GP 166 Halla Broa XVIII

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, who investigated 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 larger 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 300–400. The actual size and extent of the cemetery, however, remains still uncertain.

The oldest investigated burials can be dated to the Roman Iron Age, with some unexcavated stone settings typical for 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, 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) are to be mentioned.

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.

According to Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 67), the picture stone fragment Halla Broa XVIII was found on the property of the farmer Albert Nilsson, just north of the junction of the road to Viklau and the road Roma-Sjonhem, and thus in Roma parish, not Halla (see the map ibid. fig. 378). Here in Kvietorp (which sometimes is allocated to Roma, sometimes to Halla), 12 stone settings have been investigated in 1939 (RAÄ Roma 32:1; ATA, dnr 4606/39), which obviously belong to the Broa necropolis (Thunmark-Nylén IV:1, pp. 345–346). The burials contained Viking Age material, such as animal head brooches, penannular brooches, and fish head pendants (SHM 22476:1–2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12a–b). There is no more information available about the find circumstances of the picture stone.

Measurements, Material and Condition
The slab represents a fragment of a dwarf stone, made up of the root and the lower part of the body of the monument. The lateral edges are preserved, the upper broken edge is irregular. “Limestone slab, 7 cm thick. The obverse even, the narrow sides chamfered towards the back, but not towards the obverse. The reverse is rough and unworked. Total height of the fragment 57 cm, 35 cm of which above the lower edge of the decoration” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 67). The decoration is remarkably finely executed and clearly carved out, and therefore well preserved and discernible in most parts.

Description of Ornament and Images
“The picture stone is decorated with 1–2 mm wide lines with rounded bottoms that form a framing border with a simplified twisted cord pattern. In the field, on a sunken, smoothed background, the crescent-shaped hull of a watercraft with a mast as well as – on one or possibly each side of the mast – a triangular figure rising above the railing (crew?)” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 67). The open field above the right half of the vessel as well as the longish element to the left of the triangular crewman which are part of Lindqvist’s paint version of the stone (ibid. I. fig. 70; ATA B3:45b, dating 1937), however, cannot be verified and/or are misleading (cf. ibid. II, fig. 70).

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Middle type picture stone, i.e., Type B according to Lindqvist, dating to between AD 500 and 700. Due to the stone’s fragmentary state of preservation, it cannot be assigned to any subgroup. According to Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 65), the convex and almost semicircular shape of the unusual vessel represents a variant of the Larsarvetypus, named after the ship depiction on GP 77 Eskelhem Larsarve I, or perhaps even a variant of the Brotypus, named after the Type A stone GP 43 Bro kyrka I. The best parallel for this variant, in his opinion, is GP 74 Endre Skog, which he assigns to the Sandegårdagruppe. Another good match, however, is the recent find GP 13 Alva Bopparve, which seems to represent a late Type B stone, perhaps a transitional form between the groups of middle and late type picture stones, presumably dating to the 8th century or even later (Oehrl 2019a, pp. 11, 18).
GP 77 Eskelhem Larsarve I
GP 43 Bro kyrka I
GP 74 Endre skog
GP 13 Alva Bopparve