This thesis analyzes and documents the splint armor material from Valsgärde 8 and Vendel I,X, and XI. This armor is then contextualized in the warrior institutions, weapon-systems, and fighting techniques of warbands from Central Sweden. Analogies for the splint armor are sought after with the closest parallels being found around the Black Sea area, associated with Byzantine, Sassanid, and Steppe-Nomadic martial cultures. The systems of exchange between these two regions are then analyzed in order to inform as to where this armor came from, whyit is there in Central Sweden, and what this can tell us about the development of military contacts between Central Sweden and the Black Sea area during the Vendel Period. / Denna uppsats berör analysen och dokumentationen av det Vendeltida skenpansarmaterialet från Valsgärde 8 och Vendel I, X och XI, där skenpansarna sätts i kontext med krigarinstitutioner, vapensystem och stridstekniker från krigsband i Centrala Sverige. Analogier för dessa skenpansar med närmaste paralleller har påträffats i Svartahavsområdet och associeras med Bysantinska, Sasanidiska och stäppnomadiska krigarkulturer. Utbytessystem mellan dessa två regioner analyseras för att få förståelse för var denna typ av rustning härrör ifrån, varför den har hamnat i Centrala Sverige och vad de kan säga om utvecklingen av militära kontakter mellan Centrala Sverige och Svartahavsområdet under Vendeltiden.

Leather has been one of the most common crafting materials in human history. With its incredible versatility it has been used for clothes, shelter, books, armour, containers, decoration, and everything in between. The boat graves from Valsgärde presents a for the time period large amount of preserved leather, allowing us to have a peek into how it was used during the late Scandinavian Iron Age. This essay focuses on which animals have been used in the making of these objects and what the choice of raw material and visible crafting skills might tell us. A total of 54 samples from the Valsgärde boat graves were analysed using the ZooMS method. Additionally, tanning methods and other related processes are discussed. The main conclusions are that while the choice of material has an important impact on the final result, it seems like the skills of the craftsperson was the most important factor affecting quality and exclusivity for an item. / Läder har varit ett av de vanligaste materialen i mänsklighetens historia. Med sin fantastiska mångsidighet har det använts till kläder, bostäder, böcker, rustningar, behållare, dekoration, och allt däremellan. Båtgravarna i Valsgärde erbjuder en för tidsperioden stor mängd bevarat läder vilket ger oss chansen att få en glimt av hur materialet användes under den sena järnåldern i Skandinavien. Den här uppsatsen fokuserar på vilka djur som använts för att tillverka dessa föremål och vad valet av råmaterial och hantverkmetoder kan säga oss. Totalt har 54 prov från Valsgärdes båtgravar analyserats med ZooMS-metoden. Därtill behandlas garvning och andra relaterade processer i läderhantverk. De huvudsakliga slutsatserna är att även om valet av råmaterial har en stor inverkan på slutresultatet så verkar hantverkarens skicklighet vara den viktigaste faktorn för kvalitet och exklusivitet i ett föremål. / <p>This thesis was made possible through funding from Västgöta Nation.</p>

Today, the pets we own are thought of as friends and family members. A lot of people even go as far as saying that the pets they own are their children. While we have this close and almost human relationship with our pets, we also distance ourselves from the animals we have on our plates. What did the human – animal relationships look like during the Vendel Period and Viking Age?  The goal with this essay is to analyse cremation graves from the grave site in Valsgärde, Uppsala, and then compare these results with those from Ylva Bäckström’s osteological study of eight cremation graves from Valsgärde and with Berit Sigvallius’ study of the cremated material from the grave fields in northern Spånga. The grave field in Valsgärde, Uppsala, is dated to pre-Roman Iron Age as well as Vendel Period and Viking Age. The boat graves are what the grave field in Valsgärde is most famous for, but in addition to the 15 boat graves there are also at least 62 cremation graves and 15 skeleton graves. The graves in the northern Spånga are dated to 500 BC. - 1050 AD and lies in Kista, Granby, Ervinge and Kymlinge. The osteological study and the comparison with the two previously executed analysis have been done with the purpose to see in what way the relations between humans and animals expresses itself in the osteological material of Uppland during the late Iron Age. Hopefully the composition of the graves’ animal material will contain indicators of the human – animal relations. Previously conducted studies of Iron Age cremation graves in general, has shown that there was a significant increase in the amount of animal bones in the graves during the Vendel and Viking age. Animals are clearly important to the people during the late Iron Age. In what way were the animals significant and how is this expressed in the material?

