? Can we identify a typology, differences / similarities geographical and/or cultural? Can we identify their chronological evolution through architectural dynamics? Beyond the recognition of the tumulus, it is also to investigate the periphery of these monuments, their location in the landscape and in the humanized space. The few scientific information usable on these structures involves the realization of new excavations with an appropriate methodology. The overall geographical framework of this research is the western Mediterranean basin with several specific study windows cutting across large areas of concentration of the megalithic phenomenon: the eastern Pyrenees, the Herault Garrigues, the Salagou basin, the southern edge of the Grands-Causses. Eight dolmens were excavated in the specific context of this work. We propose a model of understanding of sites of this type, from the choice of their location until their abandonment via their construction and development. This new informations allow to consider the multiple functions that these monuments have had for the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age societies