Parish Find Location 
Unknown

Find Location 
Unknown

Find Context Classification 
Unknown

Present Location Classification 
Gotlands Museum Magasin Visborg

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6390259

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
695514

Material 
Limestone

Height 
40

Width 
19

Thickness 
6

Lindqvist Type 
B (ca. 500-700)

Lindqvist Shape 
Dwarf stone

Iconographic Keywords 
ship 
man 

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The fragment was found in storage at Gotlands Museum without bearing an inventory number.

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The fragment consists of two matching pieces, representing the lower right corner of a small picture stone, preserving the right-hand edge as well as a part of the root. It has roughly the shape of an upright rectangle, with the upper third broken off. Pieced together, the 5 cm thick limestone slab is 38 cm high and 19 cm wide. The bas-relief decoration is well-preserved; there are no traces of serious weathering.

Description of Ornament and Images 
After the discovery, the carvings were traced with paint. A photo of the secondarily painted stone taken by Raymond Hejdström (neg. no. XXI:621) is kept in the Museum’s inventory. The remaining parts of the framing border at the right-hand edge and the bottom feature a simple but properly executed interlace pattern. The preserved image field depicts the rounded stern or bow of a ship with an outward-bending stem, probably a stylized animal head. Aboard the vessel, a stylized and now damaged crewman can be seen. A diagonal band that appears to cross the crewman could be regarded as part of the rigging or a stay, i.e., a rope which connects the mast with the stem. A further ribbon-like extension is protruding into the image field from above, possibly part of the sail or another lost figurative element.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
Most probably, the small slab represents a Middle-Type picture stone, i.e., Type B according to Lindqvist’s typology, dating between AD 500 and 700. The interlace pattern is typical for Late Type monuments; however, it also occurs in ʻAbschnittʼ B, in particular, on GP 368 Stenkyrka kyrka IX and GP 281 När Smiss 3. The ship can be described as a variant of the Larsarvetypus, named after the ship depiction on GP 77 Eskelhem Larsarve.
GP 368 Stenkyrka kyrka IX
GP 281 När Smiss 3
GP 77 Eskelhem Larsarve I

References 
No references

 
Fyndplats
Okänd

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands museum, magasinet på Visborgsslätt.

Beskrivning
Fragment av dvärgsten (period B), bevarad höjd 38 cm och bredd 19 cm. Spår av ett skepp, troligen med segel och en besättningsman.

Datering
Dateringen oklar, men tillhör perioden 500-600-talen.

Tolkning
Välkomstmotivet kan representera en valkyria som mottar en död man i Valhall.

AA

Title
GP 290 Unknown Find Spot

Gotlands Museum ID 
GFC11044

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
366

ATA

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