Käymäjärvi inscriptions

The Käymäjärvi Inscriptions refers to a stone ca. 52.5cm heigh and 105 cm wide in dimension with natural gravings, earlier considered to be some variant of Runic alphabet. The stone is today so degraded so it is impossible to compare it with other scripts such as Orkhon script. It is located near the lake Käymäjärvi, north-east of parish Payala, Northern Sweden.

It is somewhat unknown how it becomes known, but it is first reported by Olof Rudbeck Sr (1630-1702) in the second volume of Atlantica (1689). The local inhabitants, especial with Saami ethno, considered the stone to carry a very important message from their ancestors.

The second one to report it is Eric Brunnius Jr (1706-83) in a dissertion about Tornio (De urbe Torna; 1731) from Uppsala University where he state that the stone have rune character and a three-crown graving but which by the time have been degraded and is now absence. The physicists Anders Celsius (1701-44), also an early runologists, could conclude that the inscriptions were not of runic character.

The stone was also visited by Anders Celsius (1701-44) and P.-L. de Maupertuis (1698-1759) around April 11, 1737, during the earth meridian mesurement expedition. The tale of this travel and stone, at that time considered to be very exotic in nature, was presented in his application to the Académie des Sciences, and might have influence the decision of the election of him to the academy.

Source: Tobé, Erik, "Maupertius' "Berättelse om en färd till det inre av Lappland för att finna ett gammalt minnesmärke"", Oknytt No. 1-4, 1999, Vol. 20