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Gotlandic Picture Stones - The Online Edition

GP 96 Garda Smiss I









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mer grejer





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Parish Find Location ⓘ
Garda

Find Location ⓘ
Häbbnautet – a meadow near Smiss gård (farmstead) in Garda socken.

Find Context Classification ⓘ
Agricultural Field

Coordinate Find Location (lat) ⓘ
6357731

Coordinate Find Location (long) ⓘ
714954

Present Location Classification ⓘ
Gotlands Museum Fornsalen

Coordinate Present Location (lat) ⓘ
6393355

Coordinate Present Location (long) ⓘ
696536

Material
Limestone

Limestone Type ⓘ
crinoid limestone

Geological Group ⓘ
Klinteberg Formation (40%)

Height ⓘ
98

Width ⓘ
45

Thickness ⓘ
8

Lindqvist Type 

Lindqvist Shape 

Iconographic Keywords
 ⓘ      

Runic Inscription or not ⓘ
No

Context and Discovery ⓘ
According to Pehr Arvid Säve’s “Gotländska Samlingar” II (1887), the stone was found in 1873, together with GP 103 Garda Smiss II, while cultivating a meadow called Häbbnautet in the vicinity of Smiss gård (towards Ansarve). During an investigation in 1978, however, the find place could not be verified (according to the RAÄ inventory book 1978-06-14).
GP 103 Garda Smiss II

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
The small picture stone is completely preserved, including its massive pedestal-like root. “Limestone slab, 7–10 cm thick above the root. Both broad sides above the root hewn and convex, as are the narrow sides. Wide chamfers that now generally are blurred by weathering appear to have divided the broad from the narrow sides. Overall height of the stone 98 cm, of which 69 cm are above the root. The width between the upper corners is 45 cm, in the middle of the body 33cm, at the base 40 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 47). The carved surface is well preserved.

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
“The decoration, confined to one of the broad sides, is executed in rough lines of about 4 mm width, without carved relief. The border is framed by double lines, features a simplified twisted cord pattern ,and defines a field that is divided into two panels of differing sizes by a central horizontal band of identical decoration. The lower panel appears to be empty, while the upper one seems to have a water-bird – which probably had two legs, one in front of the other – and above that a watercraft with steep, towering stems and a schematised depiction of mast and sail (?)” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 47). In addition, the drawing by Olof Sörling, which is the only picture of the stone reproduced by Lindqvist (ibid. fig. 354), depicts a steering oar at the left-hand side of the ship, which is currently not visible on the painted stone presented in the exhibition. Furthermore, in Sörling’s interpretation, one of the bird’s legs is not connected to its body and appears more like a tiny barrier towering from the ground. The current painting, however, depicts the second leg clearly. Photos of the unpainted stone as well as a photo of the tentatively painted monument taken in 1933 (1648:52) are kept in ATA (Run- och bildstenssamling).

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
There are at least ten Type B picture stones with images of single aquatic birds or antithetic pairs of waterfowl known so far (see IX). More information about the possible origin of this motif in Christian iconography and its interpretation in a pre-Christian Scandinavian context, in particular with regard to eschatological beliefs and ideas of the afterlife journey, see GP 276 När Rikvide I. Regarding Christian influence on the imagery of ʻAbschnittʼ B see also GP 551 Väskinde Butter and GP 274 Norrlands Bringes.
GP 276 När Rikvide (I)
GP 551 Väskinde Butter
GP 274 Norrlanda Bringes

Type and Dating ⓘ
Middle-type picture stone, i.e., Type B according to Lindqvist, dating to between AD 500 and 700. The stone belongs to those Type B stones described by Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 38–39) as dwarf stones with convex (in this case almost ogival) head and corners protruding horizontally. Lindqvist assigns Garda Smiss I to his so-called Stenstugruppe (1941/42 I, pp. 37–38), which in particular is characterized by depictions of aquatic birds in the lower and a simple vessel (i.e., ships of the Rikvidetyp – ibid. I, p. 66) in the upper field of the stone. These monuments are frequently decorated on both sides. Lindqvist considers them to have been placed pairwise on graves. The currently known Type B monuments featuring single or pairs of aquatic birds are the following: GP 142 Halla Broa VII, GP 165 Halla Broa XVII, GP 129 Hablingbo Stenstu, GP 276 När Rikvide I, GP 277 När Rikvide 2, GP 10 Alva St. Ringome, GP 96 Garda Smiss I, GP 274 Norrlands Bringes, GP 200 Hemse Lindvide, and the Type B dwarf stone found in Grobin, Latvia (Petrenko 1991; Lamm 1991; Lamm/Nylén 2003, pp. 210–211).

According to Martin Rundkvist’s (2012, p. 159) typology, the stone’s shape represents Type dwarf3, belonging to his period 3, which he dates to the Middle Vendel Period. Varenius (1992, appendix 2) assigns the ship depiction on Garda Smiss I to his group 2 (enkel rigg), which he dates to the period between the 7th and the 9th centuries.
GP 142 Halla Broa VII
GP 165 Halla Broa XVII
GP 129 Hablingbo Stenstu
GP 276 När Rikvide (I)
GP 277 När Rikvide 2
GP 10 Alva St. Ringome
GP 96 Garda Smiss I
GP 274 Norrlanda Bringes
GP 200 Hemse Lindvide

References ⓘ
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 47, fig. 354; Böhner 1968, pp. 188–189; Varenius 1992, p. 62, fig. 19; Guber 2011, p. 119 cat. no. 19; Oehrl 2019a, p. 168.

 ⓘ
Fyndplats
Bildstenen påträffades 1873 vid uppodling av ängen Häbbnautet i närheten av gården Smiss. Stenen påträffades tillsammans med GP 103 Garda Smiss II.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands Museum, bildstenshallen.

Beskrivning
Helt bevarad liten bildsten (period B), 98 cm hög och som bredast 69 cm. Stenen består av två bildfält, det nedre är tomt, medan det övre omfattar en sjöfågel och delar av ett skepp med mast och segel.

Datering
Kan inte dateras med säkerhet, tillhör perioden 500-600-talen.

Tolkning
Sjöfågeln kan möjligen knytas till en kristen kontinental ikonografi.

AA
GP 103 Garda Smiss II

Title
GP 96 Garda Smiss I

Fornsök ID ⓘ
L1976:2922

RAÄ ID ⓘ
Garde 19:2

Gotlands Museum ID ⓘ
1984

Jan Peder Lamm ID
69

Lindqvist Title ⓘ
Garda, Smiss I


Last modifed Oct 21, 2024

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Developer Data
Identifier: GP0096-3D
ID: 4629
3D-model
Part 1 depth:https://gotlandicpicturestones.se/files/original/95bb3abafd40cb7fc01c34fd1d3a4e1b4717cf0d.nxz
Part 1 RGB:https://gotlandicpicturestones.se/files/original/dacc6ff8c0f5953db276ea67292657b6d444db8d.nxz