GP 164 Halla Broa XV

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, with many 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 300–400. 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, 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) are to be mentioned.

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.

Regarding the find circumstances of Halla Broa XV, Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 65) briefly notes that the stone “[…] was found by the shoemaker Gabriel Pettersson during cultivation in a small wood, about 300 m northeast of the upper crossroads near Högbro. Presented by the finder to GF in 1930.”

Measurements, Material and Condition
The limestone slab represents the lower part of a small middle-type picture stone, which means its entire root and the lowermost part of the image field. The slab is about 5 cm thick. “The narrow sides are roughly hewn at right angles towards the obverse. At the right narrow side, a chamfer of about 1 cm width can be observed. The reverse is rough and unworked. The stone’s width is 43 cm at the lower edge of the decoration. Total height 59.5 cm, 27 cm of which above the lower edge of the decoration” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 65).

Description of Ornament and Images
“The border is executed with shallow, 3 mm wide lines. In the field, there is a running horse that apparently did not have a rider. The horse seems to bite into the pointed end of a rod that protrudes from one of the corners of the panel (if we do not want to assume that it has an abnormally long tongue). These figures clearly are rising from the slightly sunken background field as well as the somewhat irregular triangle below the horse’s front feet” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 65). The horizontal border on the bottom of the image field as well as parts of the edge borders are very well preserved, representing a coarse step pattern (simplified twisted cord). According to the photo of the painted stone reproduced in Lindqvist’s book (ibid. I, fig. 68; cf. ATA Run- och bildstenssamling B3:98,6 – dating 1937), the depicted horse-like animal has a long tail, hooves, pointed ears or an upright mane respectively (while on the photos of the unpainted stone taken in 1933, which are kept in ATA [1750:67b and 1751:25a], the animal can hardly be observed). The strangely bent forelegs placed above the “irregular triangle”, which rises from the ground, gives the impression that the animal is stepping, jumping or rather stumbling over a kind of barrier. The depiction is comparable to the horse with rider on the small middle-type picture stone GP 79 Etelhem Järnvägen. Both animals are executed in a similar style. On the Etelhem stone, the horse is clearly stepping over a triangular element, which rises from the ground, just between the forelegs.
GP 79 Etelhem Järnvägslinje

Interpretation of the Imagery
The horse with rider stepping over a triangular barrier represents a frequent motif in the iconography of the Viking Period picture stones. GP 79 Etelhem Järnvägen and probably Halla Broa XV are the only middle-type picture stones featuring this iconographic element. It has been interpreted as a simplified fence, gate or grid, representing the barrier, which divides the world of the living from the world of the dead (Lindqvist 1941/42 vol. I, p. 99; Weber 1973, p. 95). Such a barrier is mentioned in Old Norse literature, in the relatively young (12th/13th century?) eddic poems Grímnismál (stanza 22, valgrindr) and Lokasenna (stanza 63, nágrindr) as well as in Snorri’s Gylfaginning from about 1220 (cap. 49, helgrindr). According to Snorri, Óðinn’s son Hermóðr, riding on his father’s horse Sleipnir, jumps over this very fence to reach the realm of Hel (Faulkes 2005, p. 47).

The diagonal rod that protrudes from the lower right corner of the image field and ends in the horse’s mouth is comparable to the late-type picture stone GP 258 Lärbro Tängelgårda I. In the second panel from above, a bizarre horse figure is depicted, which has been interpreted as an artificial horse, resting on a kind of pole or rod construction. One of the rods, which are fixed on the ground, seems to hold up the horse’s head. Apparently, the panel depicts a dead body laid out on the back of the artificial horse, next to a procession of mourning warriors with their swords pointing down (see the regarding article for more information).

Oehrl (2019a, p. 167) proposes that the quadruped on Halla Broa XV should not be understood as a red deer that sucks in a snake with its mouth, as depicted on GP 551 Väskinde Butter (see the regarding article for more information), representing a frequent and well-known motif in Christian art and literature.
GP 79 Etelhem Järnvägslinje
GP0258
GP 551 Väskinde Butter

Type and Dating
Even though only the lower half of the monument is preserved, its size and the typical step pattern (probably to be considered a simplified twisted cord pattern) indicate a middle-type picture stone, which means a Type B dwarf stone, dating to between AD 500 and 700. The only other Type B stones featuring a horse (or a horse-like quadruped) in the lower field are GP 79 Etelhem Järnvägen (see VI), and possibly GP 143 Halla Broa I.
GP 79 Etelhem Järnvägslinje
GP 143 Halla Broa I

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, fig. 68; II, p. 65; Guber 2011, p. 127 cat. no. 36; Oehrl 2019a, p. 167.

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