Stenkyrka

Stenkyrka

The road from Martebo to Stenkyrka
Stenkyrka
Coordinates: 57°47′35.84″N 18°30′54.06″E / 57.7932889°N 18.5150167°E / 57.7932889; 18.5150167Coordinates: 57°47′35.84″N 18°30′54.06″E / 57.7932889°N 18.5150167°E / 57.7932889; 18.5150167
Country Sweden
Province Gotland
County Gotland County
Municipality Gotland Municipality
Area[1]
 • Total 43 km2 (17 sq mi)
Population (2013)[2]
 • Total 512
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Stenkyrka is an area (socken) in northwestern Gotland, Sweden, where Stenkyrka Church is situated. Near the church there is a minor settlement with a few houses. The Stenkyrka parish (församling) in 2006 has been expanded to include the sockens of Stenkyrka (as before), Tingstäde, Martebo and Lummelunda, with a total population of 1,521 as of 2011.

This settlement is where the Stenkyrka spearhead was found. It is incised with the oldest known runic inscription known in Sweden.[3]

One of the asteroids in the Asteroid belt, 10125 Stenkyrka, is named after this place.[4]

Little Bjärs Grave Field

A bit east of the church in Stenkyrka is one of the largest grave fields on Gotland, the Little Bjärs Grave Field (Lilla Bjärs garvfält). Along one of the oldest roads in this part of the island, now not more than a trail, are more than 1,000 visible graves from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. Most of the graves are stone mounds and circular tumuli. Bases for picture stones have been found in the field. They have remained after the picture stones have been moved and incorporated in the walls of the Stenkyrka Church. Some of these have later been moved to the Gotland Museum.[5]

The grave field is about 700 m × 500 m (2,300 ft × 1,600 ft) in a general northeast–southwest direction. It contains about 750 identifiable graves above ground, but it is difficult to ascertain the borders between the mounds. A number of the mounds have depressions in the middle, about ten have visible remains of cists made of limestone slabs, about 30 graves have grave orbs. Amomng the graves is also a stone ship. A large number of the graves have been damaged by modern constructions and farming. The modern road bisects the area in a angle to the old road that the field have been established around.[6]

Gallery

Stenkyrka

Little Bjärs Grave Field

References

  1. ↑ Carlquist, Gunnar, ed. (1947–1955). Svensk Uppslagsbok (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Malmö: Förlagshuset Norden. p. 67.
  2. ↑ "Gotland i siffror 2013, pdf". www.gotland.se. Region Gotland. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Jansson, Sven B. F. (1962). The runes of Sweden. Stockholm: Norstedt. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". NASA. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  5. ↑ Brynolf, Lars (2007). Gotland. Turist & cykelguide, 99-1933445-6. Trångsund: Läsförlaget i samarbete med Svenska cykelsällskapet. ISBN 9789179025625.
  6. ↑ "RAÄ-nummer Stenkyrka 26:1". www.raa.se. Swedish National Heritage Board. Retrieved 21 June 2015.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stenkyrka District.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Little Bjärs Grave Field.
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