Parish Find Location 
Mästerby

Find Location 
Mästerby church

Find Context Classification 
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6374506

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
698119

Parish Present Location 
Mästerby

Present Location 
In the church, incorporated into the southern wall of the apse.

Present Location Classification 
Church
In-Loco

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6374506

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
698119

Material 
Limestone

Height 
60

Width 
40

Thickness 
12

Lindqvist Type 
A (ca. 400-600)

Lindqvist Shape 
Tall stone
Unclear

Iconographic Keywords 
circle 
whorl 

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The rectangular choir with its semicircular apse represents the oldest part of the current building, erected around 1200. The small picture stone fragment has been incorporated into the recessed cabinet in the southern wall of the apse, which served as storage place for sacral objects. The rectangular stone forms the ceiling of this sacrament niche (also called ʻaumbryʼ). A stone which has been re-used in the same manner is the Late Viking runestone from Atlingbo church (G 200). According to Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 102), the Mästerby picture stone was first discovered in the wall by E. Edle in 1936. A second picture stone fragment probably was discovered between 1979 and 1984 in the niche of the triumphal arch (GP 272 Mästerby kyrka 2). In 1922, a rune stone from the Late Viking Age was found beneath the floor of the church (G 188).
GP 272 Mästerby kyrka 2

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The rectangular fragment is approximately 0.60 m high, 0.40 m wide and 0.12 m thick. The actual overall thickness of the stone cannot be quantified, as it is partly hidden by the wooden frame of the cabinet door. The surface of the small slab is relatively flat and seems to have been worn by footsteps (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 102), which indicates a former period of re-use, probably in the floor or as stone step. The limestone is grey in color but partly reddish. A crack goes through the entire length (north-south) and the entire visible thickness of the stone, dividing it into two halves.

Description of Ornament and Images 
According to Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 102), a large part of a typical whorl motif with alternately raised and sunken fields is discernable on the downward-facing surface of the fragment. He estimates that the disc was 0.48 m in diameter. The stone is also mentioned in “Sveriges Kyrkor”, stating that a ʻsun wheelʼ is depicted on it (Roosval 1942, p. 187). Because of the strange location of the stone – facing downwards and incorporated into to a small niche with a wooden frame and wooden doors – it is very difficult to examine the carved surface. For this reason, Lindqvist’s description cannot be verified.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
If Lindqvist’s description of the disc motif is correct, the fragment represents a Type A stone, a type which is commonly dated to about AD 400 to 600. A more detailed classification is not possible. The type of the whorl presumably indicates a monument of the ʻBro-Typusʼ or the ʻMartebo-Typusʼ.

References 
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 102; Roosval 1942, p. 187; Guber 2011, p. 137 cat. no. 55.

 
Fyndplats
Bildstenen observerades första gången 1936 i en sakramentsnisch i absidens södra mur.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Samma lokalisering som 1936.

Beskrivning
Ett litet fragment av en tidig bildsten (period A), med måtten 60 x 40 cm. Troligen en stor rundel.

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift.

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

Tolkning
För tolkning se GP 350 Sanda kyrka IV

AA
GP 350 Sanda kyrka IV

Title
GP 270 Mästerby kyrka (I)

Fornsök ID 
L1976:5075

RAÄ ID 
Mästerby 51:1

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
196

Lindqvist Title 
Mästerby, Kirche

ATA
K-Samsök