GP 28 Bara Nederbjärs II

Context and Discovery
The fragment was found by Fredrik Nordin in 1918, as part of the stone enclosure, which is located right next to the re-erected picture stone GP 27 Bara Nederbjärs I (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 27). The place, called ʻTungardsplats,ʼ is situated circa 125 m north of the manor house of Nederbjärs (Nedbjärs) gård in Bara parish (today belonging to Hörsne parish), just north of the road between Hörsne and Källunge, near Simunde gård. According to the modern inscription on GP 27 Bara Nederbjärs I, a Tun [i.e., an enclosure] was built in 1840 and the monument itself erected on this same occasion. The stone wall right next to the picture stone probably represents the mentioned Tun or at least a part of it. Therefore, it seems plausible that GP28 Bara Nederbjärs II was incorporated into the stone enclosure at the same time. There are also two stones with grinding grooves (sliprännor), which have been re-used as building material and incorporated into the wall (Stenkvist 2014 II, p. 7).

According to Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 40, 47–48, 58–61; 1964), picture stones like GP 28 Bara Nederbjärs II (so-called cist stones, see V and IX) were used either in pairs, representing grave markers, or in a group of four, forming cist-shaped (grave or sacrificial) monuments. However, it must be stressed that all known cist stones have been discovered in secondary contexts (Stenkvist 2014).
GP 27 Bara Nederbjärs I

Measurements, Material and Condition
Roughly square fragment of a limestone slab, which is about 13 cm thick. “The obverse naturally even, the narrow sides at right angles to the obverse, roughly hewn and chamfered towards the back. The reverse is unworked. The longest broken edge [i.e., the bottom edge of the fragment] is 50 cm long, the one running at right angles to it [i.e., the right short side of the fragment] is 35 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 27–28). The angled left short side, which preserves the original edge of the monument, is about 48 cm long. The upper part of the fragment also preserves the original edge, probably including the left corner extension of a wave-shaped monument, a so-called cist stone (see IX).

Description of Ornament and Images
“The decoration, obviously executed with little skill, consists of lines and slightly carved background fields and is difficult to disentangle today. It creates the impression, however, that the field includes the image of a deer or elk with long, backwards-turned antlers. […] In the border, very faint traces of a band pattern on a carved background can be made out” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 28).

On a few Type B dwarf stones, deer representations can be seen. GP 74 Endre skog depicts a red deer over which an intertwined snake is positioned. GP 551 Väskinde Butter depicts a red deer stag eating a serpent. Probably another deer, but without snakes, is shown on the Type B picture stone GP 215 Kräklingbo Smiss IV. There are, however, at least two late-type picture stones with deer depictions: on GP 98 Garda kyrka II there are two facing moose, which have a figure-eight-shaped loop – maybe a snake? (Nordland 1949, p. 120; Hartner 1969, p. 66–67; Heizmann/Steuer 1999, p. 601) – between their mouths; and depicted on the Type C/D cist stone GP 195 Hellvi Ire 6 are two hunters with lance and sword, fighting a large red deer stag.
GP 74 Endre skog
GP 551 Väskinde Butter
GP 215 Kräklingbo Smiss IV
GP 98 Garda kyrka II
GP0195

Interpretation of the Imagery
For the interpretation of deer depictions and, in particular, the (Christian) deer-and-serpent motif on Type B picture stones see GP 551 Väskinde Butter. For a hunting-related depiction see GP 195 Hellvi Ire 6.
GP 551 Väskinde Butter
GP0195

Type and Dating
“The two preserved parts of the stone’s original narrow sides […] possibly formed the upper left corner of a picture stone of the cist type, which had vertical sides that converged towards the top” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 28). Most of those small gavel-like slabs with wave-shaped upper edge, so-called cist stones, represent late-type monuments, belonging to ʻAbschnittʼ C/D or E according to Lindqvist. There are only a few Type B cist stones known to date (see in particular GP 144–145 Halla Broa V–VI). Deer motifs occur on Type B dwarf stones as well as the Type C/D cist stone GP 195 Hellvi Ire 6 and the late-type picture stone GP 98 Garda kyrka II (see VI). The fragment from Nederbjärs most likely represents a late-type monument, since it is too large to be a Type B cist stone. Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 44) assigns it to ʻAbschnittʼ C, which he dates to around AD 700. According to recent research, however, those stones (Type C/D) can only be roughly dated to between the 8th century and the 10th century.
GP 144 Halla Broa V
GP 145 Halla Broa VI
GP0195
GP 98 Garda kyrka II

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, fig. 317; II, pp. 27–28; 1964, p. 64; Oxenstierna 1954, p. 330, fig. 7; Stenkvist 2014 I, p. 34; II, pp. 7, fig. 5; Oehrl 2019, pp. 166–167.

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