GP 496 Tingstäde kyrka XIX

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 – 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 489 Tingstäde kyrka XV
GP 490 Tingstäde kyrka XVI
GP 491 Tingstäde kyrka XVIII
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
“Limestone slab, up to 16 cm thick. The obverse is almost flat and probably worked. The reverse is rough. Of the narrow sides, no trace survives. The fragment is almost rectangular, it preserves approximately 57 cm of the picture stone’s height and 29 cm of its width” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 137). The carvings are relatively well-preserved and the main elements of the decoration still visible.

Description of Ornament and Images
“The decoration consists of a part of a large roundel, which had a diameter of about 54 cm. Its center is partitioned into crescent fields, every second of which is slightly chiseled. Outside of the double framing line, there is a corona formed by a row of small circles that are broken on their outsides and touch each other. The spandrels between them and the large roundel are chiseled. There also is a part of a smaller roundel, which probably had a diameter of about 27 cm. In it, chiseled fields can be made out that alternately are of a triangular and an oval shape set radially. Finally, the insignificant remains of another figure survived, which probably represents the serpentine, curved frame of another roundel, presumably of the same size as the last one described here” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 137).

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
The fragment belongs to a tall early-type picture stone, i.e. Type A according to Lindqvist’s typology (“Abschnitt” A), dating to about AD 400 to 600. Lindqvist labels those tall stones with a big roundel in the upper half and a pair of small disk motifs below as Brotypus. The serpent that encircles the small disks is regarded as an additional feature which characterizes the more exclusive Martebotypus (1941/42 I, pp. 27–28). In Hauck’s more detailed typology (1983a, p. 543), the stone belongs to Großsteintyp III (i.e. the Hellvi Ire I-Typus), which is characterized by a big roundel with whorl motif and two small roundels with multi-variant decoration, in particular star, rosette or blossom patterns.

References
Lundmark 1925, pp. 172–173; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 137, fig. 548; Hauck 1983a, p. 543; Guber 2011, p. 151 cat. no. 83.

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