En grav för två? : En fallstudie om graven från Bergsvägen i Linköping och flerpersonsgravarnas problematik under båtyxekulturen

The essay deals with the phenomena “multiple individual burials”, which implicates a burial with two or more individuals, during the Boat Axe Culture (2800-2300 BC) in Sweden. The focus of this essay is the burial from Bergsvägen in Linköping, east Sweden. The burial is described as unique because of its well-preserved skeletons and grave goods, but the question is how unique is it in comparison with other multiple individual burials? This matter is analysed in the essay by a comparative analysis, and multiple burials are also compared with single burials to understand why some individuals of the community were buried in multiple individual burials while others were not. Maybe they died at the same time and multiple individual burials were practical or maybe they had high or low status within the community. The purpose of this essay is to understand the relationship between the individuals in the multiple individual burials. The later part of the essay deals with the burial from Bergsvägen as a unique culture heritage, and how it is interpreted in an exhibition in the Museum of Östergötland, Linköping.