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Gotlandic Picture Stones - The Online Edition

GP 406 Stenkyrka kyrka 17









PARTS

mer grejer





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Parish Find Location ⓘ
Stenkyrka

Find Location ⓘ
Stenkyrka church

Find Context Classification ⓘ
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) ⓘ
6411166

Coordinate Find Location (long) ⓘ
709898

Present Location Classification ⓘ
Gotlands Museum Magasin Visborg

Coordinate Present Location (lat) ⓘ
6390259

Coordinate Present Location (long) ⓘ
695514

Material
Limestone

Limestone Type ⓘ
coarse reef debris limestone

Geological Group ⓘ
Tofta Formation (90%)

Height ⓘ
48

Width ⓘ
43

Thickness ⓘ
16

Lindqvist Type 

Lindqvist Shape 


Runic Inscription or not ⓘ
No

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 perhaps also the case with stone no. 17.

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).
SO

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
The fragment of a limestone slab is about 16 cm-thick and almost square, the sides are 43 to 48 cm long. One of the sides preserves an original narrow side, while the other three sides represent break edges. The obverse is rough, heavily textured and apparently unworked. The narrow side is hewn straight at right angles to the raw obverse and there is a narrow chamfer between the obverse and the narrow side.
SO

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
The only decoration on the stone fragment consists of three wide grooves on the narrow side.
SO

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
No interpretation

Type and Dating ⓘ
Stenkyrka kyrka 17 was categorized as an ‘early’ (tidig) type picture stone by Jan Peder Lamm, which corresponds chronologically with the erected stones of Lindqvist’s ‘Abschnitt’ A that date to circa AD 400–600 (Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 22–39, 108–115; Lamm/Nylén 2003, pp. 178, 193; see also see also Oehrl 2019a, pp. 8–10). The only identifiable characteristics on the stone are the broad chiseled grooves that run longitudinally along the outer narrow side and the chamfered edge that connects to the broad side. While grooves on the outer narrow sides are not typical on the erected stones of ‘Abschnitt’ A, there are two dwarf stones, GP 173 Hangvar Austers I and GP 281 När Smiss 3, that have similar, but more evenly spaced, chiseled grooves along their narrow sides. The groove pattern could also point to the fragment having been part of a kerbstone, rather than one of the standing stones. Kerbstones (Randsteine) are also included within Lindqvist’s (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 31–33) ‘Abschnitt’ A. These stones are characterized by their long, narrow shape and convex upper edge. One group of kerbstones are distinguished by the pattern of alternating horizontal and vertical grooves on their one long, outer narrow side, exemplified by the GP 377–381 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs VI a–e kerbstones. There are also two kerbstones, GP 206–207 Hogrän kyrka II–III, that have three evenly spaced longitudinal grooves on their outer narrow side. However, the grooves on the Stenkyrka kyrka 17 stone are not as well defined or evenly spaced as those on the other kerbstones. Additionally, the small section of the outer narrow side does not appear to be convex. Due to its fragmentary nature and the lack of defining characteristics, Stenkyrka kyrka 17 cannot be definitively categorized.
CJL/SO
GP 173 Hangvar Austers I
GP 281 När Smiss 3
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
GP 206 Hogrän kyrka II
GP 207 Hogrän kyrka III

References ⓘ
Lamm/Nylén 2003, p. 193.

 ⓘ
Fyndplats
Bildsten påträffad troligen 1954-55 i kyrkan, men oklart var.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands museums magasin på Visborgsslätt.

Beskrivning
Litet fragment av en kantsten (period A), vars sidor är 43-48 cm långa. Spår av kantdekor.

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift

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

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 406 Stenkyrka kyrka 17

Gotlands Museum ID ⓘ
C10986

Jan Peder Lamm ID
245


Last modifed Jun 25, 2024

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Developer Data
Identifier: GP0406-3D
ID: 4937
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