<p>Genom att titta på utvalda kategorier av fasta fornlämningar, fornfynd och platsnamn lokaliserar uppsatsen centralplatser på Öland under folkvandringstid. Kategorierna som har studerats närmre är fynd av guld, glas, bronsstatyetter, svärd och svärdsdetaljer, fornborgar, storgårdar samt platsnamn indikerande gudanamn och kultplatser. Centralplatsindikatorer från romersk järnålder har också gåtts igenom i syftet att få en bild av även denna periods centralområden på Öland. Resultaten har sedan jämförts och kontinuitet respektive diskontinuitet diskuterats. Resultaten har även jämförts med tidigare studier av centralområden och sett om dessa har gått att vidimera eller falsifiera.</p> / <p>This study has located central places from the Migration Period on Öland by studying chosen categories of ancient monuments, archaeological finds and place names. The chosen categories are gold, glass, bronze statuettes, swords and sword details, hillforts, large farms and place names indicating names from the gods and places of worship. I have also studied indications of central places from the Roman Iron Age, to get a picture of the central areas from this period too. The results from the two periods have then been compared and continuity and discontinuity is discussed. The results has also been compared with earlier research and watched if their theories have been possible to certify or falsify.</p>

Genom att titta på utvalda kategorier av fasta fornlämningar, fornfynd och platsnamn lokaliserar uppsatsen centralplatser på Öland under folkvandringstid. Kategorierna som har studerats närmre är fynd av guld, glas, bronsstatyetter, svärd och svärdsdetaljer, fornborgar, storgårdar samt platsnamn indikerande gudanamn och kultplatser. Centralplatsindikatorer från romersk järnålder har också gåtts igenom i syftet att få en bild av även denna periods centralområden på Öland. Resultaten har sedan jämförts och kontinuitet respektive diskontinuitet diskuterats. Resultaten har även jämförts med tidigare studier av centralområden och sett om dessa har gått att vidimera eller falsifiera. / This study has located central places from the Migration Period on Öland by studying chosen categories of ancient monuments, archaeological finds and place names. The chosen categories are gold, glass, bronze statuettes, swords and sword details, hillforts, large farms and place names indicating names from the gods and places of worship. I have also studied indications of central places from the Roman Iron Age, to get a picture of the central areas from this period too. The results from the two periods have then been compared and continuity and discontinuity is discussed. The results has also been compared with earlier research and watched if their theories have been possible to certify or falsify.

This paper is a study of the Swedish fornborg Torsburgen on Östergarnslandet, Gotland. This is the largest fornborg on Gotland and it has an area of 112 hectares. The northern, eastern and western parts of the plateau, on which Torsburgen is lying, has natural cliffs of up to 30 meters, while there in the southern part is a two-kilometer-long wall. During the 1980´s a part of the wall was excavated in an attempt to date the construction. The conclusion was, that it had many different building stages. The earliest find was dated to the later Roman Iron Age (AD 200-400) and that period is therefore also the focus of this paper.  The aim of this paper is to explain different hypotheses of why this wall was built (for what reason) and what purpose did it fulfill in society. Archaeological finds from Gotland, dated to the period of the later Roman Iron Age, often show connections to the Roman Empire and therefore the construction could be a result of influences from that part of the world.  It is however, with today’s knowledge, not possible to point out one specific reason why the wall of Torsburgen was built and for what reason they needed to fortify the area of 112 hectares. It could have been an invading force, but it could just as likely have been a need of a hideout to protect the inhabitants on the island from an invading force. Other hypotheses are that it could have been a place for religious practice or a hideout for exiled people, which some people claim that an episode in the Gotlandic legend Gutasagan is about. Hopefully archaeological finds in the future could lead to new knowledge and maybe result in an answer of why this monument is standing there.

The aim of this thesis is to make a comparison between solitary graves and graves in grave fields from the Roman Iron Age on Gotland, Sweden. Differences in burial customs, morphology, dating, gender, age, grave-goods and social status are compared between 19 solitary graves and graves in three different grave fields in different parts of Gotland. An attempt is made to explain these differences and to discuss which functions the solitary graves had. Discussions about whether it is possible to distinguish social status and gender with the help of grave-goods are also made in connection to the determination of status and sex.

In this essay I analyze the stone circles known as domarringar in northern Småland. In order to understand the stone circles, one must understand the society that built them, I argue. Therefore I first date them so I can put them in a context. After dating them to late Roman Iron Age and Migration period, I discuss hill forts, gold bracteates and rotary querns as a starting point for understanding the society and ideology that built the stone circles. I argue that the stone circles are a product of the midgård-ideology and that they have to be understood in that light. The stone circles are always found close to a road and often relatively high in the landscape. They manifest boundaries in the landscape.

