The reflective church : An analysis of the church ruin of Övraby Halmstad

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the church ruin of the abandoned settlement of Övraby in Halmstad, Sweden. This is done from a modern church archaeological point of view based on Jes Wienbergs discussion on how to analyse a church as a part of a society rather than as an entity of its own. As an effect of this the thesis also discuss the settlement history of Övraby. The delimitation of the thesis is Övraby and its closest surroundings. Three issues are raised 1. Is there is a continuity of cult or place of cult from the pre-Christian era. 2. Of what type of character was the settlement? 3. How did the church architecture reflect societal change? The results in this thesis states that there are no concrete findings of cult places from the pre-Christian era which could be said to be connected to Övraby, though there are some aspects of the interior of the church building that might be considered as having been connected to a pre-Christian aristocratic cult. The thesis also states that Övraby was an aristocratic village which with time developed into a city, this aristocratic character of the early settlement is reflected both in profane buildings and on the architecture of the church. The development from village to town the thesis states, can be seen on the church architecture since the church lost many of its aristocratic features of architecture as the settlement developed