Skip to main content

Gotlandic Picture Stones - The Online Edition

GP 186 Hejnum Bjärs I









PARTS

mer grejer





Measured length
0.0
PlanePositionFlip



Show planes Show edges

Parish Find Location ⓘ
Hejnum

Find Location ⓘ
The burial ground near Bjärs (Bjers) gård in Hejnum parish.

Find Context Classification ⓘ
Grave

Coordinate Find Location (lat) ⓘ
6400709

Coordinate Find Location (long) ⓘ
716433

Parish Present Location ⓘ
Hejnum

Present Location ⓘ
Re-erected near the find spot.

Present Location Classification ⓘ
Grave-field

Coordinate Present Location (lat) ⓘ
6400709

Coordinate Present Location (long) ⓘ
716433

Material
Limestone

Height ⓘ
155

Width ⓘ
82

Thickness ⓘ
20

Lindqvist Type 

Lindqvist Shape 

Runic Inscription or not ⓘ
No

Context and Discovery ⓘ
The Bjärs cemetery extends to the south of the farm on three closely spaced areas immediately east of the country road, consisting of a total of more than 80 stone settings still visible today, rösen (cairns) and other circular stone mounds: RAÄ Hejnum 31:1 (northern area, 165 x 50 m), 113:1 (middle area, 150 x 60 m), 36:1 (southern area, 190 x 30–65 m). A small area of 90 x 30 m containing 7 stone settings immediately west of the road, belonging to Bjärs prästgård,(parsonage), is obviously also part of the Bjärs cemetery (RAÄ 45:1). About 160 graves were excavated by Fredrik Nordin (Nordin 1893; Nordin et al. 1906) during the years 1885–86. Further investigations of the spot were conducted by Nording during the early 1890s. The cemetery was used from the Roman Iron Age until the Viking Period. Most of the graves, however, date to the Vendel Period. The stones Hejnum Bjärs II–V were found in the north-western corner of the northern cemetery area, close to the road and the stone Hejnum Bjärs I about 200 m further south, also close to the road, at the edge of the middle area.

Hejnum Bjärs I was found by Nordin in 1886 during excavations of a group of burials that lay close together, covered by a stone layer. The picture stone served as cover slab on the undisturbed inhumation burial no. 27 (Nordin et al. 1906, pp. 4–5; no. 256 in Nerman 1969/75). One of the picture stone’s long edges rested on top of the upright stone slabs erected along the deceased’s side, while the other long edge had sunk down, due to there being no corresponding wall slabs on that side. The following grave goods were recovered in grave no. 27 (ibid. and Rundkvist 2012, p. 153): a seax with a carved wooden scabbard with Style II decoration, an S-shaped mount with animal heads in Style II, an axe, 4 slim tongue-shaped strap ends, a strap buckle, a rectangular openwork strap mount, a comb, a knife, 3 gaming pieces, a leash swivel and the skeleton of a dog, scissors, a wooden rod with a copper alloy loop at the end, a sheet metal vessel, a stamp-decorated pot, rivets, and fire flint. The burial can be dated to the 7th century.

“Following its examination, the stone was set up not far from the finding place, a few metres to the east of the country road, where it remains to this day, with the obverse facing southwest” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 70). The stone is still there, albeit slightly tilted. The upper part of the stone could not be found despite a targeted search (Nordin et al. 1906, p. 5).

ATA’s run- och bildstenssamling holds a drawing of a picture stone fragment by Olof Sörling, labelled “Bjers i Hejnum I”, but its relationship to Hejnum Bjärs I remains enigmatic. Depicted is a narrow, roughly rectangular fragment, about 85 cm long and only 12–15 cm wide. Parallel to both short sides, about 3 cm from the edge, runs a wide groove. In addition, a thin carved line runs about 10 cm next to one of the grooves. At one of the long sides, which obviously represents a break line, small parts of the double frame line of a large and a small roundel appear to be preserved, cut off by the break. The opposite, slightly concave but rather irregular long side could represent the original edge of the monument, but this is difficult to judge based on the drawing. If so, the fragment could represent the rightmost edge of a type A picture stone with a large central roundel and two small roundels below. However, this remains uncertain and not convincing. In any case, it can hardly be a part of Hejnum Bjärs I.

