A digital edition of the gotlandic picture stones
Docent Sigmund Oehrl, Stockholms universitet
Contact: sigmund.oehrl@ark.su.se
The aim of the project is to create an interactive digital edition of Gotlandic picture stones, conventionally dated to about AD 400-1100. The edition will be based on a new inventory and a digital documentation of all picture stones known to date. The digital documentation will be based on Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and Photogrammetry. The work will primarily be carried out by scholars connected to Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies at Stockholm University, Gotland’s Museum in Visby, The National Heritage Board in Stockholm/Visby and Department of Geography and Planning at Queen’s University, Kingston. During five years, the picture stones will be investigated and documented as well as presented in a digital edition, maintained by Gotland’s Museum. Besides, further research on the images on the stones as well as the geological raw material of the stones will be carried out by two PhD-students at Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology in Schleswig and GeoZentrum Nordbayern at the University of Nürnberg/Erlangen, respectively. The planned digital edition of all picture stones will forever change the basis for any research on these unique historical monuments. Besides, the digital documentation will preserve fundamental knowledge of these vulnerable monuments and will provide means for their future preservation.
