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Scandinavia spanning the Iron Age to the present, based on 48 new and 249 published ancient genomes and genotypes from 16,638 modern individuals. We find regional variation in the timing and magnitude of gene flow from three sources: the eastern Baltic, the British-Irish Isles, and southern Europe. British-Irish ancestry was widespread in Scandinavia from the Viking period, whereas eastern Baltic ancestry is more localized to Gotland and central Sweden. In some regions, a drop in current levels of external ancestry suggests that ancient immigrants contributed proportionately less to the modern Scandinavian gene pool than indicated by the ancestry of genomes from the Viking and Medieval periods. Finally, we show that a north-south genetic cline that characterizes modern Scandinavians is mainly due to the differential levels of Uralic ancestry and that this cline existed in the Viking Age and possibly earlier.

Whether cultic sites were part of the formation of tribal boundaries, or if cultic sites were placed in liminal spaces that were later turned into territorial border zones is a question very much like that of the chicken and the egg - which came first? It seems impossible to answer with certainty and needs to be approached through interdisciplinary research, but it is worth noting that archaeologically dated cultic sites very often highlight borders known from much later times from written sources. THis article discusses certain examples to address this question.

What was the role of central places in Viking Age Scandinavia? This paper discusses this question by examining the central places in a historical perspective. They often have a remarkable site continuity with roots in the Roman Iron Age, or slightly earlier, where certain buildings were superimposed, i.e. erected on the same spot, for generations. This speaks in favour of the idea that several of the functions/structures that were there in the early history of the central places still were important in the Viking Age. Therefore, to fully encompass the role of central places it is important to shed light upon both the early group established in the Early Iron Age and the late group that arise in the beginning of the Late Iron Age, in the late 6th/7th century. In this article the Roman influences are underlined and it is argued that these could be the root of the martial functions of the central places.

The town of Sigtuna was established, according to dendrochronological dates from the bottom of the trenches of the large-scale excavation in the Trädgårdsmästaren block, c. AD 970-985, and most probably around 980. It has been argued that Sigtuna was founded on ‘virgin land’. This expression usually refers to sites that do not have a previous settlement history, and thus were placed on marginal land or in the outlands. But was this untouched, unsettled land? And if not, are there any traces of an earlier history? This article addresses this question and expands upon it.

An overview of ritual places in Old Norse religion

Graves furnished with lynx skin from Iron Age Sweden represents an interesting group of individuals. These burials cluster in time and space and consist mainly of adult or older cremated individuals from the Migration and Merovingian period, c. 400-800 AD. This tradition is especially marked in in Uppland and Gotland, i.e. eastern Sweden. The individuals consist of adult or older women with brooches interred in well furnished burials. In Uppland these women belong to settlements of social standing and memorial rituals were performed at their graves. In Gotland, these women are present at the burial sites of harbours. Some of them were buried with small children. It is concluded that the women would have belonged to a group of ladies, mistresses of wealthy households. Furthermore, the role of the lynx and its possible connection to a female deity is discussed. It is suggested that these "lynx ladies" could have stood under the protection of the godess Freyja and been especially associated with her.

This paper argues that figurines of gold or (gilded) copper alloy, particularly from the 5th to 7th centuries, can contribute to a better understanding of the gold foil figures. It discusses examplars dating from Late Roman Iron Age, Migration, and Vendel period Scandinavia, especially those from Slipshavn in Funen, Gudum in Zealand, and Guldhullet/Smørenge in Bornholm, all in Denmark, as well as those from Kymbo in Västergötland and Lunda in Södermanland, Sweden, and compares them with gold foil figures. A unique gilded example from the late 7th or early 8th century – so small that it is equal in size to a gold foil figure – recently found in a female burial situated near the royal seat of Old Uppsala in Uppland, Sweden, is also discussed in detail. The figurines relate in posture, gesture, and attributes to the single gold foil figures but not to gold foil figural pairs. Pendants from the 6th to 8th centuries on the other hand, such as those from Kville in Bohuslän and Tuna in Alsike in Uppland and Norsborg in Södermanland, Sweden, allude in gesture, dress, and attributes to both single gold foil figures as well as to gold foil figures depicting pairs. The attributes and gestures of the figurines connect with the pre-Christian cult. If considered in a contemporary Christian European iconography, they would have signalled awe and divine epiphany.

The authors of the present volume, Myth, Materiality, and Lived Religion, focus on the material dimension of Old Norse mythology and the role played by myths in everyday life. More broadly expressed, the collection looks at the social, ceremonial and material contexts of myths. This topic has been underexplored in previous research on Old Norse myths, despite its important theoretical implications. However, discussions around materiality, in a more general sense, have for a long time been significant for historians of religion, especially archaeologists. Myth, Materiality, and Lived Religion seeks to make the case for the relevance of materiality to literary historians and philologists as well. Questions relating to the theme of materiality and lived religion are posed in this book, including: • What do myths tell us about the material culture of the periods in which they were narrated? • What role did myths or mythical beings play in connection to, for instance, illnesses and remedies during the Viking Period and the Middle Ages? • How did ordinary people experience participation in a more formal sacrificial feast led by ritual specialists?

This case study demonstrates how the great mounds and halls in Old Uppsala in central Sweden, erected AD 550–650, were used for expressing cultural memory. By the construction of monumental halls, rulers created arenas for expressing both power and authority, as well as for memory production. The halls left material traces, which makes possible consideration of whether they were also maintained and used in the Viking Age, or if they were abandoned and either remembered or forgotten.

Den här artikeln diskuterar den danske adelsmannen Sivert Grubbe och de tavlor med långa inskrifter på latin som han satte upp på sina herrgårdar Torup och Hovdala på 1630-talet. Tavlorna sattes upp mot slutet av hans liv och kan ses som ett försök att skapa ett minnesmärke över sig själv, att styra det egna eftermälet.

