GP 251 Lärbro Norder-Ire III

Context and Discovery
The only brief reports about the find are given by Oscar Wennersten in the newspaper Gotlands Allehanda, Christmas issue 1913, and in the catalogue of Statens Historiska Museum in Stockholm (dnr 412/763-1913). Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 89) notes that GP 249 Norder-Ire I “was found in the summer of 1913 during foundation works for a small house at the outer edge of a mound in a former meadow. After the find was reported by the farmer Karl Andersson, the find place was examined by Wennersten, who subsequently in the autumn of the same year discovered the other stones (GP 250 Norder-Ire II, GP 251 Norder-Ire III, GP 265 Norder-Ire IV, and GP 266 Norder-Ire [V]) during his investigations along the side of the building where No. I had come to light. Whether the mound was of natural or artificial origin could not be determined.” The place where the stones were found was called ʻNorder-Ire Torgʼ by the local population. Eight further small fragments of an apparently worked limestone slab, which were uncovered during Wennersten’s investigation as well, were interpreted by Jan Peder Lamm (Lamm/Nylén 2003, p. 190) as a fifth picture stone (GP 266 Norder-Ire [V]). Furthermore, two fragments of a grinding stone were discovered together with the picture stones.
SO
GP 249 Lärbro Norder-Ire I
GP 250 Lärbro Norder-Ire II
GP 265 Lärbro Norder-Ire IV
GP 266 Lärbro Norder-Ire (V)

Measurements, Material and Condition
“Limestone slab, up to 10 cm thick. The surface is smooth, but rather rough and uneven, the longer narrow side is hewn approximately at right angles towards the obverse and irregularly convex lengthwise. The reverse is rough and unworked. The stone’s height is 79 cm, its width 39 cm” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 89). The fragment is roughly rectangular; only one long side preserves the stone’s original hewn edge. The material is rough, with many bigger inclusions.
SO

Description of Ornament and Images
An approximately 9 cm wide border panel runs parallel to the upper edge of the stone. Due to the severe weathering on the stone, the decoration appears slightly distorted and is not visible in some places. The frame of the border panel begins 2 cm in from the upper edge of the stone and is defined on the top by three thinly incised grooves. The space between these grooves creates two raised bands that are each approximately 1.2 cm wide. The lower edge of the frame is defined by two thinly incised grooves that are similarly spaced. The design within the border panel is approximately 4.6 cm wide and consists of what Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 89) describes as a chord pattern (Schnurmuster) that “is executed in shallow, wide lines”. This “chord pattern” cannot be determined based on the previous photo documentation, neither based on Lindqvist’s photo nor on those kept in ATA (594:7b [1925]; 1751:8 [Faith-Ell 1933]). The unpublished drawing by Olof Sörling from 1914, however, which is kept in ATA (Run- och bildstenssamling) as well, depicts a geometricized twisted cord. It was verified for the first time by Anders Larsen (2009, p. 34) by applying 3D technology.
CJL/SO

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 31–33, 110) categorized Lärbro Norder-Ire III as a kerbstone (Randstein) that he includes within his ʻAbschnittʼ A which dates to circa AD 400–600 (see also Oehrl 2019a, pp. 8–10). Lärbro Norder-Ire III is assigned by Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 28, 33) to his group 4 kerbstones which he determined to have a knitting pattern (Strickmuster). Lindqvist also included GP 135 Hablingbo Havor IV, GP 137 Hablingbo Havor VI, and GP 206 Hogrän kyrka II in this category, but it should be noted that there is a lot of variation among the “knitting pattern” designs on these stones. According to Lindqvist (1933, pp. 105, 107; 1941/1942 I, pp. 21, 31–33), the kerbstones formed an edge chain which surrounded a grave mound, possibly with an erected Type A picture stone in the center. However, no evidence has been found to confirm that any of the erected Type A picture stones were placed within a grave mound (Larkin 2023a, p. 50).

The border decoration documented by O. Sörling in 1914 (see VI), however, does not occur in ʻAbschnittʼ A. It is only depicted on GP 262 Lärbro kyrka, a particularly strange and unique monument, apparently combining different styles, which cannot be assigned to ʻAbschnittʼ A with certainty. Instead, the pattern represents the most common and typical decoration on the Type B picture stones, dating to AD 500 to 700. According to Lindqvist, however, ʻkerbstonesʼ are restricted to ʻAbschnittʼ A. Therefore, Anders Larsen (2009, p. 34) considers that Lärbro Norder-Ire III could represent a Type B ʻcist stoneʼ instead, similar to GP 144 Halla Broa V and GP 145 Halla Broa VI. The geometricized twisted chord pattern is used only occasionally on late-type picture stones – GP 149 Halla Broa IX and perhaps GP 150 Halla Broa XVI, in both cases representing the horizontal border on the bottom of the decorated surface.
CJL/SO
GP 135 Hablingbo Havor IV
GP 137 Hablingbo Havor VI
GP 206 Hogrän kyrka II
GP 262 Lärbro kyrka
GP 144 Halla Broa V
GP 145 Halla Broa VI
GP 149 Halla Broa IX
GP 150 Halla Broa XVI