Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2010. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

The authors have carried out osteological analyses on 14 cremation graves which are extremely rich in bones. The analysed Late Iron Age graves are concentrated to the Lake Mälaren valley. The resulta show tha) a great number ol animals were sacrificed on lhe funeral pyres in honour of the dead. The animals include trained falcons and bawks. They reveal that falconry already in the 6th century was pracliced by the wealthy class.

A study has been made about two individuals who were found buried in caskets on an medieval execution site on Gotland. The author has researched what we know about executions on Gotland and if we can learn something new about executions on Gotland when comparing an osteological material with literary sources. The study also aims to figure out who the two individuals in the caskets could have been.

<p>This scientific paper is about the changes in the skeleton caused by the diseases osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Six males and one female from Banken 1, S:ta Gertrud  and S:t Hans in Visby were chosen for an osteological analysis. All individuals are adults and dates back to the middle ages. One male suffered from both osteoporosis and osteoarthritis and one female and three males suffered from osteoarthritis. One male might have been in the beginning faze of osteoarthritis, and one male shows no sign of any of the diseases. In addition to osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, some of the individuals suffer from other pathological conditions. Some of the bones from most of the individuals were x-rayed at Visby hospital, to see if medical technique could show some additional information to the osteological analysis. The x-rays were interpreted by doctor Staffan Jennerholm from Visby hospital, but other doctors have also participated. The x-rays confirmed results from the osteological analysis in most cases, although it showed new information in several cases. Some bones from three individuals were taken to Roland Alvarssons` Doctor Practice in Visby to measure the bone density, to check if any of the individuals had osteoporosis. The result confirmed that one male had osteoporosis, as expected from the osteological analysis.</p> / Noen steder i oppgaven står det "osteoartrithis", men det skal stå "osteoarthritis"

For this essay, 12 liters of cremated bones from the Viking age grave mound RAÄ Berga 134:1 in Trotteslöv, Berga parish, Småland have been osteologically analysed.  The aim with this paper concerned questions as sex, age, number of individuals and animal species in the grave. Further questions that have been investigated are the relationship between the osteological sexdetermination and artifacts as well as which role animals played in burial rituals and as grave goods. The grave contained a middle-aged woman and a number of sacrificed animals: two horses, two dogs, three birds, a boar and a cat. The bones were fragile and very fragmented. One of the birds was determined as a bird of prey, and that together with findings of horses and dogs indicates hunting with bird of prey, an activity performed only by powerful and wealthy individuals.  The woman was buried in a mound of notable size, and with common grave goods for the time period: combs, beads, bronze and iron items. An unusual finding was textile which indicates high status. The number of sacrificed animal species also suggests that the grave belonged to a powerful individual.  During the Viking age animals generally played an important role in grave rituals and as items to be used by their master in the next life. In RAÄ Berga 134:1none of the findings could be determined as either typical male or female items, instead they indicated high status. Graves with osteologically identified women, and rich grave goods usually found in male graves, have often been questioned. The idea of a woman being powerful and buried with valuable items has been doubted. This doubt has probably come from archaeologists’ prejudices today about prehistoric gender roles, since women during the Viking age indeed could reach high status.

This thesis deals with the importance of boar tusks to the people at the Middle Neolithic settlement of Ajvide, Eksta parish on Gotland. The thesis discusses various issues concerning the Ajvide swine and their tusks, such as the question of domestication and the various functions ascribed to tusks. In order to cast light upon these questions the result of a study of all the tusks found on Ajvide thus far as well as their respective grave context is presented. The study also includes an osteological analysis of the tusks. Furthermore, ethnoarchaeological comparisons are made with Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu; contemporary societies presumed to share common traits with Middle Neolithic societies on Gotland and where swine and their tusks likewise assume a prominent position.

