GP 570 Stenkyrka kyrkogården

Context and Discovery
The stone was found in 2007 in connection with digging for a new heating system for the church (Widerström 2008, p. 7, Fig. 2). The county administration board required archaeological supervision of the trench which was carried out by Gotland Museum. The stone was found in the trench c. 6 m to the north of the northern church wall (Widerström 2008, p. 3). The trench was 1 m wide, and the stone appeared as a small part of its rounded head protruding into the trench. At that moment, it was not evident that it was a picture stone since only a small part was visible and the carving was turned downwards. After approval from the county administration board, the stone was excavated and lifted up by a power shovel. An investigation was made 0n 24 October 2007 by museum archaeologist Per Widerström near the root of the picture stone, in order to see if any indication revealed that it had been raised on the spot. However, no signs of the original site or the lost piece of the picture stone could be found (Widerström 2008, p. 6).

Two picture stones were found earlier in the churchyard, as well as many picture stone fragments from the church itself. Some of these were removed from the church by Greta Arwidsson in 1955 during restoration (see GP 433 Stenkyrka kyrka 11). There may have been up to c. 80 picture stones and fragments built into the church building (Widerström 2008, p. 3). According to the archives in Gotland Museum, picture stone fragments have also been found in and on the churchyard wall and in graves in the vicinity (Widerström 2008, p. 4). Directly outside the northern churchyard wall, the lost picture stone GP 367 Stenkyrka VIII was recovered in 1844 (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 117). Previously, GP 367 had been placed as a cover slab on an inhumation burial covered by a stone setting (cf. GP 562 Väte Mölner). In similar stone settings in the vicinity, bronze objects have been found (RAÄ dnr 326-4181-2011).
LKÅ/PW
GP 433 Stenkyrka kyrka 11
GP 367 Stenkyrka kyrka VIII
GP 562 Väte Mölner

Measurements, Material and Condition
Height 1.92 m (the root is missing), maximum width 0.84 m, thickness 0.11 m. Light-grey limestone. The root and a large chunk of the stone at the lower right is missing. The stone is badly damaged in the lower left part and the left part of the head (Widerström 2008, p. 7). Most of the carvings are weathered and difficult to discern.

After excavation, the stone was leaned against a wall of an outbuilding on the churchyard (Widerström 2008, p. 7). According to a conservation report, the stone was examined in 2007 by Sylvia Sandelin Löfgren, then PhD-student at the Archaeological Research Laboratory at Stockholm University, who found traces of charcoal that might have been the remains of original pigments (Kettunen 2008, p.2; Oehrl 2019, p. 212, p. 292). The carving surface is weathered, but since the stone had been covered by soil there were no algae or lichens (Kettunen 2008). The stone was repaired in 2008 and the carvings were traced with graphite. More repairs were planned for 2009, but it is unclear whether they were done. On 12 November 2008, the stone was fastened with iron-cramps to the wall of a small chapel in the churchyard. Due to the lack of a gutter on this side of the building, the stone was exposed to dripping from the ceiling. It was the wish of the conservator that the stone should be placed indoors (Kettunen 2008). Unfortunately, the stone remained outside partly under a shelter, but still exposed to weather, from its discovery in 2007 until it was moved into the museum in 2012. In 2012, it was brought into the museum and given a prominent placement in the middle of the picture stone hall.
LKÅ/PW

Description of Ornament and Images
When the stone was turned in the field, it was discovered that the it has a ship in the lower part and three additional image zones above it (Widerström 2008, p. 7). It also was discovered that the top image zone has a vertical divider, but the details of the scene could not be made out. The first impression was that the scene featured a tree, and it was interpreted as a hanging scene.

