GP 160 Halla Broa II

Context and Discovery
Lindqvist published 20 picture stones under the name of the farmstead Broa (today Broe), all of which appear to originate from the unusually large Iron Age grave field, which is situated in the south-western part of Halla parish, close to the border to Roma parish, and which had been well known through the ages, first mentioned by Strelow in 1633. The farm belongs to the community of Högbro. Since time immemorial, two important country roads, the road Halla-Viklau and the road Roma-Sjonhem (ʻVisbyvägenʼ) intersect here, where a rise consisting of gravel (the ʻhigh bridgeʼ = Högbro) clearly emerges out of the terrain, leading across the great bog system Romamyr-Stormyr. Both roads in turn are intersected by the railway line Roma-Etelhem. The railway intersects both roads a few hundred metres to the west and southwest of the crossing. During the 19th century, the Högbro elevation was severely diminished and large parts of the Broa necropolis were destroyed by clearing and cultivation, gravel mining, house building, railway and road construction, as well as deliberate grave robbing. Many finds from Broa were sold on the antiquities market during this time, much has been acquired by ATA. Unfortunately, the large and highly important cemetery of Högbro-Broa is still not published adequately; its present documentation is incomplete and confusing. The best overview about the history and state of research is given by Lena Thunmark-Nylén (1995–2006 III:2, pp. 621–623; IV:1, pp. 324–347).

The first professional and large-scale excavation took place in 1899, conducted by Hans Hansson, who unearthed 14 graves in a small area right next to the intersection, just south of the road Roma–Sjonhem and east of the road to Viklau. One further large-scale excavation was carried out in 1981–82 by Ann-Marie Pettersson, who investigated 120 graves (9 inhumation, 102 cremation, 9 without bones) in a small area (circa 700 m2) about 50 m north of the road Roma–Sjonhem and about 40 m east of the road to Halla (Broe 1:71; see the report compiled by Daniel Langhammer from 2012, RAGU dnr 13/82, 789/84). Apart from that, several minor and poorly documented investigations took place, in the beginning of the 20th century, in particular, during the 1930s and the early 1940s.

Two large areas are registered by ATA, a burial ground north of the road Roma–Sjonhem (ATA Halla 46:1) and a burial ground south of the road (ATA Halla 48:1). The first one (46:1) covers an area of circa 120 x 110 m (E–W) and contains 66 circular stone settings and 120 investigated flat graves. The other one (48:1) is about 300 x 120 m (N–S) and features 202 circular stone settings. Several other registered monuments, about 15 stone settings, 2 stone kists and 1 gravklot (large spherical stone) seem to belong to the Broa grave field as well (ATA Halla 1:1, 1:2, 74:1, 78:1, 79:1; Roma 31:1, 31:2, 32:1). Thunmark-Nylén (1995–2006 III:2, p. 622) estimates the number of investigated graves alone at about 300 to 400. The actual size and extent of the necropolis, however, remains still uncertain.

The oldest investigated burials can be dated to the Roman Iron Age, with some unexcavated stone settings typical for the Pre-Roman Iron Age. Most of the graves, however, date to the Migration, Vendel and Viking Periods. First and foremost, the grave field is well-known and frequently cited for some particularly important finds such as the decorated horse harness from the equestrian burial discovered in 1899, after which the Broa Style is named (Salin 1922; Thunmark-Nylén 1992; 1995–2006 IV:1, pp. 325–326), the lyre bridge of amber from the same grave (Reimers 1980), and many remarkable finds of glass vessels from all periods (Nylén 1969). Furthermore, there are several elite warrior graves containing fragments of ring-swords as well as a Vendel helmet (Nerman 1969–1975 I:1, p. 29; II, fig. 601).

