The estimation of age is an important aspect in osteoarchaeological analysis. In order to understand people and their fates in past societies, researchers must turn to palaeodemography. Therefore, it is vital that the methods of age estimation, which the foundations of palaeodemographic reconstructions rest upon, are as accurate and reliable as possible. In current Swedish cremation-osteoarchaeology, two methods of age estimation are commonly used: suture closure and relative thickness of the diploë. However, no substantial evaluation of these two methods have been undertaken. This study aims to evaluate the two methods of age estimation of cremated remains, suture closure and relative thickness of the diploë. This was done by testing the two methods on two unburnt populations, Mediaeval city-dwellers from Helgeandsholmen, Stockholm, Sweden, and Middle-Neolithic hunter-gatherers from Ajvide, Gotland, Sweden. Suture closure and proportion of diploë was observed in comparison with age-related changes of the auricular surface of the ilium and the pubic symphysis. Based on the results of the study, possible courses of action were proposed and then applied on cremated remains from a Late Iron Age burial ground on Lovö, Stockholm, Sweden. The results showed significant moderate correlation with age for both methods (0.61 for suture closure and 0.58 for proportion of diploë). However, early stage of suture closure could identify a group consisting of juveniles and young adults, while advanced suture closure could identify a group consisting of middle adults and old adults. These results, which proved to be more reliable than existing methods, can, hopefully, lead to improvements of the assessment of age in cremated remains, and increase our understanding of the fates of people of the past.

Animal bones found on archaeological sites can be connected to the economic structures of the society and what activities the humans performed. During the Merovingian Period and the Viking Age on the island of Gotland there are several sites that have been difficult to interpret. One of these sites is Signallottan which has several finds that are connected to iron working but also a lot of cremated animal bones. The proposed study investigates how the animal bones are connected to the site and what purpose they had. The study also compares the site to other archaeological sites to see how they differ. This will be achieved by analyzing the animal remains found at the site. The material consists of roughly 56 kilograms of bones that were excavated during 2018 and is currently stored in the osteological laboratory in Visby, Sweden. This study leaves some questions open but most likely Signallottan has only had one main purpose. What this purpose is, is still unknown and needs further research.

Cremated bones from animals has been recovered in conjunction with a number of hearths in Visby, Gotland. This find has started a controversial discussion in the archeological field regarding usage of bones as a supplement in iron working. Archeological investigations often tend to overlook the information that could be gained from osteological materials. Animal bones can give us insight and contribute with new perspectives on economics, diet, livestock and much more. The aim of this bachelor is therefore to look closer at the relations between bones and iron working and to establish if the bones were used to enhance the phosphorus levels of the iron. This will be achieved by analyzing cremated bones from the archeological site Visby RAÄ 230. The material will also be compared with previous studies regarding iron working.

This thesis will focus on stone ship settings and the burial practice surrounding them. Over 400 stone ships have been found in Gotland but only 70 of them have been studied and even less osteological analyses have been made. The burials in focus will be four ships which are all made of pieces of limestone formed like ships and are located under the surface opposed to the other types of stone ships settings that are made of big raised rocks. The ships in question are graves therefore the study will focus on the monuments as burial places and will seek so see similarities and differences in the outer and inner burial practice. By analyzing cremated bones, I will determine the age, sex and the number of individuals buried and with the help of the artefacts find possible patterns that can help determine the inner burial practice.

This essay concerns the osteological cremated skeletal remains from Broe, Halla parish, Gotland of  The Late Iron Age. The focus of this essay is to determine the position of the corpse on the pyre, whether the cremated bones were crushed after or prior to the cremation and if the individual was buried in the pyre. In addition the species, age, sex and skeletal abnormalities of the bones in question will be studied. The result of the research has yielded that the cremated bones did not need to be crushed to result in the small fragment sizes. Crushing of the bones may have happened during the cremation, this conclusion has been drawn through the comparison of a pyre experiment were bone fragmentation is evident with cremated foxes, and dogs in the cremation graves from Broe. The construction of the pyre and the position of the corpse could not be determined through colouring and fragmentation of the bones. The human's were commonly buried in the pyre, and in some cases it is possible that the "grave" in fact is the remainder of a pyre. The species found are dog, horse, cow, sheep/goat and bear. The unburnt human bones in the cremation graves come from children. Of the cremated human’s, ages range from 18-44 to 50-79 occur. Three probable men and two probable women have been estimated, but there is no clear segregation between the sexes on the grave field, which is evident on some medieval church graveyards. Skeletal abnormalities in humans are found on the cranium, more specific senile osteoporosis, and on the dog’s osteophytosis.