GP 158 Halla Broa XIV

Context and Discovery
Lindqvist published 20 picture stones under the name of the farmstead Broa (today Broe), all of which appear to originate from the unusually large Iron Age grave field, which is situated in the south-western part of Halla parish, close to the border to Roma parish, and which had been well known through the ages, first mentioned by Strelow in 1633. The farm belongs to the community of Högbro. Since time immemorial, two important country roads, the road Halla-Viklau and the road Roma-Sjonhem (ʻVisbyvägenʼ) intersect here, where a rise consisting of gravel (the ʻhigh bridgeʼ = Högbro) clearly emerges out of the terrain, leading across the great bog system Romamyr-Stormyr. Both roads in turn are intersected by the railway line Roma–Etelhem. The railway intersects both roads a few hundred metres to the west and southwest of the crossing. During the 19th century, the Högbro elevation was severely diminished and large parts of the Broa necropolis were destroyed by clearing and cultivation, gravel mining, house building, railway and road construction, as well as deliberate grave robbing. Many finds from Broa were sold on the antiquities market during this time, with many acquired by ATA. Unfortunately, the large and highly important cemetery of Högbro-Broa is still not published adequately; its present documentation is incomplete and confusing. The best overview about the history and state of research is given by Lena Thunmark-Nylén (1995–2006 III:2, pp. 621–623; IV:1, pp. 324–347).

The first professional and large-scale excavation took place in 1899, conducted by Hans Hansson, who unearthed 14 graves in a small area right next to the intersection, just south of the road Roma-Sjonhem and east of the road to Viklau. One further large-scale excavation was carried out in 1981–82 by Ann-Marie Pettersson, investigating 120 graves (9 inhumation, 102 cremation, 9 without bones) in a small area (circa 700 m2) about 50 m north of the road Roma–Sjonhem and about 40 m east of the road to Halla (Broe 1:71; see the report compiled by Daniel Langhammer from 2012, RAGU dnr 13/82, 789/84). Apart from that, several minor and poorly documented investigations took place, in the beginning of the 20th century, in particular, during the 1930s and the early 1940s.

Two large areas are registered by ATA, a burial ground north of the road Roma-Sjonhem (ATA Halla 46:1) and a burial ground south of the road (ATA Halla 48:1). The first one (46:1) covers an area of circa 120 x 110 m (E–W) and contains 66 circular stone settings and 120 investigated flat graves. The other one (48:1) is about 300 x 120 m (N–S) and features 202 circular stone settings. Several other registered monuments, about 15 stone settings, 2 stone kists and 1 gravklot (large spherical stone) seem to belong to the Broa grave field as well (ATA Halla 1:1, 1:2, 74:1, 78:1, 79:1; Roma 31:1, 31:2, 32:1). Thunmark-Nylén (1995–2006 III:2, p. 622) estimates the number of investigated graves alone at about 300 to 400. The actual size and extent of the necropolis, however, remains still uncertain.

The oldest investigated burials can be dated to the Roman Iron Age, with some unexcavated stone settings typical of the Pre-Roman Iron Age. Most of the graves, however, date to the Migration, Vendel and Viking Periods. First and foremost, the grave field is well-known and frequently cited for some particularly important finds such as the decorated horse harness from the equestrian burial discovered in 1899, after which the Broa Style is named (Salin 1922; Thunmark-Nylén 1992; 1995–2006 IV:1, pp. 325–326), the lyre bridge of amber from the same grave (Reimers 1980), and many remarkable finds of glass vessels from all periods (Nylén 1969). Furthermore, there are several elite warrior graves containing fragments of ring-swords as well as a Vendel helmet (Nerman 1969–1975 I:1, p. 29; II, fig. 601).

The exact location of the find spots of the picture stones is difficult to determine in most cases, and their contexts and relation to the known parts of the necropolis remain unclear. Most of them originate from the railway line and the area west of it (called ʻBrandenʼ) and the rest from the area east of the road to Halla, between the road and the border to Roma (ʻKlosterängenʼ). Lindqvist (1941/42 II, fig. 378) provides a map, which was primarily composed at the National Heritage Board (RAÄ) based on the information kept in ATA. It identifies the location of the find places of the stones as carefully as they could be determined at Lindqvist’s time.

