My thesis deals with the late Vendelian and early Viking Age picture stones of Gotland. The pictorial stones constitute a rich source material for studies of the relationship between materiality, identity, iconography and landscape, all themes that have recently become central in the field of archaeology. In addition to the archaeological investigations mentioned below, the study has also been supplemented with iconographic and spatial analyses to gain new knowledge about the function and meaning of the image stones. Within the framework of my thesis work, I have conducted two archaeological excavations on Gotland at the picture stone sites Fröjel Stenstugu and Buttle Änge. My dissertation project studies the communicative and social role of picture stones in contemporary Gotland society. Throughout the centuries, the significance of picture stones was certainly multifunctional and varied as a territorial marker, memorial, preserver of oral tradition, burial site and religiously charged artifact. Picture stones played a key role in Gotland society during the late Iron Age and early Middle Ages, being a focal point for social and ideological communication between the people of the time.