Wood has been an integral part of the Scandinavians everyday life for thousands of years. There are still several substantial gaps in knowledge about their wood culture during the Late Iron Age since previous research has been focused on more common findings of inorganic materials like ceramics, metals and glass. Archaeologists rarely find wooden artifacts during excavations due to wood disintegrating a lot faster than metal in the ground. Valsgärde is one of Sweden’s most important Iron Age sites since several wooden remains were found there. They show parts of our distant past that we have yet to understand and gain knowledge about. The few preserved wooden artifacts from the Late Iron Age show a rich culture of wood carving. That is why this study focuses on those very few organic objects that are found. Wooden artifacts might potentially be used to determine the social status of the individuals in the graves. This is examined through a comparative analysis of the wooden remains from Valsgärde and other boat graves in Scandinavia. The analysis also reveals what type of wood the artifacts were made of, which makes it possible to determine if they could be from local trees or if they had to be imported. There seems to be a conscious choice of what kind of wood an object should be made of depending on the purpose at hand and social status. In some cases the choice of wood also seems to be based on the symbolic or mythological meaning of the artifact. This study uses previous microscopic wood analysis from the boat graves to give a more in-depth picture of the Scandinavian Late Iron Age wood culture as a whole.

Archaeology and art history are two disciplines that have a lot in common, especially in the pre-historic field where both disciplines rely on the same material – artifacts. Interdisciplinary methods have become increasingly more common the last few years and are very beneficial as it allows for more insight and variables into the study of the human pasts. This thesis aims to develop two methods from art history into methods fitting for archaeological material to investigate what type of information this can produce. The methods used are material analysis and spatial analysis. Spatial analysis studies human movement within an urban space, but this work considerer the placement of the individual within the grave instead as well as the grave goods. The method investigates how the placement of the grave goods relates and interacts with each other and the individual. The analysis can give clues and insight on who the buried individual was, their identity, and social role as well as giving indicators about the contemporary society the person lived in. When a spatial analysis is made it is favorable to carry out a material analysis as well. This is done to understand what type of materials the grave contains and what the material can tell. This will give depth and possibilities to understand the objects in the grave, their use, and the relationships they had to the individual. The material analysis in this paper is conducted with the help of an analysis scheme which is a tool that helps collect the same type of information from all the studied objects. The material that will be used are two ship burials from Valsgärde, 12 and 15, also known as the twin-graves as they are the only contemporary ship burials out of the grave field’s total of 15 ship burials. During the Viking age, it was common practice amongst the elite families to bury their dead in ship burials that included lavish gifts. Valsgärde in Uppland, Sweden, is an example of such a grave field with a long history. Graves from the Viking age, however, show the change that was present in the region, and traces of trade to the east can be found. Graves 12 and 15 are from the mid-10th century and some of the grave goods show influences from the east, both clothes, and items. The graves are the only of their kind at Valsgärde and even though they show the foreign impact they still follow the established grave traditions that Valsgärde have carried since the 6th century. The result from ship burials 12 and 15 are compared to Birka’s graves Bj 581 and Bj 944 who is similar in content, time and richness. The hope for this paper is to show how useful interdisciplinary methods can be, in this case, spatial analysis and material analysis with analysis scheme, to bring new aspects to graves and grave goods.

<p>This thesis is a historical archaeological essay and deals with the Frankish empire and its sway over the European area. The aim of this essay has been to examine if the sway of the Franks reached the Scandinavian area. The Frankish empire was the most influential power in Western Europe from the 6th century until the death of Charlemagne 814 AD, when the kingdom began to disrupt. The essay is divided into three parts. The first part is a background where I describe the Frankish empire in a historical context. The second part contains the archaeological finds. The third part contains a discussion and conclusions.</p>

This thesis is a historical archaeological essay and deals with the Frankish empire and its sway over the European area. The aim of this essay has been to examine if the sway of the Franks reached the Scandinavian area. The Frankish empire was the most influential power in Western Europe from the 6th century until the death of Charlemagne 814 AD, when the kingdom began to disrupt. The essay is divided into three parts. The first part is a background where I describe the Frankish empire in a historical context. The second part contains the archaeological finds. The third part contains a discussion and conclusions.