GP 49 Bro kyrka IV

Context and Discovery ⓘ
On the site of the present church in Bro, a Romanesque stone church with a nave and a choir with apse was built in the middle or second half of the 12th century (on the building history: Lundmark 1929; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, pp. 101–104; on the new findings based on excavations and dendrochronological investigations: Widerström 2001a–c; Andrén 2011, pp. 167–169.). Somewhat later, in 1214, the Romanesque tower still standing today was added, the beams of which have been dendrochronologically dated. Whether there was already a wooden church on the site before the stone building remains unclear; no remains of a predecessor building could be found. In the course of the 13th century, today’s large rectangular choir with sacristy was completed, and around 1300 the new Gothic nave. Consequently, only the tower and a few stones of an animal frieze in the south side of the nave have been preserved from the early stone church; the foundation of the Romanesque nave was confirmed during excavations in 2001. Under the nave of the church, in addition to medieval and modern burials, some grave finds from the 11th century were recovered; they belong to the group of kyrkogårdsfynden (ʻchurchyard findsʼ). A dress pin from the 10th century found in the tower could be explained as a single find, but also allows the possibility that the church was built on a pre-Christian burial ground. From the 15th century at the latest, Bro church was an important pilgrimage and sacrificial church, which kept a Holy Cross relic (Lundmark 1929, pp. 254–256; Stolt 2007, pp. 12–14; Pernler 2013, p. 92). According to popular tradition, there was a healing spring next to or even inside the church (in the sacristy) as late as the 18th century. This circumstance, as well as a tree trunk walled into the tower in a curious way, the root of which protrudes from the west wall, have given rise to the assumption that the church was built on a pre-Christian cult site. However, there is no compelling evidence for this (Oehrl 2016a).

So far, eleven Type A picture stones and kerbstones have been found in the church of Bro (Oehrl 2016a, pp. 250–252). Six of these stones were found in the tower built in 1214: GP 44 Bro kyrka II is built into the southern outer wall of the tower (today the northern inner wall of the chamber added around 1300); GP 42 Bro kyrka III and GP 49 Bro kyrka IV are lying horizontally with their obverse facing upwards and with the trimmed edge outwards as the fifth and seventh step from the bottom in the staircase in the south wall of the tower (both discovered by E. Lundmark in 1913; Lundmark 1929, p. 279; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 31–32); GP 580 Bro kyrka V is integrated into the inside of the western tower wall at the northwest corner, 2.3 m above ground in the tower vault (ibid. 32); GP 35 Bro kyrka 10 and GP 36 Bro kyrka 11 were reused as foundation stones in the south wall of the tower, detected during excavations in 2001 (Widerström 2001a, p. 173; 2001c, p. 8).
GP 44 Bro kyrka II
GP 42 Bro kyrka III
GP 580 Bro kyrka V
GP 35 Bro kyrka 10
GP 36 Bro kyrka 11

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
The fragment has a rectangular shape; one of its long sides, which is strongly convex, preserves the original narrow side of the monument. This side faces outwards and forms the outer edge of the step. The limestone slab is about 15 cm thick. Its slightly convex narrow side is preserved to a length of 54 cm and was shaped at approximately right angles to the obverse, divided from it by a chamfer slightly more than 1 cm wide. The obverse of the stone is severely worn by footsteps. The visible width of the stone is about 33 cm, but the full dimensions of the stone cannot be determined because it is built into the staircase.

Based on the similarities between the narrow convex sides and the decoration on the broad sides of GP 42 Bro kyrka III and GP 49 Bro kyrka IV, Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 32) suspects that both fragments form one and the same kerbstone. Looking at the two drawings by Olof Sörling (ibid. figs. 320–321), this assessment does not appear to make sense, due to the quite different convex shape of the preserved long sides. However, the long convex sides were not correctly reproduced in the drawings; in reality, both stones are approximately equally convex. On the basis of 3D digitisation, both fragments could be virtually joined together, which confirms Lindqvist’s assumption that they were part of the same stone.
SO
GP 42 Bro kyrka III

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
The carvings have been documented in a drawing by Olof Sörling, which was published by Lindqvist (1941/42 II, fig. 321) in his catalogue. “On the obverse, which is severely worn by footsteps, a groove is running along the edge, and there is a roundel, but of its ornamentation (traces of a cruciform partitioning?) hardly anything can be determined” (ibid. p. 32). Re-examination based on 3D modelling suggests that the roundel (19 cm in diameter) features a flower-like rosette motif, similar to that on GP 527 Tofta kyrka 1, for example. Sörling’s drawing does not accurately depict the 1 cm wide chiseled groove that runs parallel to the upper long edge and then turns down at the corner and continues down the one short side.
SO
GP 527 Tofta kyrka 1

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
No interpretation

Type and Dating ⓘ
Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 31–33, 110) categorized the Bro kyrka III and IV fragments as kerbstones (Randsteine) that he includes within his ʻAbschnittʼ A which dates to circa AD 400–600 (see also Oehrl 2019a, pp. 8–10). According to Lindqvist (1933, pp. 105, 107; 1941/1942 I, pp. 31–33), the kerbstones formed an edge chain which surrounded a grave mound, possibly with an erected Type A picture stone in the center. However, no evidence has been found to confirm that any of the erected Type A picture stones were placed within a grave mound (Larkin 2023a, p. 50). Bro kyrka III and IV are assigned by Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 33) to a subgroup of his group 6 kerbstones which include decorative elements on the broad side such as “rows of arches, rhombi, roundels, or triangles” (Randsteinplatten mit Bogen-, Rauten-, Rondellen- oder Triangelreihen in den Randborten). However, the roundel designs found on both Bro kyrka III and IV are distinctly different from the decorative panels that run across the full length of the other decorated kerbstones. These small roundels are similar to those found on a dwarf stone, GP 527 Tofta kyrka 1, however, while the Tofta stone is only c. 56 cm wide, the two Bro stones combined create a full stone that is c. 99 cm wide.
CJL/SO
GP 42 Bro kyrka III
GP 527 Tofta kyrka 1

References ⓘ
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 32, fig. 320; Oehrl 2016a, pp. 251–252.

mer grejer

Find Context

The Stone

Carvings

Detailed Information

Svensk sammanfattning

Identification

Links

Export

More media

Plane	Position	Flip