Parish Find Location 
Bara

Find Location 
Bara church ruin in Hörsne parish (RAÄ Hörsne 77:1), incorporated into a niche.

Find Context Classification 
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6388219

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
715905

Parish Present Location 
Bara

Present Location 
Bara church ruin

Present Location Classification 
Church
In-Loco

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6388219

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
715905

Material 
Limestone

Height 
52

Width 
101

Thickness 
15

Lindqvist Type 
A (ca. 400-600)

Lindqvist Shape 
Tall stone
Kerb stone
Unclear

Iconographic Keywords 
waves 

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Secondary Inscription
Fyndplats
Bildstenen sitter som en del av en nisch i den södra korväggen i Bara ödekyrka, och upptäcktes 1932.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Stenen sitter fortfarande på samma plats

Beskrivning
Fragment av den övre delen av en tidig bildsten (typ A). Endast spår av kantdekoration synlig.

Datering
Bildstenen tillhör Lindqvists typ A, som dateras till cirka 400-600.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning

AA

Context and Discovery 
“Upper part of a picture stone, originally observed in 1932 by Thure Carlsson. It is integrated into the south wall of the choir, with the obverse facing downwards, serving as the lintel of a [i.e., the eastern] wall niche” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 27). The bottom slab of the niche features a cup-like depression of about 20 cm diameter and 2.5 cm depth, probably intended as piscina. Böttger-Niedenzu (1988, p. 3) discovered carved lines on the bottom slab and therefore regarded it as a further picture stone fragment – GP 29 GP Bara ödekyrka 2.

The original church was finished by 1239 or the middle of the 13th century. During the 16th century, however, it was abandoned, and the church parish was merged with that of Hörsne, while Bara church was left to decay (Roosval 1947, pp. 7–19; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, p. 96). The niche with the two spolia belongs to the original 13th-century building. Both stones were registered in an inventory conducted in 2011 (nos. 003 and 008). The last restoration of the ruin took place in 2005.
GP 29 Bara ödekyrka 2

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The fragment represents the slightly convex upper part of an early-type picture stone. “Limestone slab, about 15 cm thick. The obverse is polished, probably after the stone surface had been hewn. Although it is possible that the fragment is preserved to a height of about 1 m in total, merely about 32 cm of the obverse are visible in general, but up to 52 cm at only one place. The narrow side that probably once represented the picture stone’s upper edge is facing the church interior and accordingly is visible in its entire length of 101 cm. It is slightly convex longitudinally and features three parallel, shallow grooves, each about 4 cm wide, running lengthwise. The upper part of the stone’s left narrow side, now facing west, forms a sharp angle to the upper edge, as is the case with the right narrow side, the corner of which, however, is slightly damaged” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 27).

Description of Ornament and Images 
Lindqvist states that “of the decoration only a shallow groove, 5 mm wide, can be made out on the [down-facing] obverse, running parallel to the stone’s presumed upper edge, at a distance of 13 cm” (1941/42 II, p. 27). More recent investigations based on 3D digitisation, however, led to the conclusion that above the line described by Lindqvist parts of a wave meander are preserved, which fill the space between the line and the upper edge of the stone.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
According to Lindqvist, the fragment represents the slightly convex upper part of an early-type picture stone, belonging to ʻAbschnittʼ A that dates to between AD 400 and 600. Theoretically, as the total size of the slab is unknown and no further decoration is discernable, it could also represent a monument of the kerbstone-Type. A crucial feature, which strongly indicates a kerbstone is the groove decoration on the slab’s upper narrow side (see V). Similar grooves can be seen on the kerbstones GP 377 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VI, GP 376 Stenkyrka kyrka III and GP 382 Stenkyrka Tystebols II. Lindqvist calls them “Randsteinplatten ohne Verzierung auf der Breitseite, die Kante in oft wechselnder Richtung gerieft” (ʻkerbstone slabs without decoration on the broad sides, the narrow sides often grooved in alternating directionʼ – Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 33). The best parallel to the wave meander (see VI), however, can be found on GP 187 Hejnum Bjärs II that is labelled by Lindqvist as a Type-A dwarf stone. However, it is also conceivable that the preserved waves or spiral elements reflect a border pattern as can be seen on the stones from GP 43–44 Bro kyrka I–II.
GP 377 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VIa
GP 376 Stenkyrka kyrka III
GP 382 Stenkyrka Tystebols II
GP 187 Hejnum Bjärs II
GP 43 Bro kyrka I
GP 44 Bro kyrka II

References 
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 27; Roosval 1947, pp. 17.

Title
GP 26 Bara ödekyrka (I)

Fornsök ID 
L1977:9543

RAÄ ID 
Hörsne 77:4

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
20

Lindqvist Title 
Bara, Kirchenruine