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Gotlandic Picture Stones - The Online Edition

GP 141 Hall kyrka 2









PARTS

mer grejer





Measured length
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Parish Find Location ⓘ
Hall

Find Location ⓘ
Hall church

Find Context Classification ⓘ
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) ⓘ
6422750

Coordinate Find Location (long) ⓘ
720236

Parish Present Location ⓘ
Hall

Present Location ⓘ
The fragment is embedded in the floor of the choir, where it was originally detected.

Present Location Classification ⓘ
Church
In-Loco

Coordinate Present Location (lat) ⓘ
6422750

Coordinate Present Location (long) ⓘ
720236

Material
Limestone

Height ⓘ
61

Width ⓘ
50

Lindqvist Type 

Lindqvist Shape 

Runic Inscription or not ⓘ
No

Context and Discovery ⓘ
The fragment was discovered by Beata Böttger-Niedenzu in 1983, together with GP 140 Hall kyrka 1. In 1982, Böttger-Niedenzu submitted her master’s thesis on Gotland’s picture stones to the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, and during the years 1981 to 1985, she visited the Gotlandic rural churches, discovering not fewer than 38 previously unknown picture stones, which she published in a brief catalogue in 1988. The two fragments from Hall church are embedded in the floor of the choir. Hall kyrka 2 is situated in the extreme western part of the choir, bordering the wooden floor of the nave, approximately in the middle between the choir stalls. Hall kyrka 1 is placed inside the raised eastern part of the choir, southwest of the altar.

The choir and the sacristy represent the oldest parts of the current church building, dating to between 1225 and 1250. However, the two possible picture stone fragments do not seem to have been incorporated during the middle of the 13th century – there are many more spolia built into the floor of the choir, medieval grave slabs bearing crosses and runic inscriptions, which date considerably later, to the 14th and 15th centuries. Apparently, the floor of the choir, which contains the two fragments, was (re)built during the Late Middle Ages or even later.

On both stones only simple carved border decorations are preserved, which greatly resemble one another. Apparently, both fragments were therefore regarded as originating from one and the same monument and thus assigned the same number in Jan Peder Lamm’s catalogue, i.e., 406a and 406b. Surprisingly enough, however, Lamm calls them Hall kyrka 1 and Hall kyrka 2, indicating two different picture stones.
GP 140 Hall kyrka 1

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
The fragment is rectangular in shape, 0.62 m in height and 0.50 m wide. The limestone is dark grey. The surface was flattened by the medieval stone mason and the original carvings almost completely obliterated, as can be seen from regular chisel strokes all over the stone. Furthermore, the surface is greatly worn and smoothed by footsteps.

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
The only preserved carving is a border with a quite coarse zigzag pattern, which is 5.5 cm wide and approx. 0.50 m long, running along the southern narrow side of the rectangle. The pattern is formed by simple, accurately carved grooves. According to Böttger-Niedenzu (1988, p. 9), it represents the same zigzag band as depicted on GP 140 Hall kyrka 1. However, in Lamm’s list, the border decoration of Hall kyrka 1 is described as rhombic pattern comparable to the decoration of the two kerbstones (Randsteine) GP 220 Källunge kyrka II and GP 221 Källunge kyrka III. It is not easy to discern the actual pattern but Lamm probably is right and Halla kyrka 1 bears rather a rhombic pattern instead of a simple zigzag band.

The carvings on Hall kyrka 2 displaya simple zigzag band. The best parallels are the border decorations on the kerbstone GP 432 Stenkyrka kyrka VII and the picture stones GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I and perhaps also GP 53 Burs kyrka I. As a result, both fragments from Hall do not seem to bear the same border decoration after all and therefore they do not seem to represent one and the same monument, even though they very much resemble each other in terms of material, colour and technique.
GP 140 Hall kyrka 1
GP 220 Källunge kyrka II
GP 221 Källunge kyrka III
GP 432 Stenkyrka kyrka VII
GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I
GP 53 Burs kyrka I

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
No interpretation

Type and Dating ⓘ
If the two fragments from Hall church do indeed represent parts of picture stones (or of one and the same picture stone), they most probably belong to Lindqvist’s ʻAbschnittʼ A, conventionally dated to the Migration Period, between AD 400 and 600. Zigzag borders can be seen on the Type A stones GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I and perhaps GP 53 Burs kyrka I. The dimensions and the decoration of the stones from Hall would also allow an interpretation as slabs of the Randstein type, which also belongs to ʻAbschnittʼ A. The small slab GP 432 Stenkyrka kyrka VII, which bears a comparable zigzag ornamented border, was also labelled as kerbstone by Sune Lindqvist.
GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I
GP 53 Burs kyrka I
GP 432 Stenkyrka kyrka VII

References ⓘ
Böttger-Niedenzu 1988, p. 9.

 ⓘ
Fyndplats
Stenen påträffades 1983 i Hall kyrka, där den har blivit återanvänd i korgolvet.

Nuvarande förvaringsplats
Stenen är fortfarande inmurad i golvet i kyrkans kor. Den ligger i västra delen av koret, angränsande till långhusets trägolv.

Beskrivning
Fragmentet är rektangulärt och 0.62 x 0.50 m stort. Endast en inristad kantbård med ett enkelt sicksackmönster är bevarad. Kanske handlar det inte om en bildsten i snävare bemärkelse men om en så kallad kantsten. Kantstenar har antagligen legat runt gravkummel. De har en dekor, som påminner om de samtida resta bildstenarnas. Jämförbara sicksackmönster finns på kantstenen GP 432 Stenkyrka kyrka VII och på bildstenen GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I och möjligen GP 53 Burs kyrka I.

Datering
Om det handlar om ett fragment till en bildsten eller en kantsten, så stammar den från Folkvandringstiden, från perioden mellan omkring 400 och 600 e.Kr.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

SO
GP 432 Stenkyrka kyrka VII
GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I
GP 53 Burs kyrka I

Title
GP 141 Hall kyrka 2

Fornsök ID ⓘ
L1977:9675

RAÄ ID ⓘ
Hall 133:1

Jan Peder Lamm ID
406b


Last modifed Oct 21, 2024

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Developer Data
Identifier: GP0141-3D
ID: 4673
3D-model
Part1 Depth null
Part1 RGB null