Efnisyfirlit

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface and acknowledgment
• 1. The bare bones
• 2. Eight Viking Age burial grounds in south-east Sweden
• Trinitatis: an early Christian graveyard in Lund
• Vannhög: a burial place near an old Viking fortress
• Fjälkinge: a remarkable burial ground on the fertile plain
• Kopparsvik: a cemetery south of Visby
• Slite Square: with a view of sailing routes to the east
• Fröjel: a burial ground beside a Viking Age harbour
• Birka: a well-known trading place in the realm of the Svear
• Skämsta: a farm cemetery
• A wide range of burial practices
• Everyone was buried
• 3. Immigrants or locals?
• A geological signature can be detected in dental enamel
• Different patterns emerge
• Someone knew how the deceased wanted to be buried
• Did everyone come here voluntarily?
• 4. Health and care for the frail
• “Tall as palm trees”
• Toothless or shining white?
• Joint problems
• Everyday accidents and battle traumas
• The dwarf
• Leprosy: noseless and numb
• Health in Viking Age society
• 5. Markers of identity?
• Filed grooves on the teeth
• Young, old, short, and tall
• Buried like other people?
• Was Gotland the gathering point?
• A Nordic custom or inspiration from elsewhere?
• Why file grooves in teeth?
• 6. Burial grounds designated for particular purposes?
• The influence of Christianity or division into special areas?
• Market places and harbours?
• 7. A time of many faces
• Appendix: Strontium values
• Notes
• References