This essay investigates, on the basis of the medieval letters, diplomas, how the medieval monasticism contributed to the maintenance of the Danish society's gender structures. The theoretical starting points for the study are gender and class structures and Marcel Mauss presented gift - giving theory. Finally, a continuous comparison is made with Catharina Andersson's results in her dissertation, in which she examines the social structure in the Swedish medieval society. The primary material in the study is the Danish diplomas. 41 diplomas were found relevant for this study.

This paper is the result of an osteological study of the skeletal remains uncovered during an archaeological excavation of the medieval cemetery in Norra Nöbbelöv. The purpose of the study is to compare the material from the rural site (Norra Nöbbelöv) with materials excavated from the old medieval graveyards in the city of Lund. The aim is to try and shedsome light on the question of whether there is any difference in the occurrence and frequency of fractures and osteoarthritis in the materials compared. The first section of the paper consists of a short historical background of Norra Nöbbelöv and Lund, a chapter on ethics, general results of the analysis and the methods used. Thissection was co-authored by Ulla Zagal-Mach and Åsa Strandh.

In this paper I have tried to find out the reason the medieval town of Vä was created. I have studied several different areas in witch all, in one way or another, have had an effect on the making of Vä. This areas includes topography, iron production, mill handling, religious effects, royal affliction and also if the name Vä could tell something about Väs history as a religious cult. I have also looked at two other places not far from Vä, the medieval harbour town Åhus and the big village of Fjälkinge. By comparing these three places I tried to find out what Vä had that the other places did not, which made Vä turn in to a town.

In this study I compare the donor portraits on wallpaintings in Scanian churches from the 12th and the 15th century and relate them to medieval society.I find that women were equally capable of owning and donating land during the entire period. The image of the ideal woman changed during the 14th century from a married woman to the unreachable mistress of the chivalrous culture and the holy virgin. Women had a natural place beside their husbands in 12th century donor portraits, while single male donors are more frequent in the 15th century. While 12th century donors were supposed to show their position in society by offering plentiful donations directly to God, donors in the 14th century instead strived to present themselves as humble and pious. The individualisation of late medieval society meant that people had to depend on themselves to achieve salvation..

This essay represents a chronological and contextual analysis of clay pipes that have been found in the urban settlement of Västergarn during seminary excavations between 2006 ? 2012, conducted by Gotland University. Clay pipes can be dated closely and are useful means for dating and interpreting archaeological contexts from the early modern period, such as house foundations. There have been excavated four house foundations in Västergarn with different sorts of clay pipes dating to the post-Medieval period. Can they tell which people used them or which country they were produced? By discussing the meaning of clay pipes in early modern society on Gotland this essay tries to answer these questions..

Glimmingehus is one of the most well preserved medieval castles in Sweden. This essay examines why it was built ? what were the intentions of the Lord, Jens Holgersen? Even though we?ll never be able to ask him, the answer to the question ?why?? can give us aninsight of how a man of his position thought in the Late Medieval time. To answer the question the castle are explored through three different angles ? the Lord of the castle and thesocial context the castle was built in, the landscape surrounding Glimmingehus ? has Jens Holgersen left any structural clues there, and finally the castle itself ? how has a potential visitor experienced Glimmingehus? The methods are greatly influenced by Gunhild Eriksdotter, who in her book Bakom fasaderna explores the possibilities of an analysis ofexperience together with an analysis of function in the archaeology of buildings.

The subject of this master level thesis in historical osteology, is a study of waste management in the medieval town of Lund. The aims of the study is achieved through looking at the taphonomic aspects of bonefragments from the quarter Blekhagen. The study is divided in two separate sections, one that is a litterature study of what is known about waste management, and another one that contains a taphonomic and spatial analysis. Through examination of the taphonomic variables weathering, average weight and trampling and a spatial analysis, I am able to deduce that there are signs of controlled waste management in the material. It is not possible to draw any general conclusions about waste management in the medieval town however.

This essay is an attempt in analysing the establishment of the first Early Middle Ages castles in Scania. There are two types of castles in Scania during the eleventh century, keeps andringworks. This castle was built by three fixed elements of power: the crown, the church and the aristocracy. The result of the survey shows that A majority of the castles during theeleventh century in Scania where initiated by the church.The results also show two building phases of castles under the period. The first building phase begins in middle of the eleventh century and the second building phase begins in theperiod 1180- 1200.

