GP 382 Stenkyrka Tystebols II

Context and Discovery
The slab was “[…] donated to the Bunge Museum in 1915 by C. O. Högberg. He had used the slab in an adjacent building as a threshold. According to information provided by him, which was noted in the inventory sheet, the stone slab ‘once formed the outer edge of a (burial) ring in a meadow down by the moor. The other stones also had been removed, but during Högberg’s youth, they still had been present’” (Lindqvist 1941/41 II, p. 130). The actual find spot remains uncertain. There are several small burial grounds in the southern part of the Tystebols area, including circular stone settings, some of which are surrounded by stone kerbs (RAÄ Stenkyrka 17:1–4, 45:1, 95:1–2). The moor Nordermyr lies southwest of Tystebols and the mentioned grave fields.
SO

Measurements, Material and Condition
The limestone slab is 149 cm long, 50 cm wide, and 17 cm thick. The broad side is flat but heavily worn and weathered. Today, the stone is lying on the ground in the yard of Bunge Museum where it is exposed to the elements and overgrown by moss and lichens. The only carving discernable on the broad side are a few centimeters of two thinly incised grooves on the upper left corner, which can be detected on close visual inspection. The outer narrow side is convex and has a pattern of alternating horizontal and vertical grooves that are 3 cm wide. Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 130) describes the pattern as “moving left from the right corner, there first are four vertical grooves covering a 15 cm long section of the stone, then five horizontal (28 cm), eight vertical (26 cm), five horizontal (26 cm), eight vertical (25 cm) and finally four horizontal grooves (29 cm).” Additionally, he states that “[b]oth of the short narrow sides form acute angles towards the long side just described and are hewn flat at right angles towards the obverse” (Ibid.). The lower edge of the stone is rough and unprocessed.

Lindqvist (ibid.) gives the length of the chord between the upper corners of the convex side as 148 cm and determines that the stone formed “a section of a circle with a radius of 2.8 m [5.6 m diameter].” However, he does not state the second measurement he used to calculate this radius. A reconstruction of a circular edge chain using nine 3D models of Stenkyrka Tystebols II resulted in a circle with a diameter of 4.2–4.4 m (Larkin 2023a. p. 30, Appendix 1a). The reconstruction was accomplished by placing the hewn surfaces of the short ends of the stone flush with each other, avoiding either gaps between the stones or any overlap.
CJL/SO

Description of Ornament and Images
The only decoration on the broad side of the stone are a few centimeters of two thinly incised grooves on the upper left corner. These grooves run parallel to each other along the upper convex edge of the stone. The first groove is 3 cm in from the upper edge and the two grooves are 4 cm apart.
CJL

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 31–33, 110; II, p. 130) categorized Stenkyrka Tystebols II as a kerbstone (Randstein) that is included within his first grouping of picture stones, ʻAbschnittʼ A, which date to circa AD 400–600 (see also Oehrl 2019a, pp. 8–10). According to Lindqvist (1933, pp. 105, 107; 1941/1942 I, pp. 21, 31–33), the kerbstones formed an edge chain which surrounded a grave mound, possibly with an erected Type A picture stone in the center. However, no evidence has been found to confirm that any of the erected Type A picture stones were placed within a grave mound (Larkin 2023a, p. 50). Stenkyrka Tystebols II is assigned by Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 33) to his group 7 kerbstones which are described as having no decoration on their broad side and a narrow side that is grooved in often alternating directions (Randsteinplatten ohne Verzierung auf der Breitseite, die Kante in oft wechselnder Richtung gerieft). The kerbstones GP 376 Stenkyrka kyrka III and GP 377–381 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VIa–e also belong to this group. Lindqvist does not seem to have been aware of the two carved grooves on the broad side of the stone.
CJL/SO
GP 376 Stenkyrka kyrka III
GP 377 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VIa
GP 378 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VIb
GP 379 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VIc
GP 380 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VId
GP 381 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VIe