GP 13 Alva Bopparve

Context and Discovery
According to Lindqvistʼs brief report (1962, p. 17), the stone was discovered by the farmer Tryggve Stumle from Alva around 10 m east of a farm road between St. Kruse and Änge in Alva parish, on a property called ʻBopparveʼ, and donated to Gotlands Museum in 1958. ʻBopparveʼ is a field name, not a name of a farmstead. The land is owned by Alva prästgården.

Measurements, Material and Condition
Remarkably, the picture stone is made of sandstone, which is of poor quality (Lindqvist 1962, p. 17). The thickness of the slab is 6–8 cm at the bottom and about 4 cm at the top. The width of the monument is 47 cm both between the corners of the head and at the stone’s base. Its height is 59 cm between the lower edge of the image field and the top of the stone, and 74 cm including the preserved left-hand corner of the root. Most of the root as well as a very small part of lower right-hand corner of the image field are broken off. The obverse has many natural pits and grime, and shows traces of weathering (ibid.). However, most of the bas-relief carvings are still discernible.

Description of Ornament and Images
The carvings have been traced with paint and described by Lindqvist (1962, p. 17–19). Remains of the border decoration, which is 6–8 cm wide, are partly discernable, however, Lindqvist did not dare to reconstruct it. The image field depicts a sailing ship with towering stems and a slightly curved keel line. The ship’s hull is filling the lower half of the stone, while the sail is placed in the head field of the stone. The rectangular, framed sail features a rhombic pattern with carved and raised fields alternating. Three crewmen with round shields are placed on board of the vessel. The man right of the mast lacks clear contours, but the profiles of the other two men, left of the mast, with long hair and profiled faces, are quite clear.

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Lindqvist (1962, p. 17) regards the dwarf stone as an ʻAbschnitt Cʼ monument, dating it to around AD 700. In Jan Peder Lamm’s list, however, it is labelled as Middle Type (Type B) picture stone, which suggests a date of AD 500 to 700 (which is adopted by Guber 2011, pp. 50, 110), while in the text of the same book written by Erik Nylén, it is dated to AD 700 to 800 (Lamm/Nylén 2003, pp. 137, 180). Varenius (1992, p. 63, appendix 2) assigns the ship depiction on the Bopparve stone to his group 2 (enkel rigg), which he dates to the period between the 7th and the 9th century. According to Imer (2004, pp. 97–98, 104), the stone must be dated earlier than other Type C/D stones, presumably to the early 8th century.

Oehrl regards the stone (as well as GP 79 Etelhem Järnvägslinje) as a late Type B stone, perhaps representing a transitional form between the groups of middle and late type picture stones, presumably dated to the 8th century or even later (2019a, pp. 11, 18, 227). However, the only features in common with Type B are the small size of the stone and the lack of separation of the image field. There is hardly any reason to categorize mushroom-shaped stones as other than Type C/D stones, as they feature typical Late Type imagery and can thus be dated to the 8th to 10th centuries.
GP 79 Etelhem Järnvägslinje

References
Lindqvist 1962, pp. 17–19, fig. 9; Lamm/Nylén 2003, p. 136–137; Imer 2004, pp. 97–98, 104, fig. 3; Guber 2011, pp. 50, 110 cat. no. 1; Oehrl 2019a, pp. 11, 18, 227–228, 231, pls. 2i, 275b.

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