In an attempt to improve the visibility of the pictures and help in interpretation, the stone was 3D-scanned in 2013 with an optical 3D-scanner (ATOS I from Gom) by Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt, Swedish National Heritage Board, with assistance from Per Widerström and Johan Norderäng, Gotland Museum. The resolution is 0.2 mm between the measuring points in the final 3D-model. For analysis of the carving, the software GOM Inspect was used. The carved lines were traced in the 3D-model by a selection tool. When all the carved lines that were possible to distinguish in the 3D-model had been traced, the selected points were copied. The result is that the pictures are stored as a separate 3D-model (as a point cloud). (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013). During preparation for the scanning, the remains of a runic inscription were found (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013, p. 1). As the resolution 0.2 mm between the measuring points in the 3D-model was not enough to record the diminutive lines in the runic inscription, an RTI-documentation (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) was made by Michael Fergusson, then student at Queen’s University in Canada, and Magnus Mårtensson, Swedish National Heritage Board.

When the 3D-model was analysed, it was shown that there were four or five image zones crammed with figures. This also led to a reinterpretation of the top image zone.

In the top image zone, there is a vertical divider which appears to have branches to the sides. On both sides of this divider, there are human figures. From above, possibly from a roof or from branches, triangular shapes protrude downwards (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013, p. 5). To the right of the divider, a female figure turning to the left appears to carry a staff or a spear (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013, p. 8 Fig.7). Further to the right, behind her, another (male?) figure with long sleeves is lifting an object, possibly a club or a sword, behind the female’s head. To the left of the divider, traces of at least two people can be seen.

Between the top image zone and the border ornament at the top of the stone, there may be room for additional ornamentation. The maximum height of this space is c. 10 cm.

There are two or three image zones between the top zone and the ship. Below the top image zone, there is a zone 16 cm wide at the neck of the stone.

In the next image zone (3), the carved lines give the combined impression of triangular shapes. However, these triangles may have been formed by the spaces between figures. Since no horizontal divider can be seen below, it cannot be judged whether there is one broad image zone, c. 42 cm wide, or two narrow zones (as on GP 397 Stenkyrka Smiss I) where the border between them cannot be defined.

In the image zone immediately above the ship (i.e., image zone 3 or 4 from above), there is a figure that hovers and turns to the left, possibly holding an elongated object (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013, p. 6 Fig. 4).

In the lowest image zone, we see a ship with sail, rigging and crew. There is an intricate hauling system, carefully worked out in low relief, standing out from a sgraffio background, and a member of the crew with a long beard. In contrast, the lozenges of the sail are marked only with shallow incisions (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013, p. 12 Fig. 16), similar to a carving technique for sails also used on, e.g., GP 397 Stenkyrka Smiss I (variant 2 in Kitzler Åhfeldt 2012, p. 187). However, the proportions of the lozenges are more similar to GP 253 Lärbro Stora Hammars I. A knob-shaped object at the top of the mast brings to mind the weathervanes on other picture stone ships (GP 397 Stenkyrka Smiss I and GP 91 Fröjel Bottarve), but in this case it is a fossil. It cannot be ignored that this fossil was included in the picture on purpose (Oehrl 2019, p. 293, Taf. 343a–b).

Remains of an interlace or knot border can be seen along the edges.
LKÅ/PW
GP0397
GP 253 Lärbro Stora Hammars I
GP0091

Interpretation of the Imagery
The vertical divider in the top image zone is unusual. The only other picture stone with a vertical divider in the top field is GP 433 Stenkyrka Kyrka 11 (Oehrl 2019, p. 212, Taf. 244b), found on the same site. Sigmund Oehrl suggests that the vertical dividers on these stones hark back to Romanesque tympana, where vertical elements such as pillars and trees are often used as dividers (Oehrl 2019, p. 212).

