GP 207 Hogrän kyrka III

Context and Discovery
The tower represents the oldest remaining part of the church (building history: Roosval 1942, pp. 86–89; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, pp. 175–176). It was built around AD 1200 as an addition to a small Romanesque stone church from the later part of the 12th century, the foundations of which were discovered inside the present church during the last restoration in 1953/54. The present nave and choir with sacristy were built around AD 1300. Parts of the old Romanesque church’s façade reliefs are incorporated into the outer wall of the Gothic nave (Roosval 1942, p. 95). However, while the tower was being added, parts of the old relief-decorated nave seem to have been dismantled, because also in the tower, in the outer wall and in the tower staircase, parts of the Romanesque image frieze have been installed (ibid. pp. 92, 95, figs. 98, 103).

The picture stone fragment GP 206 Hogrän kyrka II “[…] is incorporated into the tower’s west wall as the top stone in the ceiling of the staircase, with its obverse facing down and its hewn side facing south. First observed in 1928 by Johnny Roosval [ATA dnr 2480-28]. Hogrän kyrka III is “[…] integrated into the masonry in a similar manner to No. II (perhaps belonging to the same stone) and used as a stone in the ceiling at the third step, below No. II” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 78). Hogrän kyrka III is not considered by Roosval, it seems to be mentioned for the first time in “Gotlands Bildsteine”. GP 208 Hogrän kyrka I was already found in 1801, lying in the churchyard. According to the inventory (RAÄ Hogrän 70), there are possibly two more kerbstones in the church – one has a bowl-like depression (piscina) and was used as a baptismal font foundation (0.58 x 0.48, 0.23 thick); the other is located at the entrance to the choir (0.93 x 0.93, 0.2 m thick) and possibly represents the base of a pillar. It is highly doubtful, however, that these really represent Type A ʻkerbstonesʼ.
SO
GP 206 Hogrän kyrka II
GP0208

Measurements, Material and Condition
The stone is extremely difficult to access, which is why previously there were no photos or drawings available, neither in Lindqvist's book nor in the archives. Lindqvist describes Hogrän kyrka III as follows: “The slab’s rough, unworked reverse is facing downwards, so the stone can only be identified by means of its hewn narrow side, which is decorated with three grooves running lengthwise and thus in the same way as the corresponding side of [Hogrän kyrka] No. II” (1941/42 II, p. 78).
SO

Description of Ornament and Images
Only the grooves on the narrow side mentioned above (see V) are visible.
SO

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 31–33, 110) categorized Hogrän kyrka III as a kerbstone (Randstein) that is included within his first grouping of picture stones, ʻAbschnittʼ A, which date to circa AD 400–600 (see also Oehrl 2019a, pp. 8–10). According to Lindqvist (1933, pp. 105, 107; 1941/1942 I, pp. 21, 31–33), the kerbstones and erected Type A picture stones were possibly connected and could have created a singular monument with the erected picture stones placed within the grave mound encircled by an edge chain of carved kerbstones. However, no evidence has been found to confirm that any of the erected Type A picture stones were placed within a grave mound (Larkin 2023a, p. 50). Additionally, whether the kerbstone categorization is the correct interpretation in every case or whether such stones could also have stood upright remains an open question, especially when only fragments survived, and the exact dimensions and shape of the monument cannot be reconstructed with certainty. Since only the narrow side of Hogrän kyrka III has been preserved, the type cannot be definitively determined.
CJL/SO

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 28; II, p. 78; Lamm/Nylén 2003, p. 188.

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