Since both long sides seem to be quite irregular, they could both be interpreted as fracture lines. The grooves would then be the lateral edge decorations and the fragment would be regarded as a narrow section of the upper part of the picture stone, with remains of two small roundels (of different size?) placed next to each other. But even if one assumes that the fragment represents a narrow piece of the upper part of Hejnum Bjärs I, that was thought to be lost, the drawing could not be matched with the preserved stone. It seems therefore more probable that we are dealing with a completely different stone. Due to the long rectangular shape, an interpretation as a kerbstone could also be considered, whereby the edges in this case were very irregularly worked or damaged/abraded. Sörling’s drawing remains a riddle.
GP 187 Hejnum Bjärs II
GP 189 Hejnum Bjärs III
GP 188 Hejnum Bjärs IV
GP 182 Hejnum Bjärs V

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
The rectangular slab represents approximately the lower half of a picture stone, including the root. “Limestone slab, up to 20 cm thick and 155 cm high, with 105 cm take up the height of the stone’s surviving part over the base. At the base, the width is 82 cm, across the current top edge 79 cm. The obverse even, probably hewn, though later partly weathered. Above a clear border line at the base, the narrow sides are hewn flat at right angles towards the obverse up to a width of 15 cm, probably with a narrow chamfer in between the angle of which towards the obverse was more obtuse that that towards the narrow side. Longitudinally, each narrow side is curved about half a centimetre” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 70).

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
“Of decorations, only two shallowly-carved grooves of half a centimetre width, lying close together and running along both vertical edges, can be perceived, also a slightly oblique horizontal line 22–24 cm above the base, as well as the lower part of a small roundel top right” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 70). The carvings described by Lindqvist can be seen in his photo of the repainted monument (ibid. fig. 412) as well as two unpublished drawings by Olof Sörling from about 1911 (ATA run- och bildstenssamling). Today, they are greatly weathered.

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
No interpretation

Type and Dating ⓘ
The fragment represents the lower part of a tall early-type picture stone, i.e. Type A according to Lindqvist’s typology, dating to between AD 400 and 600. Lindqvist assigns the stone to his Brotypus, named after GP 43 Bro kyrka I, which is characterized by a large central and two smaller roundels, simple grooves featuring the lateral border decoration, and a more elaborate pattern at the upper edge of the tall monument (1941/42 I, p. 26–27; cf. Hauck 1983a, pp. 541–542). Not least because of the Style II decorated objects, grave no. 27, in which the picture stone served as a cover slab (see IV), can be dated to the 7th century. Nerman assigns the grave to his period VII:3 (circa AD 650–700). Thus, the Migration Period picture stone has been re-used in the Vendel Period grave construction.
GP 43 Bro kyrka I

References ⓘ
Nordin 1893; p. 4; 1903, p. 144; Nordin et al. 1906, pp. 4–5; Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 26; II, p. 70, fig. 412; Guber 2011, p. 129 cat. no. 40; Rundkvist 2012, pp. 146, 153.

 ⓘ
Fyndplats
Bildstenen påträffades 1886 vid arkeologiska undersökningar av ett stort gravfält söder om gården Bjärs. Stenen tjänade som lock över en orörd jordbegravning, som kan dateras till 600-talet.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Restes nära fyndplatsen, där den fortfarande står.

Beskrivning
Nedre delen av en stor tidig bildsten (period A), bevarad höjd 155 cm och största bredd 82 cm. Spår av kantdekor och en liten rundel på högra delen av stenen.

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift.

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

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 186 Hejnum Bjärs I

Fornsök ID ⓘ
L1976:1824

RAÄ ID ⓘ
Hejnum 37:1

Jan Peder Lamm ID
132

Lindqvist Title ⓘ
Hejnum, Bjärs I


Last modifed Oct 23, 2024

Export

Developer Data
Identifier: GP0186-3D
ID: 4718
3D-model
Part1 Depth null
Part1 RGB null