The exact location of the find spots of the picture stones is difficult to determine in most cases, and their contexts and relation to the known parts of the cemetery remain unclear. Most of them originate from the railway line and the area west of it (called ʻBrandenʼ) and the rest from the area east of the road to Halla, between the road and the border to Roma (ʻKlosterängenʼ). Lindqvist (1941/42 II, fig. 378) provides a map, which was primarily composed at the National Heritage Board (RAÄ) based on the information kept in ATA. It identifies the location of the find places of the stones as carefully as they could be determined at Lindqvist’s time.

The picture stone Halla Broa II was found in 1876 during the construction of the railway line, together with GP 143 Halla Broa I and GP 161 Halla Broa III. “At the same time, several objects of bronze and iron from the younger Iron Age were discovered” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 59).
GP 143 Halla Broa I
GP 161 Halla Broa III

Measurements, Material and Condition
“Limestone slab, up to 9 cm thick. […] The narrow sides hewn approximately at right angles towards the obverse, the reverse rough and unworked. Total height of the stone 82 cm, 55 cm of which above the lower edge of the decoration. The width of the head likely was 42 cm, that of the neck is 38 cm, that of the base about 43 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 59). The small monument is almost completely preserved, including a short root, only the left corner of the mushroom head is broken off while the right corner is slightly discernible. The stone material is unusual. It is a fine-layered shoal limestone which is not very usable for working on it. The weathering especially attacks spaces between the rock layers, which leads to a kind of exfoliation. The surface of the stone is flaking off.

Description of Ornament and Images
“The decoration appears to have been added despite the ledges existing on the obverse; later, flaking resulted in the appearance of more of these ledges, which caused a considerable proportion of the decoration to be destroyed. The preserved elements are executed with finely hewn lines and particularly with chiselled background fields. Also, the creation of the almost 1 cm wide grooves forming the sail’s pattern left clear traces of the chisel […]. At their intersections, small rectangles were left standing. Apart from insignificant remains of the inner frame of an approximately 7 cm wide framing border and a horizontal border (which perhaps should be interpreted as the yardarm above the sail) on a level with the neck, the drawing shows (at the very top) the lower part of a horse, below that parts of the sail and the keel of a watercraft on top of a row of waves that are breaking to the right” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 59–60).

Lindqvist’s description corresponds with Olof Sörling’s drawing of the stone, which is dated to 1910 (ibid. fig. 379; ATA Run- och bildstenssamlingen 2425:15 [mistakenly labelled as ʻRoma Högbroʼ]). On the stone itself as well as on the early photograph kept in ATA (Run- och bildstenssamlingen 457:29 [mistakenly labelled as ʻRoma Högbroʼ]), only the keel line of the ship is visible, and the unusual surface structure, eroded by exfoliation. The carvings are remarkably faint. However, as Oehrl (2019a, p. 88, pl. 50a–b) demonstrated by means of RTI technology, the major parts of the figures are still discernable under the condition of a certain illumination. Helmbrecht (2011, p. 470) notes that the horse in the head field is possibly eight-legged. In Sörling’s drawing a third foreleg appears to be discernable. However, this element, which could also be part of the lost horseman’s spear, cannot be verified with certainty.

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Mushroom-shaped late-type ʻdwarf stoneʼ, belonging to ʻAbschnittʼ C according to Lindqvist, who dates those stones to the time around AD 700. Current research, however, tends to date them roughly to between the 8th century (or rather around AD 800) and the 10th century. Lisbeth Imer (2004, p. 104) dates the stone to circa AD 750–900. According to Martin Rundkvist’s (2012) typology, the stone’s shape represents Type dwarf4, which occurs in his periods 4 (Late Vendel Period), 5 (Early Viking Period), and 6 (Middle Viking Period).

The design of the sail, with small rectangles at the intersections of the diagonal lines (see VI), is the same as on the Type D stones GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I and GP 21 Ardre kyrka VIII or the Type C stones GP 162 Halla Broa IV and GP 90 Fröjel kyrka.
GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I
GP 21 Ardre kyrka VIII
GP 162 Halla Broa IV
GP 90 Fröjel kyrka