This scientific paper is about the changes in the skeleton caused by the diseases osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Six males and one female from Banken 1, S:ta Gertrud  and S:t Hans in Visby were chosen for an osteological analysis. All individuals are adults and dates back to the middle ages. One male suffered from both osteoporosis and osteoarthritis and one female and three males suffered from osteoarthritis. One male might have been in the beginning faze of osteoarthritis, and one male shows no sign of any of the diseases. In addition to osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, some of the individuals suffer from other pathological conditions. Some of the bones from most of the individuals were x-rayed at Visby hospital, to see if medical technique could show some additional information to the osteological analysis. The x-rays were interpreted by doctor Staffan Jennerholm from Visby hospital, but other doctors have also participated. The x-rays confirmed results from the osteological analysis in most cases, although it showed new information in several cases. Some bones from three individuals were taken to Roland Alvarssons` Doctor Practice in Visby to measure the bone density, to check if any of the individuals had osteoporosis. The result confirmed that one male had osteoporosis, as expected from the osteological analysis. / Noen steder i oppgaven står det "osteoartrithis", men det skal stå "osteoarthritis"

Denna kandidatuppsats (C-uppsats) kommer att undersöka sjukdomen lepra utifrån ett socialt perspektiv med syftet att undersöka om livslängden hos infekterade människor (i Europa) påverkades på något sätt utifrån det samtida samhällets regerande normer och perspektiv. Rådande Covid-19 pandemin har omöjliggjort egna osteologiska undersökningar, vilket är varför denna studie kommer grundas i andra arkeologers redan publicerade rapporter. Källmaterial för den sociala biten grundar sig i relevanta textuella skrifter, vilket inkluderar både modernt och historiskt material samt religiösa teman för bredaste (och bästa) ämnesomfamning. Tidsmässigt (etablerat efter det osteologiska materialet) fokuserar denna uppsats på ’Antiken’ (ca. 400 f.Kr. till ca. 400 e.Kr.) samt efterkommande medeltid efter skandinavisk räkning (ca. 900 e.Kr. fram till ca. 1500 e.Kr.).

<p>By examine cremated remains from graves dated to late Iron Age I wanted to find out what sorts of animals were placed in the graves. But also to see if the animal sacrifices had any connection to the Old Norse religion. The osteological material that were analysed were from both cremated humans and animals and had been dated to Viking Age. The material is from burial ground 59 at Laxare, Boge parish on Gotland. In addition to the human remains, the material contains bones from horse, cattle, sheep/goat, pig, dog, cat, bear, birds and fish. The combination between the species seems to be common all over Scandinavia during the late Iron Age. Except from analysing the material from Laxare I also studied litterature written by other scientist on the subject of animals in Old Norse religion. This was made to understand as much as possible about the religion and how people looked upon animals before Christianity.</p><p>It seemed that animals were very important in religion during the Viking Age in this area on Gotland. Some of the species that were sacrifices in the graves had big importance in peoples daily life but also in myths. The world needed humans, animals and gods to survive and everything were depending on the harmony between them. The horse was clearly a religious animal, and it shows both in the archaeological material and in the written stories from this time. Even cattle, goat and pig are other animals that describe to be important for the religion. The dog seems to be important in the archaeological material but is not mentioned very much in the written myths.</p><p>It is rather clear that the animal sacrificed in graves from the late Iron Age in Sweden is not only for food in the afterlife but also has a very important meaning for the religion and peoples understanding about Cosmos.</p>

<p>By examine plastic craniums from eight different hominids I wanted to find morfological characteristics that agreed with those of modern humans. The species that were selected had a plastic casting of its cranium in the laboratory at Gotland University. My focus was on species from the family <em>Australopithecius </em>and <em>Homo </em>and only working with their craniums. And this because the cranium and the theeth shows the most visible morfological characteristics between the different hominids. I also wanted,in a small part of the essay, to write about the differences in now living primates and humans skulls.</p><p>Except from analysing the plastic castings I also studied surveys written by other scientist on the same subject. And in that chapter write as much about the whole skeleton as possible, eventhough that was not my main field, but I wanted to give the readers an overview of the species before the analysis took place.</p><p>The most visible morfological characteristics is shown in the theeth because the diet changed during the million years that the evolution took place. It is possible to see the development in <em>Foramen magnum </em>too, the hole at the base of the skull were the vertebrate connects with the cranium. This hole gets more central over time showing that the species got more biped and started to walk upright on two legs just like humans do today. There are of course many more characteristics that are able to be seen that seperates us from the extinct hominids, but many of them are the same. If you look closely at the different craniums you can see how the fantastic evolution formed humans out of apes.</p><p>It has to be mentioned that the scientist have many different theoris about the evolution, the species and who are the real ancestors to humans and I think the disagreement will continue for many years to come.</p>