Facts

Red sandstone, part of runestone.

Ornamentation without runes.

A rolled end of a body part such as a tail, nape, or the end of a shackle.

The fragment was found on the edge of the field south of the road near Bona farm. Remaining pieces can be found nearby, perhaps in walls or house foundations.

Storage today in the magazine in Tumba by RAÄ with no: SHM 30572

Older information

Transcript from RAÄ inventory book ca. 1975

The runestone fragment was found in a field about 5 m. NE of the field edge. The rune stone fragment is now kept at Bona farm, where it lies immediately next to the man building and S of the veranda on its western facade.
  (Today in a magazine in Tumba)

Description: Runestone fragment, reddish sandstone. The fragment is 38.5 cm long, approx. 21 cm wide and approx. 3 cm thick.

The stone was originally thicker. On the carving side, which is slightly worn, is the end part of a runic loop.

Kalle is thinking...!

The small part of the ornamentation on 12b that is preserved on the fragment is unusually well carved. It must have been carried out by someone with both good sense and great experience. 

Rune stone 12a, which is still missing, was depicted on drawing in the 17th century and there you can see that it is the same runecarver who carved U 86 in Skylsta, Järfälla. That carving remains on the original slab and can be used for comparison.

Rune stones 12a and 12b could be one and the same rune stone because it is not clear what type of stone/slab U 12a is, it just says "... in a burnt slab..." It could be a sandstone slab that is meant and that would also explain why it was in such poor condition when the drawing was made in the 17th century...

But "burnt slab" doesn't sound quite right to me if it were one and the same runic carving. The ornamentation on U 86 and U 12a also does not show the same free surface around the coiled body as on the fragment.

I could certainly be wrong, but for me there is still hope that we are dealing with two runic carvings and that we will soon find the one that is missing :-)

Links

Fornsök > Info in Swedish and map

Runor >  Riksantikvarieämbetet

Google map > Find the spot for U 12b

kalle@runristare.se
If you want to be of help or have a question.
 

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