Parish Find Location 
Tingstäde

Find Location 
Tingstäde church, incorporated into the masonry of the nave.

Find Context Classification 
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6405101

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
715187

Present Location Classification 
Gotlands Museum Magasin Visborg

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6390259

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
695514

Material 
Limestone

Height 
36

Width 
60

Thickness 
10

Lindqvist Type 
C/D (ca. 700-1000)
E (ca. 1000-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Dwarf stone
Unclear

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The fragments GP 489–491, 496, 506 Tingstäde kyrka XV–XIX were observed lying on the church floor in 1914 by Efraim Lundmark. They originated from the nave’s gable wall, the masonry of the triumphal arch, in which a hole had been broken during the construction of a chimney. In the same year, all those fragments were taken to Gotlands Museum. Lundmark (1925, p. 173) emphasises that only a few of the relevant fragments originating from the triumphal arch were transferred to Gotlands Museum, while most of them were transported to the nearby lake Tingstäde träsk. Lindqvist adds in a footnote (1941/42 II, p. 135): “In 1920, several other stones were transferred to GF that came from the same part of the roof masonry as stones Nos. XV–XIX together with the note that they represented fragments of picture stones. They were entered in the inventory sheet as No. C 4645–4658. They surely display – at least in part – a trimming at their edges characteristic for the purpose they served in the masonry. I was not able, however, to find clear proof for the notion that these stones represent fragments of picture stones.”

In total, not fewer than 26 picture stones from Tingstäde church are registered in Lamm/Nylén 2003 – The stones Tingstäde kyrka I–XX were published by Lindqvist. In 1984, Beata Böttger-Niedenzu discovered GP 507–509 Tingstäde kyrka 21–23, and GP 494 Tingstäde kyrka 24. Two more stones, which are incorporated into the wall of the tower, were discovered between 1990 and 2002 (GP 497–498 Tingstäde kyrka 25–26). The first Romanesque building with a nave and an apsidal choir was erected during the 12th century. In the beginning of the 13th century, the nave was enlarged, and around the middle of the century the old choir was replaced by the present one. The Romanesque portal which today leads to the sacristy probably represents the choir portal of the 12th century church which was re-used in the new building.
GP 498 Tingstäde kyrka 26
GP 490 Tingstäde kyrka XVI
GP 496 Tingstäde kyrka XIX
GP 506 Tingstäde kyrka XVII
GP 507 Tingstäde kyrka 21
GP 508 Tingstäde kyrka 22
GP 509 Tingstäde kyrka 23
GP 494 Tingstäde kyrka 24
GP 497 Tingstäde kyrka 25
GP 498 Tingstäde kyrka 26

Measurements, Material and Condition 
A drawing by Olof Sörling is reproduced in Lindqvist’s book (1941/42 II, fig. 545), a photo of the unpainted stone kept in ATA (Run- och bildstenssamling). “Limestone slab, 10 cm thick. The obverse presumably is naturally even. Between two approximately horizontal broken edges, the fragment features sections of the stone’s two narrow sides, one of them 25 cm long, the other 33 cm, which were hewn at right angles towards the obverse and rounded towards the back. The fragment most likely is part of the head of a picture stones. If this assumption was correct, this head must have been unusually high and slim. The surviving width is 48–58 cm, the height 35 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, 136).

Description of Ornament and Images 
“Of the decoration, about 10 cm wide framing borders with band pattern and partly chiseled fields can be detected, which today, however, hardly allow a clear idea of the original imagery” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 136–137).

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 44) regards the fragments GP 489–490 Tingstäde kyrka XV–XVI (which he believes to originate from one and the same monument) as well as GP 491 Tingstäde kyrka XVIII as Type C ʻdwarf stonesʼ. The picture stones of ʻAbschnittʼ C are dated by Lindqvist to around AD 700. According to recent research, however, those stones can only be roughly dated to between the 8th century (or rather around AD 800) and the 10th century. However, the fragments’ poor decoration does not allow for a reliable evaluation, so the type can only be given as ʻlate typeʼ, which means Type C–E, dating between the 8th century and around AD 1100. The labelling as ʻdwarf stoneʼ is uncertain as well.
GP 489 Tingstäde kyrka XV
GP 490 Tingstäde kyrka XVI

References 
Lundmark 1925, pp. 172–173; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 136–137, fig. 547.

 
Fyndplats
Bildstenen observerades första gången 1914, då den låg på golvet, efter att ha tagit ut från triumfbågens mur, vid uppförandet av en skorsten. Stenen inlämnades samma år till Gotland Museum.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands Museum, magasinet på Visborgsslätt.

Beskrivning
Fragment av ”dvärgsten” (period CD eller E), bevarad höjd 35 cm och som bredast 58 cm. Kan möjligen höra samman med GP 489-90 Tingstäde kyrka XV och XVI. Spår av kantdekor.

Datering
Kan inte dateras med säkerhet, men tillhör perioden 700-1000-talen.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning

AA
GP 489 Tingstäde kyrka XV
GP 490 Tingstäde kyrka XVI

Title
GP 491 Tingstäde kyrka XVIII

Fornsök ID 
L1976:6710

RAÄ ID 
Tingstäde 142:1

Gotlands Museum ID 
GFC2639

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
313

Lindqvist Title 
Tingstäde, Kirche XVIII

ATA
K-Samsök