Open AccessDocumenting and Interpreting the Picture Stones of Gotland: Old Problems and New Approaches
Author(s) -
Sigmund Oehrl
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
current swedish archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.256
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2002-3901
pISSN - 1102-7355
DOI - 10.37718/csa.2017.15
Subject(s) - iconography , treasure , literal and figurative language , documentation , relevance (law) , order (exchange) , history , visual arts , art , art history , computer science , archaeology , philosophy , law , political science , linguistics , finance , economics , programming language
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 I demonstrate these methods and their relevance for iconography in this paper, including unpublished finds and discoveries.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