GP 402 Stenkyrka kyrka 13

Context and Discovery
There is no information about the find circumstances of this fragment available. All that can be said is that it may have been found in Stenkyrka church after Lindqvist’s book was published. 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 stone no. 13.

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 have been discovered beneath the flooring 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
This fragment preserves two opposite sections of both lateral edges of a picture stone. The upper and lower sides of the fragment represent irregular broken edges. The narrow sides are not hewn at right angles to the obverse, but at a slight angle. A chamfer between the narrow side and the obverse cannot be detected. The surface of the limestone slab is completely flat. Originally it was heavily textured, but now it is very worn and smooth.

Description of Ornament and Images
Two parallel grooves run along each of the two lateral edges, which are the only border decoration. The lower edge of a large roundel is visible in the upper half. It is framed by a double line and seems to have contained a whorl motif, of which, however, only faint remains can be made out with great difficulty. The carvings are heavily abraded in this area. At the lower edge of the roundel frame, an almost fishtail-shaped extension emerges (see IX).

Interpretation of the Imagery
Regarding the interpretation of whirl motifs on Type A picture stones, which are usually taken as a representation of the sun and interpreted in a cosmological and eschatological sense, see in detail the article on GP 350 Sanda kyrka IV.
GP 350 Sanda kyrka IV

Type and Dating
Fragment of an early-type picture stone, ʻAbschnittʼ A according to Lindqvist’s typology, dating to circa AD 400–600. Since the total width of the monument has been preserved and is only about 62 cm, the stone may have been only slightly larger than 100 high and could therefore perhaps still be addressed as a dwarf stone. The simple border decoration consisting of a double groove is typical for stones of the Brotypus (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 26–27), but also appears on other monuments such as GP 537 Vallstena Vallstenarum I. The almost fishtail-shaped extension at the lower edge of the roundel is otherwise only found on Vallstena Vallstenarum I.
GP 537 Vallstena Vallstenarum (I)

References
Guber 2011, p. 145 cat. no. 71.

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