Parish Find Location 
Stenkyrka

Find Location 
Stenkyrka, probably in the church building.

Find Context Classification 
Unknown

Present Location Classification 
Gotlands Museum Magasin Visborg

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6390259

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
695514

Material 
Limestone

Height 
14

Width 
15

Thickness 
6

Lindqvist Type 
A (ca. 400-600)

Lindqvist Shape 
Unclear

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The fragment was found in storage at Gotlands Museum without bearing an inventory number. However, it was inscribed with “Stenkyrka” on one of its narrow sides, so it probably came from Stenkyrka church, as so many fragments do. In “Gotlands Bildsteine”, Sune Lindqvist (1941/42 II, pp. 115–118) lists nine picture stones from Stenkyrka church. By contrast, the list put together by Jan Peder Lamm in 2003 contains no fewer than 40 new discoveries (Lamm/Nylén 2003, nos. 238–276, 425, 426). The unusually large number of stones found not only in the church, but in the entire parish, is an indicator of the political and religious position that Stenkyrka probably already held even before the first church was built (see Roosval 1914, p. 5). Many of the new finds from the church were discovered during a large-scale restoration, which was carried out in 1954/55 according to plans by the architect Rolf Bergh. This is probably also the case with the stone presented here.

The earliest church at this place was probably a wooden building that was replaced by a stone church in the first half of the twelfth century. The foundations of the first stone church were discovered beneath the floor of the current church, built during the thirteenth century. The tower with its portal was erected between 1280 and 1310 (on the building’s architectural history, see Roosval 1911, pp. 84–86; 1914, pp. 1–52, esp. 21–24; Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, pp. 239–243).

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The small irregularly shaped fragment preserves a short piece of the original lateral edge of an early-type picture stone. It measures about 14 x 15 cm and is made of limestone. Its thickness is about 8 cm. The surface is relatively flat and well preserved. The preserved narrow side is hewn straight at right angles to the stone’s obverse, and the face is evenly chamfered towards the edge. The stone’s border decoration was painted secondarily (see VI).

Description of Ornament and Images 
Running close to the chamfer are two parallel grooves that seem to have made up the only border decoration on the monument.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
The tiny fragment represents a small part of the lateral edge of an early-type picture stone, i.e., Type A according to Lindqvist’s typology, dating between AD 400 and 600. Due to the fragmentary condition and the lack of further decorative elements a more precise classification is not possible.

References 
No references

 
Fyndplats
Troligen från Stenkyrka kyrka

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands museums magasin på Visborgsslätt

Beskrivning
Ett litet fragment av en tidig bildsten (period A), med sidorna 14 och 15 cm. Spår av kantdekor.

Inskrift
Ingen inskrift

Datering
Kan inte dateras med säkerhet, men tillhör perioden cirka 400-600.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 306 Stenkyrka (kyrka?)

Gotlands Museum ID 
GFC11020

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
355

ATA

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