GP 366 Stenkyrka kyrka VI

Context and Discovery
The fragment was discovered by Fredrik Nordin in 1911. It was incorporated into the churchyard wall, west of the northern part of the west wall of the tower. According to Guta saga (ch. 3; Peel 1999, pp. 10–11), a wooden church at this spot was the very first church building in the entire northern part of Gotland. It has been replaced by a stone church in the first half of the 12th century, the foundations of which were discovered beneath the floor of the current church, which was built during the 13th century (on the building’s architectural history, see Roosval 1911, pp. 84–86; 1914, p. 1–52, esp. 21–24; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, pp. 239–243). 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 politically and religiously important position that Stenkyrka probably already held even before the first church was built (Roosval 1914, p. 5). Many of the new finds from the church were discovered during large-scale restoration works, which were carried out in 1954/55.

Measurements, Material and Condition
The fragment represents the entire head and a small part of the body/neck of a dwarf stone. Approximately the lower half of the monument is missing. A crack runs through the slab, separating it into a left and a right half, which was restored sometime after Lindqvistʼs publication. “Limestone slab, up to 7 cm thick. The obverse is fairly smooth, but unhewn. The narrow sides are levelled at right angles towards the obverse. The reverse is rough. The head is 56 cm wide and 20 cm high. The stone’s total height along the middle is now 56 cm, the width of the neck is 50 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 117). The stoneʼs surface is somewhat weathered, in particular, its upper part.

Description of Ornament and Images
Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 117) describes the carvings quite briefly: “The decoration consists of shallow, now very unclear lines. Apart from the framing border, the perhaps rich band pattern which cannot be interpreted, there is in the field, below a horizontal bar, a rectangle subdivided into four segments by a cross. In the upper panel, the remains of the image of a horseman can be discerned”. It is very hard to identify the carvings on the stone, and different interpretations are available (Oehrl 2019a, p. 66). The photo of the painted stone taken by H. Faith-Ell in 1933 and published by Lindqvist in his book (1941/42 II, fig. 499; ATA 1751:21) depicts a rudimentary horse with rider, the rectangle with the cross and an empty border. The horseman holds a lance. In an unpublished drawing by O. Sörling dating to 1911, only the framed cross and parts of the empty border can be seen, the equestrian is not depicted at all (ATA, run- och bildstenssamling). The current paint, however, which must have been applied to the stone several decades ago, shows a horseman with round shield and two visible legs, the framed cross, and parts of an interlace pattern filling the edge border (Oehrl 2019a, pl. 32b).

Interpretation of the Imagery
Regarding the well-established eschatological interpretation of the horseman motif on Type C/D picture stones see GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III. The small rectangular figure with diagonal lines below the horseman that can be labelled as a framed St. Andrewʼs cross has a remarkable counterpart on the Type B stone GP 274 Norrlanda Bringes. Diagonal cross decoration is also depicted on the stones GP 24 Ardre Petsarve II and GP 112 Gothem Bentebingels 2. It has been argued that Continental models and Christian imagery influenced the iconography of the Type B dwarf stones, and that the sign of the cross and the Christogram were imitated by the Gotlandic stone masons. For more information on these possible Christian connections see GP 274 Norrlanda Bringes.
GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III
GP 274 Norrlanda Bringes
GP 24 Ardre Petsarve II
GP 112 Gothem Bentebingels 2

Type and Dating
Middle-type picture stone, which means a Type B ʻdwarf stoneʼ, dating between AD 500 and 700. The monument belongs to the group of Type B stones featuring a convex head with corners protruding horizontally. The head is quite broad and the body strongly widens towards the bottom. The shape is comparable to GP 371 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs IX. In Martin Rundkvist’s (2012, p. 160) typological study, both stones are labelled as outliers within the dwarf stone group. The fact that the horseman motif is unusual in ʻAbschnittʼ B, but one of the most frequent images of the Type C/D picture stones may indicate a relatively late date of these monuments, presumably the 7th century or around AD 700.
GP 371 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs IX

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 117, fig. 499; Guber 2011, p. 65, fig. 29, p.144 cat. no. 69; Oehrl 2019a, pp. 63, 66, pl. 32a–b.

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