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

Height 
42

Width 
40

Thickness 
10

Lindqvist Type 
A (ca. 400-600)

Lindqvist Shape 
Unclear

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. 18.

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).

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The small, irregularly shaped fragment of a limestone slab can be described as a square with a broken corner; the side length is about 40 cm. The surface of the obverse is heavily textured, with many fossil structures and not very attractive, apparently completely unworked. Today it is somewhat abraded and almost perfectly flat. The narrow side also does not appear to be properly hewn. A chamfer is not visible, and the edge is somewhat irregular.

Description of Ornament and Images 
Two parallel grooves run along the preserved lateral edge, representing the only border decoration of the slab. The grooves are not completely straight but somewhat irregular, unlike on most picture stones with such decoration, which could indicate a lack of competence on the part of the stonemason who executed the work.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Fragment of an early-type picture stone, ʻAbschnittʼ A according to Lindqvist’s typology, dating to circa AD 400–600. Due to the fragmentary condition and the lack of further decorative elements, a more precise classification is not possible.

References 
No references

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

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands museums magasin på Visborgsslätt.

Beskrivning
Litet fragment av en tidig bildsten (period A), vars längd är 40 cm. Spår av kantdekor.

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift

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

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 407 Stenkyrka kyrka 18

Gotlands Museum ID 
C10987

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
246

ATA