This paper explores the theoretical and practical uses and limitations of battle-field archaeology. The author aims to paint a big picture of the subject of exca-vating, understanding and theorising about historical battlefields done every day by Archaeologists. Its approach places much weight on a quantity of examples rather than exploring specific excavations in every detail, in an effort to give the reader an understanding about how battlefield archaeology works. It stresses the need for battlefield archaeology as a way of obtaining and securing impor-tant archaeological and historical information before it is lost to science. The author tries to evaluate the subject in a critical and pragmatic fashion in order to establish a clear understanding about the facts of battlefield archaeology..

In this Bachelor thesis an animal bone material from Västergarn parish is analyzed and discussed. The purpose of this thesis is to gain more knowledge about the Viking Age/Early Medieval Västergarn. Västergarn has a few remains from former days which have been discussed throughout the years and are still a bit of a mystery for Archaeologists. The main focus is to inquire into whether Västergarn was an urban, complex society or a rural settlement. This will be done by studying the animal husbandry from the property of Snauvalds 1:2.

The aim of this study is to investigate how new knowledge, discovered and translated by the archaeologist, is transferred to the public by examining the question posed to the archaeologist by ?la?nsstyrelsen,? the county administration office.Since there can be no mediation of knowledge without an understanding of its perception, I pay a visit to the cognitive sciences in order to answer what knowledge is and how it functions in regards to contract archaeological results.I argue that the current structure of mediation, in regards to archaeological knowledge, is in need of the same quality control that is demanded by the contractors in regards to standard archaeological procedures. When presenting archaeology to the public, consideration needs to be paid to the different targets groups of society. The importance of national directions rather than regional translations for mediation of archaeology is stressed by the author. This needs to be carried out through a change of the questions posed to the contracted Archaeologists by the county administration in their ?fo?rfra?gningsunderlag,? the order specification for archaeological investigations. .

The purpose with this paper is partly to find out what people of different ages do to learn more about the past, and partly what they believe will happen within the next 50 years with institutions like traditional museums and the relatively new theme parks. How will the museums and theme parks evolve? Will they evolve? Or will they disappear?To solve these questions I have sent out a questionnaire to people of different ages. I have also been in contact with employees from different museums and theme parks in Skåne. I have used literature written by Archaeologists among others.

Many Archaeologists have been intrigued by how often symbolic houses of varying forms are used on the burialgrounds of the Scandinavian Bronze Age. Some scholars even claim that to deal with the dead did not mean to set them apart from the world of the living during this period. Since several examples show that there seem to be an active connection between the ship-setting and different types of symbolic houses, this study seek to demonstrate and interpret how the ideology behind these symbols vary between three regionally different Swedish areas: Halland, Småland and Gotland. The purpose is to show that the way chosen to shape the symbols materially not only had fundamental impact on the organization of the burialground itself, but also on how the surrounding world came to comprenhend and use them. This study suggests that even though the special shapes of the graves and the gravefield itself can carry meaning, the materialization of the monuments can be interpreted as incorporated in a practice of remembrance in where the individual shaping of the grave most probably formed part of a greater story..

The aim of this paper was to study fourteen pottery sherds found at the site of Ayia Irini in northern Cyprus using Gas chromatography- Mass spectrometry. Ayia Irini has by the Archaeologists of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition been interpreted as a sanctuary, with activity spanning from the Late Bronze Age throughout the Cypriot Iron Age.The results showed traces of vegetable lipids in almost all samples, and traces of lipids from terrestrial animals in all but two. One sample showed traces of resin. Several samples were contaminated by different components found in plastics, such as plasticizers. No obvious common denominators were found for samples of similar pottery type or similar dating.

