Parish Find Location ⓘ
Hall

Find Location ⓘ
Hall church

Find Context Classification ⓘ
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) ⓘ
6422750

Coordinate Find Location (long) ⓘ
720236

Parish Present Location ⓘ
Hall

Present Location ⓘ
The fragment is embedded in the floor of the choir, where it was originally detected.

Present Location Classification ⓘ
Church
In-Loco

Coordinate Present Location (lat) ⓘ
6422750

Coordinate Present Location (long) ⓘ
720236

Material
Limestone

Height ⓘ
40

Width ⓘ
30

Lindqvist Type 
A (ca. 400-600)

Lindqvist Shape 
Kerb stone
Unclear

Runic Inscription or not ⓘ
No

Context and Discovery ⓘ
The fragment was discovered by Beata Böttger-Niedenzu in 1983, together with GP 141 Hall kyrka 2. In 1982, Böttger-Niedenzu submitted her master’s thesis on Gotland’s picture stones to the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, and during the years 1981 to 1985, she visited the Gotlandic rural churches, discovering not fewer than 38 previously unknown picture stones, which she published in a brief catalogue in 1988. The two fragments from Hall church are embedded in the floor of the choir. Hall kyrka 1 is placed inside the raised eastern part of the choir, southwest of the altar. It lies behind the extreme southern end (left when looking from the altar) of the bow-shaped choir screen, next to the wall. Hall kyrka 2 is situated in the very western part of the choir, bordering the wooden floor of the nave.

The choir and the sacristy represent the oldest parts of the current church building, dating to between 1225 and 1250. However, the two possible picture stone fragments do not seem to have been incorporated during the middle of the 13th century – there are many more spolia built into the floor of the choir, medieval grave slabs bearing crosses and runic inscriptions, which date considerably later, to the 14th and 15th centuries. Apparently, the floor of the choir, which contains the two fragments, was (re)built during the Late Middle Ages or even later.

On both stones only simple carved border decorations are preserved, which greatly resemble one another. Apparently, both fragments were therefore regarded as originating from one and the same monument and thus assigned the same number in Jan Peder Lamm’s catalogue, i.e., 406a and 406b. Surprisingly enough, however, Lamm calls them Hall kyrka 1 and Hall kyrka 2, indicating two different picture stones.
GP 141 Hall kyrka 2

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
The fragment represents a quite small right-angled triangle; its longest side is 0.29 m long. The limestone is dark grey. The surface is relatively even and somewhat worn and smoothed by footsteps. The eastern angle of the triangle, i.e., approx. one-third of the small fragment, is covered by concrete.

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
The only preserved carving is a border with a zigzag-like pattern, which is 5.5 cm wide and approximately 20 cm long, running along the northern side of the triangle. The pattern is formed by simply carved grooves. According to Böttger-Niedenzu (1988, p. 9), it represents the same zigzag band as depicted on GP 141 Hall kyrka 2. However, in Lamm’s list, the border decoration of Hall kyrka 1 is described as rhombic pattern comparable to the decoration of the kerbstones (Randsteine) GP 220 Källunge kyrka II and GP 221 Källunge kyrka III. It is not easy to discern the actual pattern, but Lamm probably is right and Hall kyrka 1 bears rather a rhombic pattern instead of a simple zigzag band. However, the rhombic pattern on the Källunge stones differs from the simple carvings on the Hall fragment, as they were made using a much more elaborate technique, carving out the rhombic elements in relief.

The carvings on GP 141 Hall kyrka 2 display only a simple zigzag band. As a result, both fragments do not seem to bear the same border decoration after all, and therefore they do not seem to represent one and the same monument, even though they very much resemble each other in terms of material, colour and technique.
GP 141 Hall kyrka 2
GP 220 Källunge kyrka II
GP 221 Källunge kyrka III

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
No interpretation

Type and Dating ⓘ
If the two fragments from Hall church do indeed represent parts of picture stones (or of one and the same picture stone), they most probably belong to Lindqvist’s ʻAbschnitt Aʼ, conventionally dated to the Migration Period, between AD 400 and 600. The dimensions and the decoration would also allow an interpretation as slabs of the ʻRandsteinʼ type, which also belongs to ʻAbschnitt Aʼ. However, there are no really striking parallels to the rhombic pattern of Hall kyrka 1 among the Type A border decorations, neither among the picture stones nor among the kerbstones.

References ⓘ
Böttger-Niedenzu 1988, p. 9.

 ⓘ
Fyndplats
Stenen påträffades 1983 i Hall kyrka, där den har blivit återanvänd i korgolvet.

Nuvarande förvaringsplats
Stenen är fortfarande inmurad i golvet i kyrkans kor, sydväst om altaret. Den ligger precis bredvid altarskranket.

Beskrivning
Fragmentet utgör bara en ganska liten triangel vars längsta sida är 0.29 m lång.

Endast en inristad kantbård med ett enkelt sicksackmönster eller rutmönster är bevarad. Kanske handlar det inte om en bildsten i snävare mening utan om en så kallad kantsten. Kantstenar har antagligen legat runt gravkummel. De har en dekor som påminner om de samtida resta bildstenarnas. Jämförbara rutmönster finns på kantstenar från GP 219 Källunge kyrka I och GP 220 Källunge kyrka II.

Datering
Om det handlar om ett fragment till en bildsten eller en kantsten, så stammar den från folkvandringstiden, från perioden mellan omkring 400 och 600 e.Kr.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

SO
GP 219 Källunge kyrka I
GP 220 Källunge kyrka II

Title
GP 140 Hall kyrka 1

Fornsök ID ⓘ
L1977:9675

RAÄ ID ⓘ
Hall 133:1

Jan Peder Lamm ID
406a