Parish Find Location 
Rute

Find Location 
The front yard of ʻFardume gårdʼ in Rute parish.

Find Context Classification 
Farmstead

Present Location Classification 
Gotlands Museum Magasin Visborg

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6390259

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
695514

Material 
Limestone

Limestone Type 
coarse reef debris limestone

Geological Group 
Slite Group (100%)

Height 
75

Width 
58

Thickness 
11

Lindqvist Type 
B (ca. 500-700)

Lindqvist Shape 
Dwarf stone

Runic Inscription or not 
No

Context and Discovery 
The fragment represents the upper part, i.e., the head and parts of the neck, of a small picture stone “[…] that was found in the spring of 1927 by Ture Carlsson in the front yard of Fardume farm. Later, the stone was brought to the neighbouring medieval ruin, where it was broken up into several small pieces that in 1933 were taken to the museum GF and, as far as possible, reassembled” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 107). The place where the stone had been kept and destroyed seems to be ʻFardume slottʼ, a medieval farmstead with the ruin of a fortified tower (kastal) called ʻMynttornetʼ and a stone house (RAÄ Rute 4:1–2). The complex dates to AD 1200 at the latest. Whether there is an original relationship between the stone and the medieval farm, however, remains speculative. The first photo of the stone by Ture Carlsson in 1927 was, according to its caption, taken 100 m south of the medieval building (ATA Run- och bildstenssamling, dnr 1853/27).

Measurements, Material and Condition 
Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 107), in whose time the stone had already been destroyed and tentatively reassembled (ibid. fig. 475), describes it as follows: “Limestone slab, 9 cm thick. The obverse is even […], the narrow sides are hewn at right angles towards the obverse, with hardly a chamfer in between. The reverse is rough and unworked, but rather even. The width between the upper corners is about 55 cm”. According to Ture Carlsson’s photo, the original fragment preserved almost the entire semi-circular head of a small picture stone, including its left corner and insignificant parts of its neck.

Description of Ornament and Images 
“Decorated with 2 mm wide lines with rounded bases that form a framing border with its double outside line and simplified ‘twisted cord’ pattern as well as a now indistinct figure in the panel” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 107). Lindqvist’s photo of the painted stone (ibid. fig. 475) depicts only a small part of the border and only a bit of the sunken background and a tiny piece of a raised area in the image field. Ture Carlsson’s photo from 1927, however, on which the carvings had been traced with white chalk, the border can be seen running along the entire convex edge of the stone, as well as two facing S-shaped elements in the head field.

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Type and Dating 
The size and the remaining border decoration of the fragment indicate a middle-type picture stone, i.e., Type B according to Lindqvist, dating to between AD 500 and 700. The head of the ʻdwarf stoneʼ is almost semi-circular, and its left corner is partly preserved. The corners had protruded rather downwards than horizontally, as can be seen from Ture Carlsson’s photo from 1927.

References 
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 107, fig. 475.

 
Fyndplats
Bildstenen påträffades 1927 på gårdsplanen till Fardume gård. Senare fördes bildstenen till den medeltida ruinen Fardume slott, där den bröts sönder i flera delar. Delarna samlades in och överfördes till Gotlands museum.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands museum, magasinet på Visborgsslätt

Beskrivning
Flera fragment av mindre bildsten (period B), med största bredd på 55 cm. Kantdekor bevarad.

Datering
Kan inte dateras med säkerhet, men tillhör perioden 500-600-talen.

Tolkning
Ingen tolkning.

AA

Title
GP 336 Rute Fardume

Gotlands Museum ID 
GFC9200

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
211

Lindqvist Title 
Rute, Fardume

ATA

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