GP 181 Hejdeby Råby

Context and Discovery
The small picture stone was found about 200 m south of the farmstead by ploughing and delivered to Gotlands Fornsal in 1910 by the farmer Johan Hellgren. It is published in “Gotlands Bildsteine”.

Measurements, Material and Condition
The limestone slab represents an almost entirely preserved dwarf stone. “The obverse even, the narrow sides levelled at right angles to the obverse, the reverse rough and unworked. The total height of the stone is 68 cm, the width of its head is 38.5 cm, that of the neck 30.5 cm, and that of the base 40 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 70). Only a small part of the right half of the head’s edge seems to be broken off. Possibly, parts of the root are missing as well. The stone’s surface is almost completely lost as “[…] there are two longitudinal grinding grooves on the obverse, of which the left is 7.5 m wide and 3 cm deep, the right 5 cm wide and 0.5 cm deep. At the bottom of the left groove, the thickness of the stone slab generally is only 1–2 cm” (ibid.).

Description of Ornament and Images
No traces of the original decoration are left on the observe of the stone. Most of the surface is destroyed by the grinding grooves.

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
The size and the shape (convex, almost semi-circular head with corners protruding at right angles to the stone’s body) of the dwarf stone clearly indicate a Type B picture stone, dating to between AD 500 and 700. Good parallels to its shape are Type B stones like GP 74 Endre Skog, GP 248 Lärbro Källstäde and GP 365 Stenkyrka kyrka IV.

The grinding grooves cannot be used for dating picture stones, as they represent secondary features, produced after the creation of the stone, and in all probability after the period when the slab was used as memorial stone and raised in the landscape. Arne Philip (1986, pp. 9–12) counted 15 Gotlandic picture stones with grinding grooves (slipskåror or sliprännor). There is at least one more stone, GP 72 Endre Bäcks [C], which is almost completely covered by 15 deep grooves. On Gotland, those grinding grooves on stones and rocks are extremely common and have been interpreted in various ways (Munthe 1933; Mårtensson 1936; Swanström 1995; Gibson 2013). Their frequent interpretation as prehistoric calendars (Henriksson 1983) is not compelling, cf. the critical views of Lindström (1997). Similar grooves can be encountered in many places throughout Europe. An unwieldy abundance of literature has been published about their dating and their function (gathered and summarised by Eitelmann 2005, pp. 189–194 and Schels, 2010, pp. 141–161). Especially when found on medieval and early modern church buildings, gravestones, and conciliation crosses, those grooves and cups could be the result of grinding to make stone meal, presumably for use in religious folk medicine. Probably, the medieval Gotlanders regarded the picture stones as efficacious relics and powerful media of ancient times and therefore used them for folk religious purposes (Oehrl 2019a, pp. 41, 105–106; Oehrl 2020a, pp. 88–89).
GP 74 Endre skog
GP 248 Lärbro Källstäde
GP 365 Stenkyrka kyrka IV
GP0072