Stenkyrka is a populated area, a

socken Socken is the name used for a part of a county in Sweden. In Denmark similar areas are known as ''sogn'', in Norway ''sokn'' or ''sogn'' and in Finland ''pitäjä'' ''(socken)''. A socken is a country-side area that was formed around a church, ...

(not to be confused with

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

), on the Swedish island of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

. It comprises the same area as the

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

Stenkyrka District, established on 1January 2016.

Geography

Stenkyrka in the northwest part of the island. The

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Stenkyrka Church is situated in Stenkyrka. Near the church is a minor settlement with a few houses. The fishing village Lickershamn, noted for the

stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...

Jungfrun is situated in Stenkyrka. , Stenkyrka Church belongs to Stenkyrka

in Norra Gotlands

pastorat The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden ...

, along with the churches in

Martebo Martebo () is a populated area, a ''socken'' (not to be confused with parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Martebo District, established on 1January 2016. Geography Martebo is the name of ...

Tingstäde Tingstäde is a populated area, a socken (not to be confused with parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Tingstäde District, established on 1January 2016. Tingstäde is most noted for its near ...

and

Lummelunda Lummelunda (sometimes referred to as Lummelunda and Etebols) is a populated area, a socken (not to be confused with parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Lummelunda District, established on 1Ja ...

. One of the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s in the

Asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...

, 10125 Stenkyrka, is named after this place.

History

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

Little Bjärs Grave Field

A bit east of the church in Stenkyrka is one of the largest

grave field A grave field is a prehistoric cemetery, typically of Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe. Grave fields are distinguished from necropoleis by the former's lack of remaining above-ground structures, buildings, or grave markers. Types Grave fields can b ...

s on Gotland, the Little Bjärs Grave Field (''Lilla Bjärs gravfält''). 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 The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

and the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

. Most of the graves are

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

s and circular

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

. Bases for

picture stone A picture stone, image stone or figure stone is an ornate slab of stone, usually limestone, which was raised in Germanic Iron Age or Viking Age Scandinavia, and in the greatest number on Gotland.The article ''Bildstenar'' in ''Nationalencyklopedi ...

s 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

Gotland Museum The Gotland Museum ( sv, Gotlands museum) (previously known as ''Länsmuseet på Gotland'' or ''Gotlands Fornsal'') in Visby, Sweden, is the county museum of Gotland. It was founded by the Friends of Gotland's Antiquity society in 1875, at the in ...

. The grave field is about 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

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East ...

s made of limestone slabs, about 30 graves have grave orbs. Among the graves is also a

stone ship The stone ship or ship setting was an early burial custom in Scandinavia, Northern Germany, and the Baltic states. The grave or cremation burial was surrounded by slabs or stones in the shape of a boat or ship. The ships vary in size and were e ...

. A large number of the graves have been damaged by modern constructions and farming. The modern road bisects the area in an angle to the old road that the field have been established around.

Gallery

Stenkyrka

File:Lickershamn-Stenkyrka-Gotland-2010 01.png,

Rauk A rauk is a column-like landform in Sweden and Norway, often equivalent to a stack. Rauks often occur in groups called "raukfält" or "rauk fields". The limestone rauks of Gotland in the Baltic Sea are among the best known examples. Sweden R ...

s at Lickershamn, Stenkyrka. File:Stenkyrka kyrka, Gotland 3.jpg, Stenkyrka church. File:Fornborg vid Lickershamn, Stenkyrka raä 22 4.jpg, Ancient fortress at Lickershamn, Stenkyrka.

Little Bjärs Grave Field

File:Lilla Bjärs gravfält Stenkyrka 1.jpg, Two stone mounds File:Gravklot Lilla Bjärs gravfält Stenkyrka 26 1 Gotland.jpg, Grave orb File:Lilla Bjärs gravfält Stenkyrka 14.jpg, One of the larger graves

References

External links

Objects from Stenkyrka at the Digital Museum
by

Nordic Museum The Nordic Museum ( sv, Nordiska museet) is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period (in Swedish history, it is said to be ...

{{Authority control Populated places in Gotland County Nordic Stone Age Nordic Bronze Age Prehistory of Sweden Medieval Sweden

Geography

History

Little Bjärs Grave Field

Gallery

Stenkyrka

Little Bjärs Grave Field

References

Further reading

External links