Bildstein from Priediens
The Priediens picture stone was found in the 1930s during archaeological investigations on burial grounds near the town of Grobin in Courland . The city is located about 11 km east of Libau on the Alanda River, in the Latvian area of Courland. The excavation manager was Birger Nerman (1888–1971), a Swedish archaeologist at the University of Tartu (dt. Dorpat). One result of the research was that between 650 and 850, i.e. during the Vendel Period and the beginning of the Viking Age , a Gotland population lived in the area. The square is considered to be the Seeburg trading center, which has been handed down in early historical writings .
Further evidence came to light in 1989 during the investigation of a Venetian burial mound on the burial ground of Priediens II (pastorate). The mound covered a 7th century cremation grave and contained the region's first image stone , which was probably introduced from Gotland (Petrenko 1991). The stone hewn from limestone belongs to type B according to Sune Lindqvist , the so-called dwarf stones with a height of 70 cm. The ornamental composition can be compared with the Smiss stone . The detail with the two birds is very similar to the bird on stone I in the parish of Garda. The birds are neatly carved and probably represent ducks, geese or swans. The Priediens picture stone is very badly eroded. No similar stone was found in the Baltic States . It is located in the Museum of History and Art in Liepāja.
The export of picture stones from Gotland to mainland Sweden to Öland and Courland can be seen as a forerunner of the medieval export of limestone and carved baptismal fonts and other architectural components.
literature
- Erik Nylén & Jan Peder Lamm: Picture stones on Gotland. Wachholtz, Neumünster 1981, 1991 (2nd edition). ISBN 3529018236 , p. 173
- Valerij Petrovich Petrenko: A picture Stone from Grobin (Latvia) Fornvännen 86 1991 pp. 1–9
- Valerij Petrovich Petrenko, J. Urtāns: The archaeological monuments of Grobiņa . Riga - Stockholm, 1995.