Jag har gjort en jämförande studie mellan utvecklingen i Danmark och utvecklingen på Gotland under romersk järnålder. Som underlag har jag framförallt använt Lotte Hedeagers avhandling Danmarks jernalder – Mellem stamme og stat (Hedeager 1992) och Kerstin Cassels redovisning av det arkeologiska källmaterialet från Gotland i hennes avhandling Från grav till gård – romersk järnålder på Gotland (Cassel 1998). Syftet med studien var att undersöka om Hedeagers slutsats att det etablerades en centralmakt med territoriell kontroll, en tidig stat, i Danmark redan i övergången mellan äldre och yngre romersk järnålder, även skulle gå att dra vad gäller Gotland baserat på det gotländska källmaterialet, och i så fall om detta kunde förklara uppkomsten av stengrundsbebyggelse och fornborgar. Jag har jämfört det arkeologiska källmaterialet från Danmark och Gotland avseende gravfynd och offerfynd, bebyggelseutveckling och landskapsutnyttjande samt vapenoffer och försvarsanläggningar. Vad gäller gravfynden går det att se stora likheter både i hur gravgodset ser ut och i de förändringar som sker mellan äldre och yngre romersk järnålder. Det går också att se stora likheter i kulturlandskapets utveckling med en övergång från ett extensivt åkerbruk med kollektivt brukande till familjejordbruk med intensiv odling. Både på Gotland och i Danmark kan man datera storskaliga försvarsanläggningar till slutet av äldre eller yngre romersk järnålder. Exempel på detta är Olmerdiket och Torsburgen. En väsentlig skillnad mellan Danmark och Gotland är hur praktföremål fördelas mellan offerfynd och gravar övertiden från förromersk järnålder till folkvandringstid. Det jag kommit fram till är att likheterna är så stora att man genom att tillämpa Hedeagers analysmodell kan dra slutsatsen att omläggning av jordbruket, uppkomst av stengrundshus och stensträngar, och anläggande av försvarsborgar gjorts på initiativ av en centralmakt med kontroll över det gotländska territoriet.

This essay is focused on Öland during the Iron Age, with focus specifically on the Roman Iron Age and the Migration period. The study takes its starting point in the large number of fortifications that was active across Öland at the time. The essays main area of investigation will be the central and southern parts of Öland as the fortifications, together with other parts of the Iron Age society around them such as graves and settlement, will be presented. The landscape in which the fortifications and their surroundings are placed will also be described. With the Migration Period being a keyword for almost all the fortifications on Öland, the subject will also be to describe if any sort of change can be seen in the settlement patterns during this unstable and troubled time. This will all be presented trough sources describing work of the archaeological investigations that has been done in those places.

This bachelor thesis provides a study of two individuals from Buttle Änge, Gotland and the data of their health at the time of death. Possible profession or status of each individual has been discussed in correlation to the form of burial and then summated into a possible explanation. Individual 1, the buttle warrior, was determined a man with an age between 30-35 years and a stature of 180 centimetres. Individual 2, the armless individual, was determined a man with the age of 20-25 years and a stature of 175 centimetres. The analyse of the human skeletal material and excavation reports gave a context to how these two individuals were buried. The offerings or lack of offerings, in the grave gave an insight to the status of the burial for each individual. The Buttle Warrior gave indication on impact or change in the vertebrae which probably came from the way of movement he had in life. The lack of grave offerings in the grave of the armless individual have been discussed and formed a possible explanation that the armless individual lack skeleton of the arms because of a probable remove just before or short after burial. The two human remains origins from the Roman iron age, a period from 0 to 400 AD, both individuals was dated to a period of 0-150 AD.

<p>This paper deals with diet and gender in the early roman iron age in Sweden. Human bone and tooth material from the Iron Age cemetery at Bjärby in Kastlösa parish on the island of Öland have been analysed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. 21 individuals were sampled. Where possible 4 samples were taken from each individual, from the first, second and third molar respectively and from one compact bone. By doing so it is possible, at least in theory, to trace intra-individual diets throughout life. In total, 64 samples were analysed by isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The low [delta]13C values indicate a diet based mostly on terrestrial resources, while the high [delta]15N values indicate some significant marine input. This discrepancy may be explained by an intake of freshwater fish or meat from suckling animals. The isotope values do not indicate any significant dietary reliance on cereals. Some gender differences in diet were observed. The [delta]15N values of the women were higher than those of the men, indicating a higher tropic level throughout life. The third molar [delta]13C values of the men were higher than those of the women, indicating a somewhat more substantial marine input during the teenage years.</p>

<p>This thesis deals with individuals buried at Smörkullen, Västra Tollstad parish, Östergötland, Sweden. The aim is to reconstruct the diet of the individuals through stable isotope analyses and then try to identify if social hierarchy correlates with the diet. To do this, 35 individuals were divided into different groups (males, females, high status graves, low status graves, young adults, adults, seniors and trepanned individuals) and then subjected to stable isotope analyses of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur. The results show that all individuals lived mainly on freshwater fish with a few exceptions that had a more mixed diet of terrestrial protein and freshwater fish. The sulphur analyses showed that one female (possibly two) has moved to the area sometime after the age of seven. Because of the homogenous diet of freshwater fish no social hierarchy based on diet could be established.</p>