GP 220 Källunge kyrka II

Context and Discovery
An apsidal choir built between 1100 and 1150 was the first part of the church, while the present nave and the tower date to around 1150. The small Romanesque choir, however, was replaced by a new and much larger Gothic style choir with sacristy. Both the choir and the sacristy were not finished before 1350. The tiny Romanesque nave could not be used as such anymore and therefore the ʻoversizedʼ choir serves as main part of the church. Six picture stone fragments embedded into the floor of the small nave were published by Sune Lindqvist in 1941/42 (GP 219–224 Källunge kyrka I–VI). In 1984, Beata Böttger-Niedenzu discovered three previously unknown picture stone fragments inside the choir of the church: GP 226–228 Källunge kyrka 8–10. Between 1979 and 1984, another possible picture stone has been discovered in front of the sacristy door (GP 225 Källunge kyrka 7). Regarding the stones in the small nave, Lindqvist explains the situation as follows:

“Nos IV and V definitely are parts of one – or possibly two – upright picture stone(s). The others either belong to picture stones, too, or to kerbstones. All these fragments are kept in the Romanesque nave; their upwards-facing obverses are part of the flooring in this area and are flush with the floor. Nos I–V, however, are integrated into the walls, from which they protrude to a width of up to about 30 cm. No. VI gives the impression of being built into the wall in the same way, but closer examination reveals that the exposed part of the stone does not extend into the masonry. As the room has such an edging all around – which perhaps served as a bench earlier, when the floor level was lower – and this in several places is completely covered with lime mortar; it cannot be ruled out that more fragments of picture stones might be observed here in the future. Nos I–III were discovered and sketches drawn of them in 1912, the others were recognised as parts of picture stones only in 1932. Nos I–III are lying in a west-east row at the south side, No. I with its western edge 1 m to the east of the southern portal, No. IV at the west wall just south of the opening to the tower, No. V as second stone in the south wall (counted from the south-west corner), No. VI at the north wall, close to the altar in the north-east corner” (1941/42 II, p. 78).

Since the publication of “Gotlands Bildsteine”, the floor covering of the nave seems to have been renewed. As a result, the stones †GP 222–224 Källung kyrka IV–VI (RAÄ Källunge 54:5–7) are today untraceable and Lindqvist’s descriptions of stones I–III (RAÄ Källunge 54:2–4) suggest that they could be better examined in his time than today. This renewal must have taken place before 1977, as the stones IV–VI could not be found already during the RAÄ inventory. Stones I–III are only documented in the form of drawings (Roosval 1935, fig. 300; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, figs. 425–427), and no illustrations of stones IV–VI are available at all, either in Lindqvist’s book or in the archives in Stockholm and Visby.
GP 219 Källunge kyrka I
GP 221 Källunge kyrka III
GP 222 Källunge kyrka IV
GP 223 Källunge kyrka V
GP 224 Källunge kyrka VI
GP 226 Källunge kyrka 8
GP 227 Källunge kyrka 9
GP 228 Källunge kyrka 10
GP 225 Källunge kyrka 7

Measurements, Material and Condition
The rectangular part of the stone protruding from the wall visible today is 0.28 x 1.03 m, and 5 cm thick. Lindqvist described it as follows: “Limestone slab, at the outer edge at least 11 cm thick. The obverse is flat, probably worked. The outward-facing narrow side is slightly convex lengthwise (1 cm height to a surviving length of 103 cm) and hewn flat at right angles towards the obverse, with a chamfer of up to 1 cm width in between. To the left, at an obtuse angle, there is an original edge, to the right, the edge of a break” (1941/42 II, p. 78). The stone’s surface is somewhat abraded, but the well elaborated relief decoration is still discernible.

Description of Ornament and Images
“Inside of the chamfer, two 1 cm wide, shallow grooves, and inside this, a border consisting of half a rhombus and a row of complete rhombi that were produced by shallow carving of triangular fields. To the inside of this border is another 1 cm wide groove, but beyond that, there are no traces of decoration.” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 78–79). The ornament consisting of a row of raised rhombi is unusual and has no striking parallels. Mention can only be made of the geometrised tendrils on stones of the Martebogroup and the rhombic or zigzag pattern on GP 140–141 Hall Kyrka 1–2.
GP 140 Hall kyrka 1
GP 141 Hall kyrka 2

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Early-type monument, probably of the kerbstone type (ʻRandsteinʼ in German or ʻkantstenʼ in Swedish) (Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 28; II, p. 78). According to Lindqvist, groups of those recumbent kerbstone slabs, belonging to his ʻAbschnittʼ A (circa AD 400–600), formed a kerb which surrounded a grave mound, probably with a large erected Type A picture stone on top of it. While the unusual geometric border decoration of the stones no. I–III most probably speaks for ʻAbschnittʼ A (see VI), the exact type and function of the monuments remain uncertain due to their fragmentary condition. They could well represent the edge of a kind of upright picture stone.

References
Hanna Hegardt in Roosval 1935, p. 207, fig. 300; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 78–79, fig. 426.

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