Parish Find Location 
Silte

Find Location 
Incorporated into the foundation of the bridge north-west of ʻStenbro gårdʼ in Silte parish.

Find Context Classification 
Bridge

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6347846

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
693819

Parish Present Location 
Silte

Present Location 
Re-erected north of the current bridge, at the western edge of the north-south road between Hablingbo and Sproge.

Present Location Classification 
Landscape

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6347846

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
693819

Material 
Limestone

Height 
172

Width 
90

Thickness 
20

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

Lindqvist Shape 
Tall stone

Iconographic Keywords 
sail 
mast 

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The picture stone was found in 1885, re-used as building material in the northern foundation of a bridge circa 200 m north of Rikvide, north-west of ʻStenbro gårdʼ. Right after its discovery, it was re-erected north of the bridge, directly west of the old north-south road that crosses the stream. It stood at this location until 1938, when the road was repaired and its course moved a little eastwards. For this reason, the picture stone was moved about 6 m to the east, so that it was placed directly at the western edge of the road again (ATA dnr 4029/37, 4111/37, 3482/38). It is still located there, facing the road. Photos of the monument shortly before and after the relocation in 1938 are kept in ATA (Run- och bildstenssamling 1839:3–4).

Measurements, Material and Condition 
“Limestone slab, up to 20 cm thick. The obverse is quite smooth, the narrow sides are hewn at right angles to it and rounded towards the back. This latter is rough and unworked. Total height 172 cm, width of the head 82 cm, of the neck 76 cm, of the base 90 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 111). As the slab is re-erected and its root anchored in the ground, only 115 m of the stone are visible. Already the earliest photo of the stone taken in 1922 depicts it re-erected, heavily overgrown with lichens and completely white in the lower third of the visible surface (plaster?), apparently due to repair measures (ATA 539:36a; cf. Lindqvist 1941/42 II, fig. 482).

Description of Ornament and Images 
In his tabular overview of the Type-C stones, Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 44) subsumes Silte Stenbro (I) under the heading “Erblindete Steine” (ʻblinded stonesʼ, which means ʻstones with obliterated surfaceʼ). In his description, however, he notes that “the decoration is executed with lines and sunken background fields. Only few clear remains of the decoration, however, have survived. In 1932, I believed to be able to discern on the body the inner frame of about 9 cm wide borders. Between these, there seemed to be the image of a sail, the upper edge of which runs 8 cm below the line between the corners of the stone’s head; the lower edge is 31 cm further down. The sail appeared to be chequered, with every other of the fields sunken. In the middle of the sail, the mast showed through. From the sail’s lower edge, a stay seemed to run diagonally downwards to the railing, meeting it at the place where the blunt stem begins to rise up” (ibid. II, p. 111). The 1978 inventory also notes that, when using sidelight, flat carvings are discernible. An attached sketch depicts parts of the inner frame of the border at the stones left edge.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Tall mushroom-shaped late-type picture stone, which means Lindqvist’s “Abschnitt” C/D or E (1941/42 I, p. 44). As no decoration is preserved on the monument, it can only be roughly dated between the 8th century and around AD 1100.

References 
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 111, fig. 482.

 
Fyndplats
Bildstenen påträffades 1885 såsom byggnadsmaterial i det norra fundamentet till en bro, cirka m norr om gården Rikvide och nordväst om gården Stenbro. Efter upptäckten restes bildstenen väster om vägen vid bron. När vägen 1938 flyttades åt öster flyttades också bildstenen 6 m åt öster till den västra sidan av vägen.

Nuvarande lokalisering
På samma plats som 1938, det vill säga norr om bron på västra sidan av vägen mellan Hablingbo och Sproge.

Beskrivning
En stor svampformig bildsten (period CD), 172 cm hög och som bredast 90 cm. Nu en ”blind” sten, men tidigare spår av ett segel.

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

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 351 Silte stenbro (I)

Fornsök ID 
L1976:5973

RAÄ ID 
Silte 1:1

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
219

Lindqvist Title 
Silte, Stenbro

ATA
K-Samsök