The Middle Ages in contemporary time ? Salve City; a reconstruction in the Between Land is an essay dealing with the reconstruction of medieval Kalmar. The Salve City is a melting pot of such diverse fields as archaeology, pedagogies, reconstruction, historical tourism, regional development policy et cetera. Together, these parts form a space for research and mediation, business and pleasure, a place where commercialism and historical tourism can function alongside with history enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. Both pros and cons of the use of a reconstructed part of medieval Kalmar are debated..

In February 2005, a collection predominantly containing medieval ballads was found in the library of Växjö. The collectors were mainly George Stephens, originally from Scotland, and Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius, both active in Småland in the nineteenth century. In connection with an intital inventory of the material, Magnus Gustafsson, ethnomusicologist at Smålands Musikarkiv, marked ballads of uncertain origin with a question mark.The purpose of this essay is to investigate 22 of these marked ballads. To be able to compare them with other material we have developed a method to identify differences. By means of the method both the text and the melody are compared and in addition the differences in terms of quality and quantity are assessed.

In the medieval ruling catholic time the church walls was swarmed with programs of pictures with religious motives there the animal figures rich symbolics was significant first and foremost for the illiterate. Principally the inspiration comes from the antiquitys pagan world of fables and bestiary Christian world of symbols with the bible as the essential source. The essay describes six of the most common animal symbols who occur; dragon, the sneak in the Paradise, mouth of hell, lion, the fox as a preacher and the devil.To attain to a discussion about why just animals are used as symbols for human characteristics in the medieval church art instead for human beings as it's actually be about, I have studied bestiary and other literature about medieval churchpainting to get an understanding about the history of ideas about the thoughts of the time and about symbolics of animals, worth and how the Christianity have had an influence on the pictures.I have used Johannes Rosenrods church pictures from Tensta church in Uppland from 1437 as an exemplification but also mentioned other unknown painters who used similar animal codes and motives.It's plausible that the purpose of the animal figures was both religious and political, which was used by both the spiritual and the worldly authority so they could keep their dominance over the peasant. The figures was simple to read and remember and they made a deep impression on the people together with the sermon. The churchgoer get so to speak a sound- and image experience, a medieval reality who impress their world of ideas.When it's about the artistic formation of religious expression and characteristics it was undoubtedly a great advantage for the artists to use an animal code like a schemata.

The aim of this paper is to illuminate and discuss the political and ideological aspects of Early Medieval Nordic music. Due to shortage of sources, this issue has been overlooked until now. Did Early Medieval Nordic music meet the requirements for political and ideological use? In what ways could music potentially be used politically and ideologically? Was music used as a political and ideological tool? This is examined by a contextual analysis combining music history and historical archaeology. The survey consists of a background account, focusing on the potential of music and some requests for political use, and three case studies, where musical reflections of societal tensions is investigated in folk music lyrics, Icelandic sagas and church art.

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.

This paper studies the fragmentation and reuse of early christian monuments ("eskilstunakistor") in churches in Östergötland during the Medieval period. This is found to have been done in two stages. The first stage shows a collectivization of society. Within religion the change from ancestoral cult towards the saints' cult is important as the fragments are reused like relics. During the second stage the collectivization has been fulfilled, and the reuse is instead part of the christian churches' strategy for incorporating old powerful symbols from the landscape into their own church building..

By using pollen analysis and 14C-dating, the history of vegetation and land use at the old shieling place (Sw: fäbodställe) Öjingsvallen in Ängersjö parish, central Sweden, was studied. The aim of the study was to answer the following questions: 1) When was Öjingsvallen established as a shieling place? 2) What was the land use at Öjingsvallen? 3) Was the use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place affected by the agricultural crisis in the 14th and 15th centuries? 4) Is there any relation between the establishment and land use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place and the historically known increase in the number of shieling sites known to have taken place in the 16th and 17th centuries? 5) Was the use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place affected by the iron production in the area? According to the study, Öjingsvallen was probably established as a shieling place during the period A.D. 300-700. The main land use at this time was forest grazing.