Queering the Normal? : An intersectional study of gender identities and roles in the Late Iron Age cemeteries at Lovö, Sweden

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the relationship between grave goods and the identity of buried individuals. The interpretation of sex and gender, as well as gendered grave goods in Late Iron Age Scandinavia, is of a particular focus. A comparative analysis of 163 graves was carried out using an intersectional theoretic perspective, statistical analysis, and a database, with the Lovö cemeteries serving as the case study. The results of this analysis revealed certain patterns and variances that demonstrate a relationship between the grave goods assemblages that were chosen and aspects of an individual’s identity, including gender for some grave goods, but a lack of a correlation for other grave goods. Thus, it concluded that “normal” burials are influenced by factors such as facets of one’s identity, community standing and social status, familial ties and kinship, and lived experiences, with each grave tailored to suit the individual, and that gender as a whole has little influence on how a burial is constructed.