Parish Find Location 
Väskinde

Find Location 
An agricultural field about 300 m north-northeast of the farm ʻVis gårdʼ in Väskinde (also ʻVästkindeʼ) parish.

Find Context Classification 
Agricultural Field
Grave
In situ

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6400843

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
703570

Parish Present Location 
Väskinde

Present Location 
In situ

Present Location Classification 
Agricultural Field
Grave
In situ

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6400843

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
703571

Material 
Limestone

Height 
65

Width 
120

Thickness 
20

Lindqvist Type 
C/D (ca. 700-1000)
E (ca. 1000-1150)
Unclear (ca. 400-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Tall stone
Unclear

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The find spot and the results of its examination by Fredrik Nordin are described extensively by Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 143): “In a field approximately 300 m north-northeast of Vis gård (farm) and about 400 m north-to-west of the crossroads east of the farm, [GP 552 Väskinde Vis] I still is standing in well-preserved, albeit weathered condition, with the obverse facing towards O 20° S. In 1883, [Fredrik Nordin] examined the small, uncultivated ‘hill’ surrounding this stone. The ‘Körsbärsåker’ around it is said to have been a meadow not too long before. The investigation revealed that the earth of the hill’s top was blackened with ash, underneath were cobbles, including some of considerable size close to the picture stone. In the layer of ash, which was up to 70 cm deep, several relics were found: a bronze belt mount, rivets and other objects made of iron, fragments of a bone comb etc. (Viking Age). The former owner of the farm reported that once, when he tried to prop up the stone slab, had observed in front of it a small stone cist containing ash(?) and bones.

[Fredrik Nordin] also had heard that reportedly, there once was another picture stone at the site and that its root still had been encountered during ploughing. An excavation brought this root to light, which was standing in a straight line with [GP 552 Väskinde Vis] I, at a distance of 1.2 m to the south/southwest, tilted towards the north and extending 65 cm into the earth. It is supposed to be the root of a picture stone [Väskinde Vis II]. Next to it, at its southern, smoother side, another, thin stone slab stood vertically. In a depth of 40 cm, in front of the south face of the rougher slab, a large iron drill was found. Between the bones that had been collected during the excavation and which were partly burnt, partly unburned, there also was, among other objects, a ribbon of silver wire embroidery (cf. Birka III, p. 114 [= Geijer 1938, p. 114]).”

The objects found here, indicating a cremation burial (or several of those), date to the Viking Age, and kept in Statens Historiska Museum (SHM) without inventory number. The uncultivated hill on which the stones had been erected, can be regarded as a grave mound. Regarding the find spot and the found items see Nordin 1903, p. 151; Thunmark-Nylén 1995–2006 III:2, p. 507; ibid. IV:2, p. 717; Andreeff 2012, p. 130; Oehrl 2019a, p. 33.

Lindqvist only provides a photo of the erected (unpainted) stone GP 552 Väskinde Vis I. The ʻhillʼ is not visible in the photo. A drawing of the stone standing on the mound, probably made by Fredrik Nordin, as well as a drawing by Olof Sörling depicting the entire slab including its root are kept in ATA. A drawing by Per Arvid Säve from 1863, depicting both stones, Väskinde Vis I and II, standing on the mound, is kept in the archives in Uppsala (Uppsala universitetsbibliotek, Säves teckningar från Gotland, Alvin record 186627).
GP 552 Väskinde Vis I

Measurements, Material and Condition 
“Limestone slab, 20 cm thick and approximately 1.2 cm wide, that supposedly represents the basis of a picture stone that was broken off at the root and otherwise completely lost. It is buried 65 cm deep in the ground” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 144).

Description of Ornament and Images 
No decoration

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
As only the root is preserved, buried in the ground, the monument’s type cannot be determined. Most probably, however, it must be regarded as a late-type picture stone, belonging to ʻAbschnittʼ C/D or E according to Lindqvist’s typology. Those monuments can only be roughly dated between the 8th century and around AD 1100. The find material from the spot dates to the Viking Period, too (see IV).

References 
Nordin 1903, p. 151; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 143–144, fig. 559; Thunmark-Nylén 1995–2006 III:2, p. 507; ibid. IV:2, p. 717; Andreeff 2012, p. 130; Oehrl 2019a, p. 33.

 
Fyndplats
Påträffades 1883, i samband med undersökningar av området runt den bevarade bildstenen GP 552 Väskinde Vis I. Den bevarade roten befinner sig 1,2 m syd/sydväst om denna bildsten. Runt bildstenarna påträffades vikingatida föremål och före 1883 hade påträffats en liten stenkista med aska och ben framför den bevarade bildstenen. Troligen motsvarar fynden en brandgrav från vikingatiden.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Samma plats som 1883

Beskrivning
Rot till en trolig svampformig bildsten (period CD eller E), 120 cm bred. Bilder saknas.

Datering
Kan inte dateras med säkerhet, men tillhör perioden 700-1000-talen.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning

AA
GP 552 Väskinde Vis I

Title
GP 553 Väskinde Vis II

Fornsök ID 
L1976:7527

RAÄ ID 
Väskinde 97:2

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
339

Lindqvist Title 
Västkinde, Vis II

ATA
K-Samsök