Eskilstunakista

Eskilstunakista ("Eskiltuna coffin") is a Swedish term for early Christian grave monuments found in Sweden, influenced by the Anglo-Saxon tradition where venerated persons were buried in a specially designed stone coffin. Eskilstuna coffins were on the other hand never intended for the remains of the deceased, but was constructed on top of the burial site. The coffins consist of five ornamental stone slabs; two side slabs, two gable slabs, and a lid slab. The name originates from the first complete coffin found in Eskilstuna; later other fragments and slabs of the same kind have been identifiers as Eskilstuna coffins. An Eskilstunakista is particularly designed stone coffin with peaked gable slabs on two opposing sides. The gables as well as the lid slab may be decorated with runic bands, and the inscriptions are similar to those on runestones, for example: X had this memorial made after Y, his good relative. God help his soul. The older ones from Öster- och Västergötland are mostly ornamented in Ringerike style. During the later half of the 11'th century the coffin type was used iSödermanland, Närke och Öland where the coffines were often decorated in a later Viking-age style, the Urnes style.

Monument data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).