Parish Find Location 
Lau

Find Location 
The burial ground of Laubackar in Lau parish.

Find Context Classification 
Grave

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6355231

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
718989

Present Location Classification 
SHM Storage

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6581391

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
675775

Material 
Limestone

Height 
47

Width 
60

Thickness 
11

Lindqvist Type 
A (ca. 400-600)

Lindqvist Shape 
Dwarf stone

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
Lindqvist (1941/42 II, fig. 324) mistakenly reproduces the picture stone fragment Lau Laubackar under “Bro Kirchspiel” (= GP 48 Bro socken). His description of the lost stone from Bro is also based in truth on Lau Laubacker and is therefore quoted here under V and VI. The fragment was discovered by J. Nihlén in 1925 in a grave in the Laubackar burial ground in Lau parish (ATA dnr 2150-25; cf. Run- och bildstenssamling 1750:29a, 1750:69b). No other finds were detected in the grave. A total of seven graves were examined by Nihlén at this site, containing mainly human and animal bones, decorated pottery, weapons and other metal and bronze objects that can be attributed to the Roman Iron Age as well as the Migration and Vendel Periods (SHM 17794). From the same place are two Roman Iron Age rosette fibulae (SHM 17661) as well as a glass beaker of the Snartemo type dating to the Migration Period (SHM 17711), which were brought in by Nihlén.
GP 48 Bro socken

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The fragment represents the convex upper part of an Early-Type picture stone, including its two protruding corners, a longer part of its left lateral edge, and a small part of its right lateral edge. “Limestone slab, 11 cm thick. The obverse is quite smooth but rounded and worn down by footsteps. The narrow sides are levelled for their full width at an acute angle towards the obverse, with a narrow chamfer. The reverse is raw. The width between the corners is 60 cm. The preserved height is 47 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 34).

Description of Ornament and Images 
“Of the decoration, remains of borders, 5–7 cm wide, along the three narrow sides can be made out. At least at the right corner, the field within the surrounding border appears to have been chiselled down” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 34).

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Early-Type picture stone, i.e., Type A according to Lindqvist, dating to between AD 400 and 600. Lindqvist assigns the stone (mistakenly labelled as “Bro Kirchspiel”) to his ʻBurstypusʼ (1941/42 I, p. 28), named after GP 53 Burs kyrka I. This type represents the group of Type A ʻdwarf stonesʼ with convex upper edge and decoration corresponding to the large Type A monuments, forming “miniature forms” of them (ibid. 31). The picture stone fragment comes from a grave, but there are no other datable finds. The neighbouring graves contained objects from the Roman Iron Age, the Migration Period and the Vendel Period, including very precious artefacts. In all likelihood, the picture stone was reused in the grave in a Migration or Vendel Period context.
GP 53 Burs kyrka I

References 
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 32, 34.

 
Fyndplats
Bildstenen påträffades 1925 i en grav på gravfältet vid Lau Backar

Nuvarande lokalisering
Statens historiska museums magasin i Tumba

Beskrivning
Övre delen av en tidig bildsten (period A), bevarad höjd 47 cm och största bredd 60 cm. Spår av kantdekor

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift

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

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 229 Lau Laubackar

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
166

Statens Historiska Museer ID 
17794:7

ATA