The age and origin of the odal rights known from medieval times in Sweden and Norway are debated. Archaeologists tend to view them as old and a part of the pre-Christian society, whereas historians and legal historians view them as established after Christianity was introduced, mirroring canonical laws. In Viking Age runic inscriptions from the eleventh century in the lake Mälaren valley in Sweden, from late tenth to eleventh century in south-western Norway, the term odal, inherited family land occurs together with other expressions concerning landed property. Furthermore, two runestones in Småland and Hälsingland in Sweden, c. 650 km apart, each enumerate five earlier ancestors in a male lineage, the sponsor himself being the sixth generation. As these runic inscriptions were made in different parts of Scandinavia during the late tenth and eleventh century, this indicates that the term and concept odal was widespread already before the canonic laws of the early medieval period were introduced, and quite possibly belongs to an older inheritance structure. The aim of this article is a renewed discussion focussing on the runological sources where the term and concept odal can be found in the Viking Age Scandinavian society (c. 750–1050 CE), but also early medieval written sources. Thereafter, archaeological sources from the Late Iron Age are addressed (c. 550–1050 CE).

Kraniedelar av minst 4 spädbarn hittades på Bø på Jæren, västra Norge i en myr i samband med nyodling. I myren fanns en tvillingkälla med rödfärgat vatten och spädbarnsskallarna hade deponerats i en av dem någon gång under perioden år 1–400 e.Kr. Fyndet är unikt i ett nordiskt perspektiv, men har beröringspunkter med fynd från andra samtida våtmarker. Detta, liksom fyndets landskaps- och bebyggelsemässiga sammanhang, diskuteras i den korta artikeln.

Stockholm växte fram i ett landskapsavsnitt med särskilda kvaliteter. Ön låg tätt intill men mellan järnåldersbygderna och i den stora farleden in och ut från Svetjud. Dessutom var ön placerad där flera territoriella gränser sammanstrålade. Vikingatida föremål talar för att de människor som rört sig i hamnar och på Stadsholmen även rört sig på platser som Birka och Sigtuna, liksom förmodligen i österled. Så fort Mälaren skapas omkring år 1000 tycks passagen genom Norrström ha kontrollerats av en spärr i farleden. Vid samma tid lades en rad silverskatter ner på farledsnära platser. Strax därefter finns de första tecknen på fast bebyggelse på Stadsholmen. Stockholms speciella karaktär i äldre tid har sin grund i platsens roll för sjöfarten, särskilt sjökrigsorganisationen under vikingatid och tidig medeltid., Vad fanns där Stockholm nu ligger innan den medeltida staden blev till? I denna populärvetenskapliga antologi belyser tio forskare verksamma som arkeologer, ortnamnsforskare, runologer och kvartärgeologer Stockholmstraktens förhistoria från säljägarnas tid i äldsta stenålder då trakten var en skärgård fram tills dess att den medeltida staden etablerades. Särkilt belyses frågan vad som fanns på Stadsholmen och malmarna före år 1300 och varför här kom att skapas en medeltida stad av annorlunda slag än omgivande städer.

Resmo källa var förr den kraftigaste av alla öländska källsprång och hade en viktig funktion som offerkälla i det kristna landskapet. I artikeln diskuteras möjligheten att den även varit så under förkristen tid. Det människohuvud i sten som en gång påträffades vid källan antyder en sådan möjlighet. Stenansiktet jämförs man andra liknande fynd i Norden.

Ett urval av järnålderns kultplatser i Mellansverige belyses. I fokus är kultplatsernas roll i den publika kulten. På vilken samhällelig nivå kan vi placera kultplatsen, hur många människor kan den ha betjänat och vilken karaktär har den haft?

Thralls. Making bonded people visible 550-1200 AD in Sweden. To be free or unfree was crucial in the Nordic society. A thrall was a person in social isolation, lacked honour, without family, belonging to the owner. The awareness of the role of the bonded people has slowly increased. By a reinterpretation of various archaeological sources it is possible to make bonded people visible to a larger extent, thereby increasing the knowledge of the material culture of bondage. The physical remains of thralls in skeletal as well as cremation graves are discussed. The finds of shackels from Birka and the royal manor of Adelsö that are put forward, can probably be an indication of slave trade. The tools and products of female thralls such as rotary querns and the widespread Baltic ceramics are touched upon. Finally milieus were Late Viking Age runic inscriptions commemorating bonded people, both stewards and homeborn thralls as well as a freed person are discussed.

Rotary querns were introduced at the same as the oldest known bread appeared in the Nordic countries, c. AD 200. Since these type of querns were very efficient, bread could have been baked and consumed in most social milieus. But this was not the case. The rotary querns first appear at elite settlements, so-called central places, were the cultic dimensions are marked. Altogether the social acceptance for bread in Iron Age Sweden seems to have been slow. Kvarnberget in Sala, Västmanland in the region north of Mälaren, is a millstone quarry mountain known from a written source from AD 1490. The quarry was located on the grounds of a lost settlement called Onsala, later split into the villages Ösby and Åby. Onsala might be interptreted as the god Odin's hall or sal. The lost settlement is situated next to a settlement called Hov, a place name that can be interpreted as a settlement where cultic rituals took place. A quarry mountain on the grounds of a Late Iron Age settlement bearing a name connected with the god Odin is an unexpected combination in this region of Sweden, where the plains transitions into the wooded area Bergslagen, renowned for its production of silver, copper, iron and other minerals. Kvarnberget is poorly known but can contribute to a general discussion on the social contexts for the production sites for rotary querns, as well as reflect on the milieus were bread was eaten.