Parish Find Location 
Stenkyrka

Find Location 
Somewhere in Stenkyrka parish, probably in the church.

Find Context Classification 
Unknown

Present Location Classification 
Gotlands Museum Magasin Visborg

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6390259

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
695514

Material 
Limestone

Height 
25

Width 
19

Thickness 
7

Lindqvist Type 
A (ca. 400-600)
Unclear (ca. 400-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Unclear

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The fragment was found in Gotlands Museum storage without bearing an inventory number. However, it was inscribed with “Stenkyrka” on one of its narrow sides, so it probably came from Stenkyrka church, as so many fragments do. In “Gotlands Bildsteine”, Sune Lindqvist (1941/42 II, pp. 115–118) lists nine picture stones from Stenkyrka church. By contrast, the list put together by Jan Peder Lamm in 2003 contains no fewer than 40 new discoveries (Lamm/Nylén 2003, nos. 238–276, 425, 426). The unusually large number of stones found not only in the church, but in the entire parish, is an indicator of the political and religious position that Stenkyrka probably already held even before the first church was built (see Roosval 1914, p. 5). Many of the new finds from the church were discovered during a large-scale restoration, which was carried out in 1954/55 according to plans by the architect Rolf Bergh. This is probably also the case with the stone presented here.

The earliest church at this place was probably a wooden building that was replaced by a stone church in the first half of the twelfth century. The foundations of the first stone church were discovered beneath the floor of the current church, built during the thirteenth century. The tower with its portal was erected between 1280 and 1310 (on the building’s architectural history, see Roosval 1911, pp. 84–86; 1914, pp. 1–52, esp. 21–24; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, pp. 239–243).

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The small fragment of a 7 cm thick limestone slab is shaped as a perfect isosceles triangle with two sides 25 cm long and one side 19 cm long. The surface is quite even but somewhat rough and textured. It gives the impression of being unfinished and not weathered or worn. The narrow sides mainly give the impression of broken edges, but in one place part of the original, straight-hewn narrow side seems to be preserved.

Description of Ornament and Images 
On the small, preserved surface of the stone, no remains of decoration can be found.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Except for a small part of the original narrow side, there are no features that indicate a picture stone. If the fragment represents a Gotland picture stone at all, then it probably is a type A monument, dating between AD 400 and 600.

References 
No references

 
Fyndplats
Troligen från Stenkyrka kyrka.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands museums magasin på Visborgsslätt

Beskrivning
Fragment som troligen representerar en tidig bildsten (period A), bevarad längd 25 cm och bredd 19 cm. Inga spår av dekor.

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift

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

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 317 Stenkyrka (kyrka?)

Gotlands Museum ID 
GFC11014

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
354

ATA

Download here