e importantly, the dated burials themselves only account for a minor part of the total number of burials. Thus, the gendered graves belong to a rather exclusive category, and one must be careful when assuming that gendered graves equal sexed graves. Herein lies the answer to our first as well as to our third question. In principle, one would expect a more or less equal distribution of male and female sexed graves. The reason why we do not find an equal distribution in Vestfold, probably has to do with the difference betwen sexed and gendered graves, i.e. more males than females were buried with gender-specific artefacts, or, more likely, more males than females were buried with gender-specific artefacts that are preserved and can be recovered by archaeologists. There is a clear correlation between areas with a substantial number of professionally excavated graves and those with a relatively high proportion of female burials. This is evident in those parts of Vestfold where only few professional excavations have taken place, and the proportion of male graves is very high: After all, a corroded sword is easier to notice when ploughing than the remains of an oval bronze brooch or a few beads.
So, when we do find that 58 % (9th century) and 24 % (10th century) respectively of the dated graves at Kaupang are female, these high figures are due mainly to the substantial number of graves being archaeologically investigated at Kaupang. As for the relative decrease in the gendered female graves in the 10th century, it would be tempting to attribute this to an influx of males at Kaupang in the late period. However, the decrease can be traced also in Vestfold as a whole, as in most of Norway (Dommasnes 1982:81-83). A more likely explanation would seem to be either a real decrease in gendered female burials compared to male, or a change in the way female graves were gendered; the latter could be caused for instance by the partial and gradual abandonment of oval brooches as part of the female dress in the 10th century, under influence from Frankish and/or Byzantine single-brooch dresses (Hedeager Krag 1994; cf Ingstad 1999:243-244).). It is, furthermore, a distinct possibility that female dress customs were rather more varied at any point through the Viking Age than often assumed (Martens 1969:88; see also Blindheim 1947:117-118). A survey of the Viking Age evidence from Denmark supports that the poorest and the richest women, as indicated by grave furnishings, did not wear oval brooches (Hedeager Madsen 1990:104).
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