Abstract
Gotland’s picture stones are a unique source for the study of pre-Christian religion. However, there are many still unsolved problems that make it difficult to use this treasure. The main problem is the cur- rent condition of the figurative carvings, which in many cases are hardly recognizable. S. Lindqvist, in his 1941/42 edition of the stones, traced the fig- ures with paint to make them visible. More than half a century after the publication of his book, digital methods can be applied in order to improve the documentation and make it more objective. I demonstrate these methods and their relevance for iconography in this paper, including unpublished finds and discoveries. Some more issues are men- tioned and finally, the possibilities and needs of fu- ture research are outlined
Highlights
GOTLAND’S PICTURE STONES AND THEIR RELIGIOUS CONTENTAs an introduction, I would like to call to mind the particular importance of the Gotlandic picture stones for the reconstruction of Late Iron Age religion and mythology, in order to underline the necessity of an objective and complete documentation of the corpus.The memorial stones from the island of Gotland were raised from the Migration Period until the end of the Viking Age
The most frequent motif on the early Gotlandic picture stones is a disc with different kinds of spiral and whirl patterns, occasionally encircled by huge serpents (Hauck 1983a:541–545; Guber 2011)
It is very likely that the horse on these picture stones represents Sleipnir – not less than three centuries before it was recorded in written texts
Summary
Gotland’s picture stones are a unique source for the study of pre-Christian religion. There are many still unsolved problems that make it difficult to use this treasure. The main problem is the current condition of the figurative carvings, which in many cases are hardly recognizable. Lindqvist, in his 1941/42 edition of the stones, traced the figures with paint to make them visible. More than half a century after the publication of his book, digital methods can be applied in order to improve the documentation and make it more objective. I demonstrate these methods and their relevance for iconography in this paper, including unpublished finds and discoveries. Some more issues are mentioned and the possibilities and needs of future research are outlined
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
