Carved figures and symbols are found in many medieval churches throughout Europe. It was precisely the fascination of such graffiti that prompted the antiquarian at the county museum Jamtli, Annabell Fogelberg, to start investigating the occurrence also in the medieval churches in Jämtland county.
- So far, it is only in Hackås church that I have found carved figures like this. Probably other churches have had it before, but they have been renovated a little too well, so the pictures have disappeared, Annabell Fogelberg believes.
Hope more people start looking
The investigations from Hackås church in Berg municipality in Jämtland will now be compiled in a document and the hope is that more researchers in Sweden will search in the same way in their churches.
- We want to spread knowledge that these carvings even exist and hopefully arouse a desire for discovery.
Light with the mobile phone
But it doesn't just apply to researchers - Annabell Fogelberg hopes that everyone who lives near a medieval or very old church will take a little extra look at the walls the next time they visit the church.
In the glow of the mobile phone lamp, it is possible to discover much that the eye has difficulty seeing. Perhaps some figures and symbols appear that no one has seen for several hundred years?
On Monday evening January 29, Annabell Fogelberg will present her discoveries in a talk to the public in the parish cottage in Hackås.
In addition to scribbles from the 12th century, there are also figures with clear features from the 17th-18th centuries in Hackås church. Photo: Annabell Fogelberg/Jamtli