The motif in the top image zone with a tree-like figure with branches was at first interpreted as a hanging scene, like the one on GP 253 Lärbro Stora Hammars (Widerström 2008, p. 7). A drawing made from a photo led to the interpretation that it was a tree with branches, from which a human was hanging (Widerström 2008; Oehrl 2008, p. 175 Abb. 7). The 3D-scan in 2013 led to a reinterpretation (Oehrl 2019, p. 94, p. 212). To the right of the stem a woman and a man turn to the left; the man holds a long object, perhaps a club, as if he intends to strike the female (Oehrl 2019, pp. 94-95, p. 212). According to Lindqvist’s drawing, human figures lifting clubs or swords in a similar manner appear in the two uppermost image zones on GP 253 Lärbro Stora Hammars I; in image zone 1, two men seem to be striking a (seated?) figure, in image zone 2 triangular shapes are reaching down from the roof, and in image zone 3 of this same stone we find the sacrifice scene with a tree and hovering figure (Lindqvist 1941/42 I, Fig. 81). Since all these elements occur on our stone as well, the stone GP 253 Lärbro Stora Hammars I can be a parallel.

Triangular shapes reaching down from the roof or ceiling of the image zone can be seen on GP 94 Garda Bote, where they have been seen as ropes in a possible hanging scene. Triangular shapes also appear on GP 61 Buttle Änge I, but these are not reaching down to the necks of the humans but rather between them.

The hovering figure in the image zone above the ship may possibly be a bird, a human in bird shape or a supernatural being. A hovering figure of a similar posture can be seen on GP 253 Lärbro Stora Hammars I in connection with the sacrifice scene. One interpretation is that the scene features a group of warriors handing over a bird, perhaps as an animal sacrifice. Another proposed interpretation is that the bird refers to execution by blood-eagle (Oehrl, 2020b, p. 457). On GP 258 Lärbro Tängelgårda I, a bird hovering above the horse in the top image zone can be Oðin as a bird (Halfar 1966, p. 41) or one of Oðin’s ravens (Jakobsson 1981). It can also be associated with a valkyrie, as on GP 212 Klinte Klintebys (Lindqvist 1941–42, p. 81, Fig.134). On GP 252 Lärbro Tängelgårda IV, a human figure leans to the left in a manner that may seem like hovering, but in this case the posture can be a means to cram the figure into the available space.

As on most picture stones of type C/D, there is a ship, often interpreted as depicting the dead warrior’s journey to the afterlife (see GP 280 När Smiss I and GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III).

The stone was used as a graphic example in the museum exhibition of how difficult the interpretation of the motifs on a picture stone can be. In the exhibition, motifs are projected with light onto the stone’s surface in varying colour at intervals. These motifs are partly derived from the 3D-model, partly a conglomerate of motifs from other stones. The main purpose is to highlight the different possibilities and the difficulties and uncertainties involved in interpretation, as well as to show what it might have looked like with colour.
LKÅ/PW
GP 433 Stenkyrka kyrka 11
GP 253 Lärbro Stora Hammars I
GP0094
GP0061
GP0258
GP 212 Klinte Hunninge (IV) (Klintebys)
GP0252
GP 280 När Smiss I
GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III

Runic Context and Comments
The runic inscription is placed in the border between image field 2 and 3 counted downwards from the top of the stone, moving down to the left from the cramp-iron on the right side of the stone. Five main staffs in a sequence can be discerned, but only one of the runes can be identified (nr 3þ). About 5 cm to the right of this sequence, there may be remains of additional runes (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013, p. 1). The RTI-analysis revealed some more main staffs, but no more runes could be identified (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013, p. 14). It cannot be judged whether the inscription is contemporary with the pictures or if it was added later (Källström 2020, p. 137).
LKÅ

Type and Dating
The mushroom shape and the ship indicate that it is Type C-stone, c. 700–1000 AD. A 10th-century dating was suggested on the basis of the ship at an early stage of its discovery (Widerström 2008, p. 6).
LKÅ/PW

References
Widerström 2008; Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013; Oehrl 2019, pp. 94–95, p. 212, pp. 275–276, p. 289, pp. 292–293, pp. 297–298, Taf. 63–64, 343, 347; Källström 2020, pp. 136–137.

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