Parish Find Location 
Bäl

Find Location 
In the tower of Bäl church.

Find Context Classification 
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6394965

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
716790

Parish Present Location 
Bäl

Present Location 
In situ

Present Location Classification 
Church
In-Loco

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6394965

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
716790

Year of Discovery 
1913

Material 
Limestone

Height 
65

Width 
120

Thickness 
16

Lindqvist Type 
A (ca. 400-600)

Lindqvist Shape 
Kerb stone
Tall stone

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The Bäl kyrka stone was discovered by Efraim Lundmark in 1913. It is used as a cover stone and placed obverse side down in “the 80 cm wide hatch in the eastern tower wall, which leads to the nave [attic]” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 26).
CJL/SO

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The Bäl kyrka stone is 65 cm in height, 16 cm thick, and visible to a width of 120 cm. The stone is heavily worn and damaged. Although the drawing by Olof Sörling shows a convex top with two grooves running parallel to the edge (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, fig. 316), this is no longer visible today. Recently, the preserved convex top edge of the stone, including its decoration, has been chiseled away when a door was mounted close to the passage. As a result, no picture stone features remain.
CJL/SO

Description of Ornament and Images 
Sörling’s drawing is the only image provided in Lindqvist’s book (1941/42 II, fig. 316) and therefore the only documentation that has been preserved of the condition of the monument at the time of its discovery. “The drawing, made after a sketch by [Fredrik Nordin], shows the part visible in the hatch. In it, the upper edge with its two parallel grooves is represented as too curved; it is hewn at right angles to the obverse and separated from the obverse by a narrow chamfer” (ibid.).
SO

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 31–33, 110) categorized Bäl kyrka as a kerbstone (Randstein) that he includes within his ʻAbschnittʼ A which dates to circa AD 400–600 (see also Oehrl 2019a, pp. 8–10). According to Lindqvist (1933, pp. 105, 107; 1941/1942 I, pp. 31–33), the kerbstones formed an edge chain which surrounded a grave mound, possibly with an erected Type A picture stone in the center. However, no evidence has been found to confirm that any of the erected Type A picture stones were placed within a grave mound (Larkin 2023a, p. 50). Bäl kyrka is assigned by Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 33) to his Väskinde category (Västkindetypus) of kerbstones, which is named after GP 548 Väskinde kyrka IV and characterized by pairs of linear grooves on the broad side of the stone that run parallel to the outer edge and serve as the only decorative elements on the stone. In principle, however, it cannot be ruled out that the fragment represented a part of the head of a tall Type A picture stone. Jan Peder Lamm categorized Bäl kyrka as an ‘early’ (tidig) picture stone in his catalogue (Lamm/Nylén 2003, p. 182).
CJL/SO
GP 548 Väskinde kyrka IV

References 
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 28; II, pp. 26–27, fig. 316; Lamm/Nylén 2003, p. 182.

 
Fyndplats
Bildstenen ligger i den östra tornmuren, över öppningen mellan tornet och långhusets vind. Observerad redan i slutet av 1800-talet.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Samma placering som tidigare.

Beskrivning
Fragment av kantsten (period A), med bevarad längd 120 cm. Kantdekor fanns tidigare, men är numera borthuggen.

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift.

Datering
Kan inte dateras med säkerhet, men tillhör perioden 400-600.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 67 Bäl kyrka

Fornsök ID 
L1977:827

RAÄ ID 
Bäl 85:1

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
48

Lindqvist Title 
Bäl, Kirche

ATA
K-Samsök