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A pictu re stone from Grobin (Latv ia)tet Pr ied ien s II (I . d. Pa sto rat ) (Fig. A - C ) .Fyn dko mb ina t ion (F ig . 2 ) och ho r i son t e l l s t r a t igraf i t i l l te r en da ter ing av densamma t i l l600 - t a l e t s s ena re de l . S t en en r hugg en i ka lk s ten . Den har en kraf t ig ro t , konkava s idormed k ra f t i g u t svngn ing upp t och konvexverdel . S tenen, som r 70 cm hg, r 4 ,55,8cm t jock och 26 cm bred v id midjan (Fig .3ab). Bi lds tenens f ramsida har dekor i l grelief. Ine im en kan t f l j ande b rd med t r app s tegsmnster f inns en av tv para l le l la l in je rin r amad y t a med samma y t t e rkemtu r soms tenen s j lv ovan ro t en . Mi t t p de l a s dennay ta av en dubb e l t v rb rd me d t r a pp -s t egsm ns t e r och en l iknan de b rd f inns

lngs t ne d. I de t v re fl tet f inns en bi ldf ram s t l ln ing , av mig to lkad som en skeppsbi ldmed bg fo rmig t k lpa r t i . Den synes har tv inkl ig t sege l , mas t och t ro l igen en ver byggnad. I de t nedre f l te t har funni t s en nun s t a n h e l t u t p l n a d k o m p o s i t i o n .Svl d de t g l le r f ramst l ln ings teknik somf o r m o c h p r o p o r t i o n e r l i k s o m k o m p o s i t i o n s e l emen tens de t a l j e r r ankny tn ingen t i l l Go t land uppenbar . Utan tv ive l kan fyndetf rkn ippas med skand inav i sk ku l tu r t r ad i t i onoch de av Sune L indkv i s t t i l l 500 -600- t a l e tda t e r a de s . k . dv rgs t ena rna ( g ru pp B en l . de nav ho no m ska pade k l a s s if i ce ringen ) .

Ship or ducks? Comment on the picture-stone foundat Grobin, LatviaI n t h e p r c c e d i n g p a p e r V . P . P e t r e n k o r e p o r t ed on t he r emarkab le f i nd o f a Go t l and typep ic tu r e - s t eme in a bu r i a l mound a t t he P r i e d iens I I cemetery eas t of the town Grobin in1987. I t i s in te res t ing but not whol ly surpr i s i ng t ha t a p robab ly Go t l and ic p i c tu r e - s tonesu r f aced i n La tv i a . The re a r e o the r exampleso f s u c h s t o n e s o n c e e x p o r t e d f r o m G o t l a n d(Fig. 1) . Twei of the m w ere fo un d em ne igh bo ur i ng la nd an d a t h i rd is know n f roml i te rary sources to have s tood in Norra lachu rchy a rd i n Up p lan d (Ny ln & Lam m 1 9 88 ,p p . 1 44-1 45) . Th i s s t one sheds l i gh t on t hequ es t i on e if w he the r s te ines rea l ly we re e xp or t ed f rom Go t l and . I ts dam age d run i c i n sc r ip -l ion says the y bro ug ht th is s to ne f rom G otl and and . . . a f t e r . . . bi s b ro the r . He o wn edtb i s . . . . We may hope t ha t more Go t l and icpic ture-s tones wi l l ce ime to l ight a round theBal t ic in the fu ture . They could be seen asl r e runne r s t o t he med ieva l expor t o f d r e s sedl imes tone and bap t i sma l fon t s f rom Got l and .Dr Pe t r enko i s t o be congra tu l a t ed em h i simpor tant ] l ind and the Edi tors of Fornvnnena re happy tha t he so qu iddy answered ou rimi t a t i on t o pub l i sh t he s tone i n ou r Jou rna l .To give an entirely rel iable analysis of thef ea tu re s on a p i c tu r e - s tone a s worn a s t ha t

f rom G ro bi n i s a very de l ic a te m at t e r , an d s t il lmore d i f f icu l t for a person wi th l i t t l e exper i ence e if t h is t ype o f mo nu m en t . T he r e fo re it isno g rea t wonde r t ha t I , who have done muchwork on t hem may have some ob j ec t i ons t oP e t r e n k o ' s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . T h e s e p e r t a i n t owhat he has identif ied as a sai l ing ship in theupper pictorial f ield. Already when I f i rst saw

,r=)7~VFig. 1. Distribution of Gotlandic picture-stones.(After Nyln & Lamm 1988.)

Fornvnnen 86 (1991)

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10 Valerij Petrov ich Petrenk os tone f rom Rikvide , Nr par i sh (Nyln &Lamm 1988, No. 202; Lindqvis t 1942, F ig .466) and s ingle b i rds of the same type are seenon s tones f rom Broa , Hl la par i sh (Nyln &Lamm 1 9 88 , No . 1 07 , p . 43 ) , Smis s , G rdapa r i sh (Ny ln & Lamm 1 9 88 , No . 69 , p . 45 )and Br inges , Nor r l anda pa r i sh (Ny ln &Lamm, No . 1 9 8 ; L indqv i s t 1 9 42 , F ig . 479 ) .Las t summer (1 9 9 0) I had t he oppor tun i tyto d iscuss the iconography of the s tone wi thDr Pe t r enko and i t was ag reed t ha t he shou ldno t make any changes i n h i s manusc r ip t , Ihoweve r shou ld g ive my in t e rp re t a t i on i n ana d d e n d u m t o h i s p a p e r .My ideas about the na ture of the f igures inthe p ic tor ia l f ie ld have recent ly been con-f irmed. T hr ou g h the me dia t ion of Kar l -Gusta f El iassem f rom our Depar tment of S toneConserva t ion (Riks) we ga ined access to a rub-bing of the s tone (Fig . 2) which i s housed inthe L iepa j a H i s to r i ca l and Ar t s Museum.The rubb ing g ives proof the b i rds a rec lear ly d iscernable , i t has turned f ic t ion in tofact.

Bildsteine I-II.

Fig. 2. Rubbing of die picture-stone from PriediensII , Grobin, Latvia.

ReferencesLindqvist, S. 1942. GotlandsKVHAA. Stockholm.Nyln, E. & Lamm, J. P. 1988. Stones, ships andsymbols. The picture stones of Gottand from the Viking Age and before. Slockholm.Petrenko, V. P. 1991. A picture stone from Grobin(Latvia). Fornvnnen 86.Jan Peder Lamm

a good p ho tog rap h o f t he s tone I was con vinced tha t the mot i f compr ised two ant i the t i ea l ly s tanding b ig b i rds , probably ducks orswans . Such opposed an ima l s a r e shown on a

Fornvnnen 86 (1991)