Parish Find Location 
Stenkyrka

Find Location 
The church of Stenkyrka.

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 
fine limestone without reef debris

Geological Group 
Tofta Formation (90%)

Height 
28

Width 
19

Thickness 
6

Lindqvist Type 
Unclear (ca. 400-1150)

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 probably also the case with stone no. 42.

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 irregularly shaped fragment of a 6 cm thick limestone slab measures approximately 28 x 19 cm. Remains of the original edges and narrow sides of a picture stone cannot be determined with certainty. All five edges of the fragment seem to represent broken edges. The surface is even, appears weathered, but not worn. Tool marks or any other traces of workmanship cannot be determined with certainty.

Description of Ornament and Images 
No decoration or traces of workmanship can be safely discerned on the stone’s surface.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Since neither ornamentation nor hewn narrow sides or other traces of workmanship have been preserved, it seems to have been concluded only from its find context and general slab-shape that this stone represents a fragment of a picture stone. However, this cannot be verified. Consequently, it is also not possible to determine what type of picture stone it could represent.

References 
No references

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

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands museums magasin på Visborgsslätt.

Beskrivning
Fragment av bildsten (oklar typ och period), 28 x 19 cm. Ingen bevarad dekor.

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift

Datering
Kan inte dateras.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning

AA

Title
GP 437 Stenkyrka kyrka 42

Gotlands Museum ID 
C11029

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
270

ATA