The picture stones of Gotland are among Sweden’s most famous archaeological monuments. The richly ornamented memorial stones, dating to about AD 400–1100, catch the eye by their large size – some are more than 4 m in height. Most stones carry their imagery on one side only, the back side has been left rough and unworked.

Some picture stones still stand at their original sites in the open countryside, placed near ancient roads and widely visible, while others were erected at grave fields and burial mounds. Some stand in groups, forming small cult places (Wennersten 1973; Andrén 1989; Andrén 1993; Måhl 1989; Måhl 1990; Andreeff 2012; Oehrl 2019a, pp. 31–42).

Several Gotlandic picture stones bear runic inscriptions commemorating the dead, which mention the names of the deceased and their relatives (Westphal 2004; Snædal 2002; Gustavson 2012; Källström 2012). During the Late Viking Age in particular, picture stones were removed from the cemeteries and re-used and buried as parts of grave constructions; a practice that is interpreted as a symbolic act to connect the people buried there with the religion and cult of their ancestors (Rundkvist 2012).

Typological and chronological groups of picture stones

In his edition of the Gotlandic picture stones, Gotlands Bildsteine (published 1941/42), Sune Lindqvist categorised the material into five ʻAbschnitteʼ (i.e. ʻperiodsʼ or ʻstagesʼ) A–E, based on the stones’ shape, carving technique, and decoration. In this edition, these ʻAbschnitteʼ are called ʻLindqvist Typeʼ (see Definitions). 

Current research dates the Lindqvist types as follows. A: 400-600 AD, B: 500-700 AD, C/D: 8th to 10th centuries, E: 11th and early 12th centuries.

The monuments’ sizes vary a lot, as many of them are less than 100 cm high (so-called dwarf stones), but some A-type picture stones are as tall as approximately 400 cm, and some C-type stones are even taller (Oehrl 2020b). The A-type stones are more or less axe-shaped, i.e. rectangular with a slightly convex top, while the monuments of types B to E are characterised by a shape that can be described as ‘mushroom-like’.

The decoration of the early picture stones of the Migration Period consists of shallow, but carefully chiselled shapes and lines, the Vendel period and Viking-Age monuments are executed in shallow and simple bas-relief. Probably the stones were painted and the carvings were enhanced by different colours (Oehrl 2019a, pp. 291–293).

Naming and numbering the picture stones

In this edition, each picture stone has been assigned a unique number. This number is preceded by the abbreviation GP (Gotlandic Picture Stone). Since Lindqvist's time, picture stones are generally identified by the name of the parish and the place where they were found (usually a farm or a church). If there are several stones from one place, the stones are numbered in ascending order, depending on when they were found.

Roman and Arabic numerals

The picture stones that were already included in Sune Lindqvist‘s “Gotlands Bildsteine” (1941/42), carry Roman numerals (e.g. GP 103 Garda Smiss II; GP 482 Tingstäde kyrka VIII). Later finds have been assigned Arabic numerals (e.g. GP 494 Tingstäde kyrka 24).

Some stones carry the Roman numeral (I) in brackets. These are stones that were published already by Lindqvist. He did not assign a stone a number if there was only one stone from a particular site. But sometimes more stones were found at the same sites – after Lindqvist had published his edition. Those latter stones carry Arabic numerals, and for clarity’s sake, we have added the Roman numeral (I) in brackets to the designation of the first stone.

Here’s an example. The stone listed by Lindqvist as “Gothem Bentebingels” was the only stone from that site at Lindqvist’s time. It is called “GP 106 Gothem Bentebingels (I)” in this edition, as one more stone was found there later. This latter is called “GP 112 Gothem Bentebingels 2”.

A picture stone found at a site that had not yielded any picture stones before, is not initially given a number. In this way, it is possible to tell from the picture stone designation in which period it was found, and whether there is only one or several stones from this site.

The number of known stones is to date (2024) about 750. Note that the highest GP number assigned does not correspond to the total number of picture stones registered to date. The GP number sequence does not always correspond to the chronological sequence of the years of discovery, and sometimes, there is more than one stone or fragment covered in one entry.

Picture stones – kerbstones – runestones. Delimiting the material

In this edition, some stones are listed that do not carry pictures – for example, kerbstones and runestone fragments. Delimiting a specific archaeological material for an edition, is always a matter of discussion, and to some degree it is always arbitrary. The necessity to define what is included, and what is left out, arises from modern needs, not so much from the material itself.

In ancient times, picture stones were often erected as part of larger monuments – be it as a group of picture stones, or be it as part of a grave memorial monument. The so-called kerbstones (Sw. “kantstenar”; for those, see Larkin 2023) were decorated with geometric patterns – not images in the narrower sense, but similar to some ornaments on the picture stones. They seem to come from the same periods as the picture stones proper, which is the reason that Sune Lindqvist included them as well in his edition, just as we did.

Lindqvist, however, did not consider the spherical stones (Sw. “gravklot”, German “Kugelsteine”), even if these sometimes carry geometrical patterns as well, similar to the kerbstones. One might argue – and with good reason – that these should be included in this edition as well. In line with Lindqvist, however, we chose not to include those, as their relationship to the picture stones is less obvious.

This edition also contains some fragments of late, i.e. 11^th-century runestones without pictures. The reason why these were included, is that most well-preserved and somewhat complete Gotlandic runestones known to date, bear images, and all have the typical mushroom shape, so we might conclude that even the little fragments are part of stones that once carried images and they continue the picture stone tradition. Sune Lindqvist chose to include those late stones, too.

SO / MH