GP 425 Stenkyrka kyrka 35

Context and Discovery
There is no information about the find circumstances of this fragment available. All that can be said is that it may have been found in Stenkyrka church after Lindqvist’s book was published. In “Gotlands Bildsteine”, Sune Lindqvist (1941/42 II, pp. 115–118) lists nine picture stones from Stenkyrka church. By contrast, the list put together by Jan Peder Lamm in 2003 contains no fewer than 40 new discoveries (Lamm/Nylén 2003, nos. 238–276, 425, 426). The unusually large number of stones found not only in the church, but in the entire parish, is an indicator of the political and religious position that Stenkyrka probably already held even before the first church was built (see Roosval 1914, p. 5). Many of the new finds from the church were discovered during a large-scale restoration, which was carried out in 1954/55 according to plans by the architect Rolf Bergh. This is probably also the case with stone no. 35.

The earliest church at this place was probably a wooden building that was replaced by a stone church in the first half of the twelfth century. The foundations of the first stone church were discovered beneath the floor of the current church, built during the thirteenth century. The tower with its portal was erected between 1280 and 1310 (on the building’s architectural history, see Roosval 1911, pp. 84–86; 1914, pp. 1–52, esp. 21–24; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, pp. 239–243).

Measurements, Material and Condition
The approximately triangular fragment of a limestone slab is about 55 cm high and 46 cm wide. On one of the three sides it preserves about 50 cm of the original lateral edge of the picture stone. The narrow side is hewn straight at right angles to the obverse, a chamfer is not recognisable. The surface of the stone is relatively flat and well preserved. The remains of the decoration have been redrawn with black paint.

Description of Ornament and Images
Two parallel grooves run along the preserved edge, representing a simple border decoration. About a quarter of a large roundel with a whorl motif has survived. One can see part of roundel’s frame, which consists of a double line, and parts of two carved and two raised crescent-shaped whorl arms. The decorations are plainly executed and only very shallowly carved.

Interpretation of the Imagery
Regarding the interpretation of whorl motifs on Type A picture stones, which are usually taken as a representation of the sun and interpreted in a cosmological and eschatological sense, see in detail the article on GP 350 Sanda kyrka IV.
GP 350 Sanda kyrka IV

Type and Dating
Fragment of a tall early-type picture stone, ʻAbschnittʼ A according to Lindqvist’s typology, dating to circa AD 400–600. The fragmentary state of preservation does not allow any further classification.

References
Guber 2011, p. 145 cat. no. 72.

mer grejer

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