The aim of this paper is to use isotope analysis of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur from bone and teeth to investigate whether women from the Viking age and early medieval cemetery in Varnhem were local, rather than from a wider area. What is interesting about this area is that it is a Christian cemetery that was taken into use as early as the Viking age (800-1050 AD), a time where the majority of the Swedish population were pagans. It is therefore thought that the majority of the people buried on the cemetery are people from other parts of the landscape, since few other Christian cemeteries are known from his time. I tested my hypothesis with two research questions regarding diet and sulphur isotope ratios. The results from the isotope analysis showed that the women had a rather homogeneous diet and homogeneous sulphur isotope values. These results can strengthen my hypothesis that they were resident in Varnhem.

This Master ́s thesis focused on the oral health of people who lived in Old Lödöse, Sweden during the Middle Ages. Old Lödöse is approximately 4 miles northeast of Gothenburg. The town existed between 1100 and 1646, and within it you can find St. Peder ́s church, St. Olov ́s church and a monastery. The analyzed material was from these three places and consisted of 58 individuals affected by various oral pathology. From St. Peder ́s church there were 33 individuals, from St. Olov ́s there were 4 individuals and from the monastery there were 19 individuals. They were mostly young adults (20 – 35 year) and middle age adults (35 – 50 year), and there were more men (22) than women (14) in the material. Even though there were more individuals at St. Peder ́s church, the monastery’s individuals were more severely affected by various oral pathologies, furthermore the men were more severely affected with oral pathology than the women. In addition, there were two interesting discoveries. Seven individuals, three of them women, had black discoloring on their teeth, and there were six individuals, four of them men, that had special dental wear that may reflect “teeth as tools”, some in the form of grooves. Summarized, the oral health at Old Lödöse was poor.