Decapitated Vs. Stomach buried ? A study of decapitated people and stomach placed people in Iron Age in Sweden and Denmark. This essay is about decapitated persons in Graves and those buried on their stomach in the Iron Age in Sweden and Denmark. The analysis is to compare these Graves by six perspectives; location of the grave, construction of the grave, grave goods, sex, age and interpretations of the grave.

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..

The aim of this essay is to see if there are any relationship between the four Megalithic Graves, and the newly excavated dwelling site in Resmo socken on Öland. The Megalithic Graves on Öland consist of one dolmen and three passage Graves. Is the excavated site a settlement? Since there are no signs of housing constructions, I will also explore other possible purposes of the site. What surprised the excavators was the concentration of pits that contained ceramics, flints and burned bones.

Since the down of archaeology much of the resurges has focused on Graves andgrave materials. This essay is an attempt to interpret a grave material to the society of the living, to investigate what a megalithic grave material can tell us about the society that made them and the people that were buried in them. The study is focused upon two megalithic Graves in Löderup; Ramshög and Carlshög. A study of the bone materiel, building construction and building material at Ramshög and Carlshög is done and then compared with different theories that are made of Ramshög and Carlshög and of other megalithic Graves. By studying different theories of megalithic Graves and comparing these with Ramshög and Carlshög I have tried to evaluate which ones that are relevant in this case.The megalithic Graves primarily shows some kind of change, in society or in their way of looking at the dead or the life after this.

I have statistically worked up a material from 228 Graves from the late Iron Age in the area of Mälardalen.In my material I have gathered the incidence of combs, knifes, beads, weapons whetstones and torshammarsrings.I have found that beads are overrepresented in Graves of women and whetstones in Graves of men. I only found weapons in Graves from male.I found no indication from my statistic hypothesis (Z-test) that a grave that contains more than three beads should define the grave of a woman. A grave that contains a lot of beads, more than 20, consider I as a female gender.Combs, knifes and torshammarsring are considered as gender neutral..

This paper deals with prehistoric charred organic material, interpreted as bread, found in Graves and in the underlying settlement at Kalvshälla, Järfälla parish in Uppland. The aim was to categorize the organic material morphologically and with the help of Fourier transformed Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) to see whether it was bread or not. Material from 13 Graves (dated to Late Roman Iron Age until Viking Age) and 3 finds from the settlement have been analysed. Differences were noted both in shape, porosity and structure. Some of the material has been interpreted as cereal based foodstuff instead of bread due to morphological discrepancies.

Hunting ground Graves were distinguished as a separate category during the 1930s.         There is however no clear definition of what a hunting ground grave is. They have been constructed over a large area over a long period of time (200 BC-1200 AD) and their morphology varies.This paper investigates how the archaeologists have discussed the hunting ground Graves since they were distinguished as a separate category until today. It investigates what concepts that have been used to define and categorize the Graves as a group. It also investigates if the choices of concepts are depending on a broader societal perspective.To find the answers to these questions two surveys have been done.

Hunting ground Graves were distinguished as a separate category during the 1930s.         There is however no clear definition of what a hunting ground grave is. They have been constructed over a large area over a long period of time (200 BC-1200 AD) and their morphology varies.This paper investigates how the archaeologists have discussed the hunting ground Graves since they were distinguished as a separate category until today. It investigates what concepts that have been used to define and categorize the Graves as a group. It also investigates if the choices of concepts are depending on a broader societal perspective.To find the answers to these questions two surveys have been done.

Joakim Schyman, 2009. Den gotländska vikingatida bebyggelsens rumsliga placering ilandskapet - En empirisk detaljstudie av Hemse socken (The spacial distribution of the VikingAge settlements on Gotland ? An emperical study of remains from Hemse Parish.)This essay investigates whether a relation between Viking age Graves and Viking agesettlements in Hemse parish can be found. This was done by using database information onViking age findings, such as silver hoards, phosphate levels and location of Graves in Hemseparish. Literature and maps were also used.

The aim for this bachelor thesis is to find an answer for the placement of Migration and Vendel period Graves on preexisting house constructions in Sweden. The reason behind these Graves being built on their respective places will be analyzed, discussed and compared with similar finds in Scandinavia, where a wide contact net had been established during this time. Different kinds of social and religious meanings and functions with the grave mounds will also be taken into consideration during the discussion and analysis. The actual findings in the Graves will be not be a part of this thesis, as the aim is to focus more on the grave itself as a cultural and social symbol for the people, and the values it had, during the time period it was built..

In this paper I will discuss the occurrence of ceramic vessels in the Graves of the Pitted ware culture on the island of Gotland, Sweden. I will focus on four sites and compare these sites, with hopes of finding some similarities or interesting differences. The sites are Ajvide in Eksta parish, Visby in Visby parish, Västerbjers in Gothem parish and Fridtorp in Västerhejde parish. The idea is to look at the grave goods, with focus on the ceramic vessels, or at least, the bottoms of the vessels, where one can clearly see that it's been deposited in the grave. I will try to analyze the vessels (shape and in some cases height), look where in the grave they've been placed, how many Graves contain vessels, who's been given these vessels and if the vessels have filled a certain purpose once they've been deposited in the Graves..

THE THIN RED LINE ? Identity in theory and method With this essay I want to explore some possibilities with the term identity within archaeology. Identity is a term best understood in the light of different scientific approaches. For instance the anthropological and historical angel combined with the quality of archaeology, as is the case in this essay. By combining these approaches, I create a (clarification) method of exploring traces of identity.By analysing two different Graves from Scania, having a negligible number of artefacts from the Viking Age, and three Graves from Bornholm, known for its large number of finds from this period, I test the ability of my method.

The Iron Age cemetery at Tuna in Badelunda parish, Västmanland, is a complex and unique burial ground used for only 69 Graves during a period of roughly 700 years, between 300 - 1050 AC. The individuals buried at Tuna show an impressive variety of gravegods as well as stonesettings formed above the grave. Who where these people that were cremated at Tuna, among the mysterious women in the boats and the rich women in grave X? As we study the Graves of the cremated individuals we reach a new understanding of the cemetery; from its social structure down to every individual. Through the analysis of the stonesettings, gravegods and bones we see a how these subjects, when analysed, show a picture of the individuals and social structure of the cemetery.

This paper deals with rights of women and their social role during the Viking Age. The method is to compare things and written material.In the written material, three cases of rape have been identified. How each of these cases where looked upon differs; legally the punishment for rape was exile. Violence against wives implied their right to divorce, whereby they were entitled to take with them a great part of the family´s capital, namely their dowry and morning gift.A husband and wife did not inherit each other but a widow could inherit from her children if they died without offspring.Women buried in boat Graves indicate that they had a function or were closely involved in the cult. From two Graves, the Aska Grave and the Oseberg Grave, the findings can be interpreted as indicating a change in the social behaviour.

In this essay I have chosen to write about Graves, settlements and historical, important central places during the late Iron Age and the introduction of Christianity in the east of Blekinge. The reason why I have chosen to write about this is because the area has many ancient monuments and not much have been written about the area. The main question is who where the people who lived there and why did they choose to settle there..