This essay consider ritual death during the ironage, and through a presentation of historical and archaeological sources. Considered ritual death I think we should study both historical and archaeological sources, to get a vider view and a new perspective. To make the essay easier to understand I have split up the early and the late Iron Age in the discussion. In order to study the ritual death I have shown archaeological examples like bogsacrifices in the early ironage, and decapitated victims in the Viking society. The victims have been considered as slaves by some archaeologist. An example of this is the grave in Bollstanäs, Uppland, when archaeologist found a cremated male with personal equipment. They also found two beheaded males. Ove Hemmendorff imply that they were slaves, buried as gravegoods, and he based this opinion of drawing parallels with other similar graves, and to literary sources like Ibn Fadlans story.

<p>This essay consider ritual death during the ironage, and through a presentation of historical and archaeological sources. Considered ritual death I think we should study both historical and archaeological sources, to get a vider view and a new perspective. To make the essay easier to understand I have split up the early and the late Iron Age in the discussion. In order to study the ritual death I have shown archaeological examples like bogsacrifices in the early ironage, and decapitated victims in the Viking society. The victims have been considered as slaves by some archaeologist. An example of this is the grave in Bollstanäs, Uppland, when archaeologist found a cremated male with personal equipment. They also found two beheaded males. Ove Hemmendorff imply that they were slaves, buried as gravegoods, and he based this opinion of drawing parallels with other similar graves, and to literary sources like Ibn Fadlans story.</p>

Xipe Totec is an Aztec god often associated with agriculture and fertility. It is a deity type that is common in ancient societies dependent on agriculture but what sets him apart is his link to a rather brutal set of rituals. Known as ‘Our Lord, the Flayed One’ he is depicted in a flayed skin from a sacrificed victim, and the act of flaying is a central part of his mythology and worship. The study aims to investigate the reasoning behind the symbolism that connects brutal acts such as flaying with agriculture and fertility; and what the symbolism can tell us about the Aztecs’ mindset and worldview. To bring a successful conclusion to the study, Xipe Totec’s functions and roles are analysed from a social context. The study hopes to contribute to the study and interpretation of Aztec society and culture, especially concerning religion.

The aim of this essay is to discuss the double graves existence, content and meaning during the Swedish Iron Age. Being buried in pairs seems to have been relatively rare. Is the double grave a family grave or was one of the individuals a human sacrifice? The focus of this essay will be to discuss the possible relationship the people in the double graves may have had, but also to see how rare the grave type is with the help and inspiration of theories by Sarah M. Nelson. Are the graves family style graves such as husband and wife or parent and child? Are there any other possibilities for the existence of double graves? The most common interpretation of the double graves is that they are family graves. I will try to answer these questions by examining four Iron Age burial grounds in Sweden. I do not rule out that double graves may be family graves, however, if they were family graves, why are they so uncommon and where is the rest of the family? Why is it only two people in the grave? This makes me question if the double graves are something else but pure family graves. It is more likely that the double graves have been the results of accidents or disease where two people lost their lives at the same time.