Stones, ships and symbols : the picture stones of Gotland from the Viking A

Inbundna böcker. Gidlunds förlag. 1988. 209 sidor.

In this book we hope to show what to expect from the picture stones of Gotland and what can be learned from them. We hope that it will be read both by the general museum visitor and by anyone who would like to learn more about art and life in early Scandinavia. We have also tried to make it an attractive book which might serve as a simple patternbook for about 600 years of prehistoric art.

The book begins with an introductory survey. Then the stones are discussed, mainly in chronological order. The stones are reproduced on the righthand pages and comments appear on the left-hand pages. Motifs from a number of stones may be combined to form new compositions and other kinds of explanatory iconographic material may also be included.

Some pages deal with questions in greater depth: for example, Viking Age ships or beliefs about life after death. Some illustrations depict non-Gotlandic monuments which are related to the picture stones of Gotland. Damaged features have been restored only when the reconstructions are in no doubt.

Towards the end of the book there is a group of composite illustrations, reproduced at a smaller scale than the rest. The stones which are the source for these details are numbered in accordance with the catalogue which concludes the publication. A bibliography and a summary of the typological and chronological divisions used in the standard work, Gotlands Bildsteine (Sune Lindqvist 1941-42), make up the final section. The catalogue and bibliography have been compiled by Jan Peder Lamm, Museum of National Antiquities, Stockholm. The book also contains illustrations of recent finds of picture stones not previously published.