The find circumstances of Halla Broa XIV are described briefly by Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 65) as followings: “Picture stone that was found together with a stone sphere [gravklot] (diameter 20 cm, height 16 cm) by the farmer Gustaf Jakobsson [sic], about 100 m away from the monastery meadow, when he cultivated an old path. Presented to GF in 1927.” After Lindqvist’s map, the find spot is located circa 50 m west of the border to Klosterängen (Roma parish). According to a first report by Bengt Bergman dating to 1927-10-10 (ATA dnr 4217), the stone was found by Karl Gustafsson (sic) in the summer 1927 on an agricultural field. In a second report from 1927-11-30 (ATA dnr 5009), Bergman describes the find situation in more detail. The picture stone was discovered by C. O. Gustafsson (sic) about 250 m north of his house, where it had been incorporated into a prehistoric stone enclosure (vast). Gustafsson found the stone together with a gravklot (large spherical stone) and several other limestone slabs when he started to remove the enclosure. At the time when the report was written, circa 70 m of the 5 m wide vast were still standing, and some further limestone slabs were sticking out of it. About 150 north of Gustafsson’s house, in the forest, next to a footpath, a pile of granite stones and limestone slabs probably represented a grave mound (röse), from which the material of the vast, the gravklot and the picture stone, presumably originate from.

Measurements, Material and Condition
The limestone slab is about 10 cm thick; its obverse is relatively even but somewhat rough. “The narrow sides are hewn at right angles towards the obverse, with a 1 cm wide chamfer that is visible towards the top. After the removal of the root, the stone’s total height is 66 cm, the width between the upper corners is 54.5 cm, in the middle 44 cm. Decorated with narrow, carved lines that partly have been deleted as a consequence of severe weathering of the obverse” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 65). The root of the stone is missing; otherwise, the monument is completely preserved and undamaged.

Description of Ornament and Images
In his book, Lindqvist provides two pictures (1941/42 I, fig. 22; II, fig. 397), a photo of the unpainted stone and a photo depicting the carvings traced with paint. His description is very brief, without characterizing the ornamentation patterns: “[…] a 9 cm wide, double border along the upper edge can be observed as well as probably single borders along both vertical edges. In the field, there is a roundel of 28 cm width. At least in the upper border and in the roundel, chiselled background fields occur” (ibid. II, p. 65). The photo of the painted stone, which dates to 1937 (cf. ATA Run- och bildstenssamling B3:78), however, is much more detailed – The double border along the convex upper edge consists of two mirrored rows of crescents (see IX), the upper being heavily weathered. The vertical borders are formed by simple grooves. The roundel in the main field represents a whorl with six raised and six sunken crescent-shaped arms. The whorl is decorated with a corona consisting of 19 spikes, which are chiselled as well. The first photo of the stone taken by Ture Carlson in 1927 (ATA dnr 1664:1927), however, only reveals the outline of the upper border and the outline of the roundel, traced with a pen, as described in Lindqvist’s book. Even when applying digital tools based on 3D-scanning, only minor parts of the upper border and fragments of the roundel can be identified (Larsen 2009, p. 20, fig. 13). The painted version published in Lindqvist’s book appears to be much reconstructive.

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Early-type dwarf stone (ʻdwarf1ʼ according to Rundqvist 2012) with axe-shaped upper edge and rectangular body, ʻAbschnittʼ A according to Lindqvist, dating to AD 400–600. Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 31) assigns the tiny stone from Broa to his Burstypus, named after GP 53 Burs kyrka I, representing “miniature forms” of the common Type A stones. The border decoration along the upper edge, formed by rows of crescent-shaped elements, finds good parallels in the possible kerbstone GP 54 Burs kyrka II and GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I (a small stone which Lindqvist assigns to his Vallstenagruppe). Hauck (1983a, pp. 543–544, fn. 235) assigns Hall Broa XIV to his group IV (Havor I-Typus), containing all dwarf stones with whorls as main motif.
GP 53 Burs kyrka I
GP 54 Burs kyrka II
GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, 31, fig. 22; II, p. 65, fig. 397; Hauck 1983a, p. 546 fn. 235; Larsen 2009, p. 20, fig. 13; Guber 2011, p. 127 cat. no. 35.

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