Parish Find Location 
Västergarn

Find Location 
Västergarn church

Find Context Classification 
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6370844

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
689107

Parish Present Location 
Västergarn

Present Location 
In the church, re-used as door-step. According to a report about an inventory conducted in 2006, the possible picture stone fragment is not traceable inside the church (ATA dnr 3.5.1-3310-2016). This information is wrong; the stone is still in situ.

Present Location Classification 
Church
In-Loco

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6370844

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
689107

Material 
Limestone

Height 
76 (33)

Width 
22

Lindqvist Type 
C/D (ca. 700-1000)
Unclear (ca. 400-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Unclear

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Description of Ornament and Images 
The only remaining carving is located at the foremost right (i.e., south-east) corner of the slab – an approximately 0.15 m long strap which is formed by two parallel carved lines. The strap runs parallel to the stone’s long side and is clearly discernible. According to Böttger-Niedenzu (1988, p. 17), some bent lines depart from this strap which are, however, very difficult to verify. Probably, the strap or double line was part of an ornamented border decoration, framing an interlace pattern.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
If the carved strap actually represents the frame of a border decoration, the stone belongs to a late picture stone type, Lindqvist’s ʻAbschnittʼ C/D, less probably to ʻAbschnittʼ E, which means it could be roughly dated to the 8th century or between circa AD 800 and 1000. Even though this step is very likely to represent a fragment of a picture stone, this conclusion cannot be verified with certainty.

References 
Böttger-Niedenzu 1988, p. 17.

 
Fyndplats
Stenen påträffades 1983 i Västergarn kyrka, där den har blivit återanvänd som trappsteg.

Nuvarande förvaringsplats
Fortfarande inmurad i kyrkans kor, som trappsteg (tröskel) framför dörren till sakristian i norra väggen.

Beskrivning
Det handlar om ett rektangulärt fragment av 0.76 x 0.22 m storlek.

Ytan har nötts av kyrkobesökarnas fötter och inga rester av figurlframställningar är bevarade. Det finns bara en dubbel kantlinje längs den ena långsidan, som antagligen tillhört en kantbård med flätband.

Datering
Kanske 700-talet eller mellan omkring år 800 och 900-talet e.Kr. (vikingatid).

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

SO

Title
GP 559 Västergarn kyrka

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
438

ATA