Parish Find Location 
Hemse

Find Location 
Unknown. Around the middle of the 19th century, it was placed at the southern door of the choir.

Find Context Classification 
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6348373

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
703574

Parish Present Location 
Hemse

Present Location 
Re-erected on the churchyard of Hemse church.

Present Location Classification 
Churchyard

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6348373

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
703574

Material 
Limestone

Height 
110

Width 
74

Thickness 
32

Lindqvist Type 
C/D (ca. 700-1000)
E (ca. 1000-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Tall stone

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The stone was already mentioned by Per Arvid Säve in his Samlingar (II, p. 86). At that time, in the middle of the 19th century, it lay at the southern door of the choir. When Lindqvist wrote his book, the stone was “[…] erected at the eastern fringe of the extended cemetery, east-south-east of the choir” (Lindqvist 1941/42, p. 74). Today, however, the slab is erected 17 m north of the nave of the church, in front of a group of trees, its obverse facing south. In a list of objects to be recorded in the inventory book of the church from 1924, a fragment of a picture stone is also mentioned. It remains unclear what is meant by it.

Hemse church is of particular interest, since during a renovation in the late 19th century remains (67 pieces) of a wooden church were discovered in the floor of the 13th century Romanesque stone building (Ekhoff 1914–1916, pp. 79–128; Lagerlöf/Stolt 1969; Almevik/Westin 2017). The former stave church could be reconstructed more-or-less completely and dendrochronologically dated to the 12th century.

Measurements, Material and Condition 
Lindqvist (1941/42 II, fig. 418) only reproduces a sketch-like drawing of the stone, similar to the one published in Ekhoff 1914–1916, fig. 21. A photo from the beginning 20th century (showing the slab already overgrown with lichens) is held in ATA (Run- och bildstenssamling). The limestone slab is remarkably thick, about 32 cm in the middle. The obverse is flat and even, except an irregular ʻholeʼ in the middle right part. The narrow sides are hewn at right angles towards the obverse. The reverse is rough and unworked. The height of the stone above ground is 110 cm, the width of the head 68 cm, of the neck 60 cm, and of the base 74 cm (cf. Lindqvist 1941/42, p. 75). The mushroom-shaped stone is completely preserved, essentially undamaged, but much abraded and badly weathered. In 1994, conservation measures were taken – repair of cracks and spalling, as well as moving the stone (see IV) (GF, RIKs no. 1606–3026, 3038).

Description of Ornament and Images 
No traces of carvings can be perceived.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Tall mushroom-shaped late-type picture stone, Type C/D or E according to Lindqvist’s typology (1941/42 I, p. 44). If no decoration or inscription is preserved, those monuments can only be roughly dated to between the 8th century and around AD 1100. With only 110 cm visible above ground, the slab is quite small, however, according to Lindqvist’s terminology, still too tall to be labelled a ʻdwarf stoneʼ (ibid.).

References 
Ekhoff 1914–1916, pp. 73–74, fig. 21; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 74–75, fig. 418.

 
Fyndplats
Vid mitten av 1800-talet låg bildstenen vid södra kordörren.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Står 17 m norr om kyrkan långhus.

Beskrivning
Svampformig bildsten (period CD), 110 cm hög och största bredd 74 cm. Sten är mycket väderbiten och saknar bevarade bilder.

Datering
Kan inte dateras med säkerhet, tillhör perioden 700-900-talen.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 202 Hemse kyrka

Fornsök ID 
L1977:8268

RAÄ ID 
Hemse 49:4

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
146

Lindqvist Title 
Hemse, Kirchhof

ATA
K-Samsök