GP 560 Västerhejde Suderbys

Context and Discovery
This huge stone that is standing on its original spot was already known to Per Arvid Säve (Samlingar III, p. 498) and investigated by Fredrik Nordin, the results of which are described by Lindqvist (1941/42 II, pp. 139–140) in detail:

“This stone stands, with its obverse towards the west, about 150 m south of the dwelling house on the crest of a ridge of land running north-south that is completely cultivated. Though a number of stones from the field have been collected around the picture stone, it can be assumed that it had been erected in the natural surface of the ground, without a mound surrounding it. Regardless, [Per Arvid Säve] in 1866 drew the stone as if it was standing on top of a small mound [Samlingar III, p. 498; ATA run- och bildstenssamling 565:1]. In any case, the phrase ‘standing on a mound on Häjneäkur’ occurring in the following text must not necessarily refer directly to an artificial mound, and in 1910, [Fredrik Nordin] mentioned: ‘On the west side, there is a wild service tree, and around this tree as well as around the stone, many stones have been piled up. The stone probably is standing in its original place. It now is tilted strongly towards the east. The stone stands in a place that rises high over the surrounding landscape.’ The obverse faced towards W 10° S. Although the stone was leaning backwards as early as 1866, the view was expressed that over the years it had been pushed even more into a leaning position by the strong wild service tree. As a consequence, in 1911, [Fredrik Nordin] had the tree cut down and the stone set upright again. This revealed that a large part of the stone pile around the picture stone (especially on the west side, up to a distance of 1.5 m from the stone) had come there in later times. ‘But in the ground closest to the picture stone it was wedged fast with stones to a depth of 60 cm; towards the east, the stone filling did not extend further away from the stone than about 50 cm. The stone sat 70 cm deep in the earth. At the stone’s north end, on the west side between the loose stones, there lay a round, flat limestone fragment that obviously was hewn. At one place, a piece was missing, and therefore it cannot be decided with any certainty whether the fragment was completely circular or instead perhaps could have been the upper part of a very small picture stone. The diameter is 28 cm, the thickness 4–8 cm. One side is smooth, the other rugged. A trimmed, spherical cobble with a diameter of 8 cm lay on the stone’s west side, in a depth of 40 cm below ground. There are no grinding areas on this sphere. Towards the west, a stone slab stood next to the picture stone’s bottom. Originally, it had been very close to the picture stone, but the wild service tree had pushed itself between them and separated them. On the lower edge of this stone, in a depth of 65 cm, a small piece of a clay vessel was found as well as a piece of charcoal. Unburnt animal bones were scattered here and there in the stone filling.”

According to the 1928 inventory (Fasta Fornminnen inom Vesterhejde socken, ATA dnr 4626-1928, including photo), 8 to 10 years before (i.e., around 1920), the stone had fallen again and re-erected one more time. The same is said to have happened “during the last years”, which appears to mean sometime between around 1925 and 1928. In 2019 it was time again to raise the steadily tilting monument once and for all (RAÄ, supplement to inventory book 2019-11-12; Länsstyrelsens dnr 431-2547-02; GF). Using an excavator and a loader, the slab was completely unearthed, lifted up, set upright and anchored again. The root was buried in the earth and fixed with stones and gravel, which then was consolidated with a vibrating plate.

In 2002, a phosphate mapping was performed at the spot, revealing a high phosphate level in the area just around the picture stone, in particular northwest and southeast of the monument (RAÄ, supplement to inventory book dnr 321-1810-2003). An archaeological test dig was carried out at the place as well, however, without providing any find material. A preliminary investigation of the Suderbys area showed that was probably remarkable settlement activity and continuity at least during the Iron and Middle Ages (ATA dnr 321-1949-2002; Länsstyrelse dnr 220-5981-01).

Measurements, Material and Condition
The entire mushroom-shaped monument is completely preserved. Lindqvist described the stone as follows (1941/42 II, p. 140): “Limestone slab, up to 33 cm thick. The obverse is smooth and weathered, especially on the right side. The narrow sides are rounded towards the back, and the reverse is rough. The stone’s height above ground is about 2.8 m. The head is 85 cm high and 105 cm wide. The width of the neck is 92 cm, that of the base 152 cm. The decoration, which now – apart from the part of the sail’s rhombic pattern – is very vague and unclear, is executed in thin, carved lines and by slightly chiselled background fields.” The stoneʼs surface is covered by white lichens. Early photos of the stone standing in the landscape are kept in ATAʼs bild- och runstenssamling and Lindqvistʼs estate in Uppsala University Library.

Description of Ornament and Images
This is one of those cases in which Lindqvistʼs description of the carvings does not fully correspond to the photos of the painted stone reproduced in his book but are partly based on Olof Sörlingʼs drawings instead. The description is a mixture of that which is depicted in the photo (1941/42 II, fig. 554; taken by Faith-Ell 1933, cf. ATA) and what is drawn by Sörling (fig. 560; drawn 1918, cf. ATA): “The field inside of a broad framing border with band pattern [which is neither depicted in the photo nor in the drawing] appears to have been divided into panels below a horizontal border at the neck as well as into two more panels at the head. The bottommost of these panels is filled by a ship with towering stems [one of which is, according to Sörlingʼs drawing, ending in an animal head] and a large sail with rhombic pattern (over a row of waves with whitecaps? [only depicted in Sörlingʼs drawing]). In the panel closely above the horizontal border, a procession of walking men can be made out [only depicted in Sörlingʼs drawing], and just above them, there are the forelegs and the belly of a horse [only depicted in Sörlingʼs drawing].” In Lindqvistʼs own photo but not mentioned in his text, the forepart of a horse and an arm holding and proffering a drinking horn are depicted in the panel just above the ship. Today, however, it is hardly possible to discern any carvings on the monument, except certain parts of the sailʼs rhombic pattern.

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Tall mushroom-shaped late-type picture stone, belonging to ʻAbschnittʼ C/D according to Lindqvistʼs typology. Those monuments can only be roughly dated to the period between the 8th century and around AD 1000. That the monument represents an 11th-century Type E stone is very unlikely. Tall Type E stones usually are decorated with deeply grooved ornament and inscriptions, which cannot just disappear by weathering. According to Rundkvist’s typology (2012), the stone belongs to the outline type ʻtall4ʼ, which he dates to the Middle Viking Period. Varenius (1992), based on his analysis of the ship’s rigging (group III segelskepp med skot i hanfot), dates it to the 9th to 10th centuries. Small archaeological investigations carried out in 2002 did not provide any dateable material (see IV).

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, fig. 221; II, pp. 139–140, figs. 554, 560; Måhl 1990, p. 23; Andreeff 2012, pp. 130, 143; Oehrl 2019a, p. 34.

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