The landscape in the interior of Norrland has undergone dramatic changes since the deglaciation as a consequence of faultings, earthquakes and tilting of the landscape westwards. Archaeological investigations along former shorelines by the use of models of isostatic land uplift, have revealed many Mesolitic settlements in northern Sweden. Döudden, in the county of Arjeplog, has been investigated by Archaeologists that identified settlements from 5200 BC. The objective of this study was to analyse the history of the vegetation and if the vegetation showed traces of human activity during early Holocene, by pollen analysis. The results indicate that the area had an established vegetation c.

he purpose of this master thesis is to learn more about the ancient Alexandrian Library. The method used in this thesis is methodology of history, especially a critical attitude when it comes to evaluating the ancient texts. I put forward three questions to which I desire to find answers. First: What do the sources from Antiquity tell about the Alexandrian library? Second: How do modern writers of books on the subject use these sources? Thirdly: I look into the possible historical and cultural reasons that the first of the Ptolemaic kings could have had for establishing the Mouseion and the Library of Alexandria.

The purpose of this essay ("Gateway to the Past. An archaeological quality controlled subject gateway as a resource for higher education in Lund") is to examine how a quality controlled subject gateway could increase the quality of the information supply for the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Lund University. The essay gives a brief background to subject gateways and also describes the Department and its subjects (prehistoric archaeology, medieval archaeology, osteology and classical studies) . The essay consists of a questionnaire distributed to parts of the target group as well as an investigation of three particular subject gateways: NordArk, ARGE and The Labyrinth. The essay also contains an exposition of how Archaeologists seek information, of the structure of the archaeological subjects and of classification systems for quality controlled subject gateways.

AbstractThis essay discusses different explanations and interpretations of what characterizes large areas containing clearance cairns (cairn fields). Results from the analyses show that there are different explanations about when and why cairn fields and clearance cairns occur. Explanations vary from introduction of the wooden ard in the early Bronze Age to the introduction of rational hay-making in the Roman Iron Age.  There is, anyway, relative agreement considering why and when cairn fields were abandoned. The reason suggested is an increasing pasturage with the consequence of reducing soil to poverty during the period of the Great Migration or in the Viking Age.The most likely cultivation system in cairn fields is a system consisting of both intensive and extensive characteristics. The latter coincides with the probable mobility of settlements.

The difficullty to distinguish between sheep and goats is a well-known problem in archaeology and osteology. Distinguishing sheep and goats in archaeological animal remains takes time and time is often limited for osteologists. Because of this difficulty osteologists and archaeozoologists often use the term sheep/goat or ?ovicaprids? in their analytical reports. But even if the term sheep/goat comprise both species, this is often not the case when Archaeologists and osteologists interpret and present archaeological findings.

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.

What happens when historical theories are used as evidence in a trial? Is it possible for historians to use their own scientific tools when acting as participants in a juridical process? And how do judges deal with historical evidence? The aim of this study is to answer these questions by analyzing a specific trial, known as ?Härjedalsmålet?. Härjedalsmålet was a court case about the Sami people?s right to let their reindeer graze on private property grounds in Härjedalen during the winter season. Their claim to this right was based on prescription of time immemorial.

This thesis concerns the Gotlandic hill-forts (sw. fornborg) situated on a cliff or in an elevated position and which traditionally have been referred to as cliff-forts (sw. klintborg/höjdborg). The study derives from the notion that these monuments, diverse in size and shape, by Archaeologists have been viewed and treated as a homogeneous category of ancient remains. The author?s key aim is to challenge this perception by identifying various subcategories from the 28 cliff-forts on the island.Ever since the archaeological discipline initiated the study of cliff-forts in the late 1800s and more or less to present day, the interpretations have been almost solely dominated by explanations of the military and defendable nature of them.

This essay is about a deserted medieval habitation called Skyttsie Hage which is located in the south of Sweden in the Scania province where it lies on a moor on the Falsterbopeninsula. Remains of five to six larger buildings have been found here with a surrounding earthwork, although it's not known for sure what kind of habitation they have been part of. Local folklore from the 17:th century states the area as a place where pirates lived, and that this was the reason for it's devastation. Another says that there once stood a breedingfarm belonging to the danish crown. Archaeologists have made several speculations which includes a deer park, a royal estate, an isolated farm or a smaller village.