Stone ship setting and Long cairn : A comparative study along the coast of Norrland.

Through social landscape theory the aim of this thesis is to broaden the understanding of the bronze age monumental graves on the coast of Norrland. Questions about similarities between the stone ship settings and long cairns are analysed by looking at size and placement in the landscape. This shows the possible connections between the two construction types and were questioned throughout the process of writing. A reconstructed shoreline set to Late Nordic Bronze Age period IV, has been analysed by looking at the monuments placement to see possible connections through a maritory between Norrland and southern Sweden. In this thesis I have incorporated some instances of Gotlandic as well as other stone ship settings and long cairns from the Baltic Sea area, to strengthen the point of a possible maritory that connected the societies of northern Sweden with the societies placed around the Baltic Sea. The long cairns can be found in Gävleborg’s county from Söderala parish along the coast all the way up to Byske parish in Västerbotten’s county and seem to be constructed in a way that follow the shape of the mountain, with some anomalies. Stone ship settings can usually be found along the mouth of rivers and are placed more specific in the environment, where the orientation seems to relate to the ancient shoreline and in some cases the monument even point towards plausible routes that would be possible to follow with a ship inland. There is a clear concentration of all monument types in Västernorrland’s county, more specifically around the area of Docksta. The placement of the monuments above sea level in relation to the ancient shoreline, seems to be varied, with no clear rule of what height they should lay on. Many similarities can be found between the two, yet so many differences that only can be answered by excavations of more monuments. Further research and excavations is needed in Norrland with focus on the Bronze Age, which is crucial for the understanding of Sweden’s northern coastal areas and the trade across the Baltic Sea