GP 50 Bro kyrka VI

Context and Discovery
This fragment was found in 1913 by E. Lundmark in the cemetery wall, close to its southwest corner. In Lamm’s list it is noted that the stone is still situated at its find place but actually it was given to Gotlands Museum already in 1918 and is kept there today. For some reason, the fragment was given two different inventory numbers – C3918, which it already had in Lindqvist’s time, and C11031, which mistakenly was allocated at a later time when it was found during an inventory without a number on it. Therefore, Lamm (nos. 31 + 358) and consequently Guber (nos. 8 + 97) assumed there were two different stones.

On the site of the present church in Bro, a Romanesque stone church with a nave and a choir with apse was built in the middle or second half of the 12th century (on the building history: Lundmark 1929; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, pp. 101–104; on the new findings based on excavations and dendrochronological investigations: Widerström 2001a–c; Andrén 2011, pp. 167–169.). Somewhat later, in 1214, the Romanesque tower still standing today was added, the beams of which have been dendrochronologically dated. Whether there was already a wooden church on the site before the stone building remains unclear; no remains of a predecessor building could be found. In the course of the 13th century, today’s large rectangular choir with sacristy was completed, and around 1300 the new Gothic nave. Consequently, only the tower and a few stones of an animal frieze in the south side of the nave have been preserved from the early stone church; the foundation of the Romanesque nave was confirmed during excavations in 2001. Under the nave of the church, in addition to medieval and modern burials, some grave finds from the 11th century were recovered; they belong to the group of kyrkogårdsfynden (ʻchurchyard findsʼ). A dress pin from the 10th century found in the tower could be explained as a single find but also allows the possibility that the church was built on a pre-Christian burial ground. From the 15th century at the latest, Bro church was an important pilgrimage and sacrificial church, which kept a Holy Cross relic (Lundmark 1929, pp. 254–256; Stolt 2007, pp. 12–14; Pernler 2013, p. 92). According to popular tradition, there was a healing spring next to or even inside the church (in the sacristy) as late as the 18th century. This circumstance, as well as a tree trunk walled into the tower in a curious way, the root of which protrudes from the west wall, have given rise to the assumption that the church was built on a pre-Christian cult site. However, there is no compelling evidence for this (Oehrl 2016a). So far, eleven Type A picture stones and kerbstones have been found in the church of Bro (Oehrl 2016a, pp. 250–252).

Measurements, Material and Condition
The picture stone fragment represents a roughly square slab that on one side preserves the original chamfered lateral edge of the monument, with a length of 42 cm. “Limestone slab, 15.5 cm thick. The obverse is hewn flat, the narrow side is slightly concave longitudinally and approximately at right angles to the obverse, with a narrow chamfer. The reverse is rough” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 32). The carvings are blurred by weathering, but the main elements of the decoration are largely discernible.

Description of Ornament and Images
The preserved lateral edge of the picture stone features two parallel grooves forming the border decoration. Furthermore, “[…] about half of a small roundel, the field of which, surrounded by a circular band, is chiselled down and contains a pattern of (originally) four linked spirals [two of which are still visible]. Between the frame of the roundel and the bands connecting the spirals, there also appear to have been circular areas left standing” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 32). Certainly, the roundel represents one of a pair of small disc motifs. The remains of the decoration as described are well documented by Sörling’s drawing (ibid. fig. 322). A photo of the painted stone taken by Faith-Ell in 1933 is kept in ATA’s Run- och bildstenssamling (1751:12) but not published in Lindqvist’s book. Today, no remains of secondary paint are left on the stone.

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
The fragment represents a part of the head of an early-type picture stone, i.e. Type A according to Lindqvist’s typology, dating to between AD 400 and 600. Lindqvist assigns the stone to his Brotypus, named after GP 43 Bro kyrka I, which is characterized by a large central and two smaller roundels, simple grooves featuring the lateral border decoration, and a more elaborate pattern at the upper edge of the tall monument (1941/42 I, p. 26–27; cf. Hauck 1983a, pp. 541–542).
GP 43 Bro kyrka I

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 32, fig. 322; Hauck 1983a, p. 542; Guber 2011, p. 158 cat. no. 97 + p. 113 cat. no. 8

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