Vapengravar associeras vanligtvis med att de innehåller vuxna män, möjligen en krigare. Detta gör barn i vapengravar till ett undantag från denna norm och något problematiskt i denna gravkontext, ett hinder för arkeologer att handskas med då gravarna ifrågasätter tidigare normer och tolkningar av vapengravar. Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera och jämföra tre vikingatida vapengravar innehållande anmärkningsvärt unga individer, barn enligt modernt synsätt. Uppsatsen tar hänsyn till motiven för en grav, hur man tolkar vapengravar och den sociala konstruktionen av barndomen. Med detta i åtanke jämförs tolkningar av tre olika vapengravar med särskilt unga individer med varandra genom en litteraturstudie baserad på arkeologiska vetenskapliga texter. De tre huvudsakliga texterna är ”En ryttargrav på Ihrefältet” av Stenberger (1942), ”A Princely Child in Birka” av Gräslund (1998), samt ”A Viking Burial at Balnakeil, Sutherland” av Batey och Paterson (2012). Tolkningar av forskare jämförs med varandra för att synliggöra mönster, avvikelser och det obemärkta inom denna mycket sällsynta kategori av gravar. / Weapon graves are typically associated with containing adult males, perhaps a warrior. Which makes children in weapon graves an exception to this norm and somewhat problematic in this grave context, an obstacle for archeologists to deal with as the graves challenge previous norms and interpretations of weapon graves. The purpose of this thesis is to study and compare three Viking Age weapon graves containing distinguishable young individuals, children in the modern view. The essay considers the motifs of a grave, how to interpret weapon graves and the social construction of childhood. With this in mind, interpretations of three different weapon graves with particularly young individuals are compared to each other through a literature study based on archeological scientific texts. The three main texts are ”En ryttargrav på Ihrefältet” by Stenberger (1942), ”A Princely Child in Birka” by Gräslund (1998), and ”A Viking Burial at Balnakeil, Sutherland” by Batey and Paterson (2012). Interpretations of researchers are compared with each other in order to reveal patterns, deviations and things unnoticed within this very rare category of graves.

This thesis seeks to gain an understanding the role of the warrior in the Gotlandic society during the Roman iron age and the Migration Period, and to gain further knowledge of the development and evolution of the Gotlandic weapon grave, in terms of grave goods, burial practises, and expressions of military hierarchy. Through the methodology of correspondence analysis, a relatively clear development of the weapon grave can be traced: from a retinue-based system of military organisation in the Early Roman Iron Age, to a less defied hierarchy among the graves during the Late Roman Iron Age and Migration Period. This is manifested by a decreasing use of high-status objects, more homogenous grave inventories, and smaller differences in size and form of burial structures. This development corelates with earlier studies regarding social changes on Gotland, where the Gotlandic society is identified as more egalitarian than other Early Iron Age societies in Scandinavia. / Denna Uppsats ämnar bilda en förståelse kring krigarens roll i det gotländska samhället under romersk järnålder och folkvandringstid, samt att öka kunskapen kring de gotländska vapengravarnas utveckling genom att undersöka uppsättningar av gravgåvor, gravpraktiker och uttryck för militär hierarki. Genom en korrespondens-analytisk metodik har en relativt tydlig utveckling av vapengravarna kunnat identifieras. Från ett system som bygger på militära följen under äldre romersk järnålder, till en mindre tydligt definierad hierarki bland gravarna under yngre romersk järnålder och folkvandringstid. Utvecklingen manifesterar sig via en minskning i användningen av statusmarkerande föremål, ett mer homogent gravinventarium, samt mer otydliga skillnader i storlek och utformning av gravkonstruktionerna. Detta korrelerar med tidigare forskning rörande den gotländska samhällsorganisationen, där det gotländska samhället identifieras som mer egalitärt än andra äldre järnålderssamhällen i Skandinavien.

The purpose of this thesis is to perform a gender study focusing on Viking Age weapon graves. A female weapon burial, a male weapon burial and a female burial are studied in this thesis. It is necessary first to discuss the meaning of a weapon burial. Thereafter the thesis will discuss if it is possible to find any differences in the gender interpretation of weapon burials belonging to men and females. The weapon graves will also be interpreted in relation to a female burial. The research history is primarily based on Conkey & Spector’s (1984) article regarding archaeological androcentrism. The result of the thesis states that a weapon burial must consist of at least one of following weapons: sword, shield, spear, axe, horse equipment or arrowheads. The results also state that the interpretation of a weapon burial depends on the sexual identity of the buried individual. It is easier to state that the buried individual is a warrior if the individual is assumed to be a male. It is also possible to see differences regarding male and female burials in general where the interpretation of rich female graves is questioned due to the absence of a man in the grave. The graves are still interpreted in traditional gender roles, where the gender roles are based on the grave goods.

This thesis discusses what associations Viking Age women and weapons had according to extant sources and how they can present in the grave material. In order to achieve this, literary sources, iconographic representations, and grave material are studied and compared in order to reach a deeper understanding of these associations and what they look like in the archaeology. The literary and iconographic source materials in this thesis are limited those from within, or shortly after, the Viking Age. The grave material in this thesis is also dated to the Viking Age and consists of weapon graves with osteologically determined inhumed females located in Gerdrup, Kaupang, Aunvoll, Nordre Kjølen, and Birka.