Folklore and archaeology

In this article I present an analysis of how place-lore has and can be used as a tool to identify archaeological sites. The focus was upon three types of sites: prehistoric strongholds; burial sites on dry land; wetland sites with potential human remains. In the first part, the prehistoric strongholds in historical Võrumaa County are discussed, followed in the second part by the burial sites in Karula Parish. The aim was to answer the questions " How many of these sites had been identified using folklore (including place names)? " , " How did this place-lore form and what kind of information does it pass on? " and " How did identifications in folklore or on the basis of folklore relate to the archaeological evidence at these places? " In third part my own fieldwork, undertaken at wetlands selected on the basis of folklore that referred to human remains, is presented. Analysis of the prehistoric strongholds showed that in general they were identified on the basis of folklore. However, other potential stronghold sites that occur in place-lore remain unconfirmed by archaeological evidence. In the case of some of these sites, a lack of confirmation may be owing to inadequate archaeological investigation. Almost all burial places in Karula Parish have been identified using place-lore, usually describing unearthed human remains. Unlike in the case of strongholds, the place-lore concerning burial sites is less likely to refer to the original use of sites, which indicates that many of them were " forgotten " by locals after the end of use. The fieldwork in the wetlands did not uncover any new archaeological finds. The main reason could be the difficulties of doing wetland archaeology. The place-lore may also be misleading with regard to all three types of archaeological sites, but it is also not possible to state categorically that in the past people did not interact with these sites. The results of this study show how important place-lore has and can be in determining archaeological sites. However, one has to keep in mind how place-lore emerges and the character of the information it tends to pass on.

abstract: The aim of this article is to compare Estonian burial-related runosongs (regilaul) to archaeological information. I introduce the runosong as a potential source of information about burials to archaeologists and give folklorists a new perspective by addressing the age and practises behind the motifs of runosongs. One runosong may contain elements from different time periods, and for this reason I have concentrated on dating the elements of storylines. However, I have also tried to match the idea of a whole song-type with one or another time period.

Práce se zabývá současnými folklorními interpretacemi významu opuštěných a zanikajících staveb a dalších typů umělých nemovitých památek. Sledovány jsou také vzájemné vztahy těchto interpretací na jedné straně a způsobů, jakými jsou taková místa v současnosti nejčastěji využívána, na straně druhé. Vychází z etnografického výzkumu prováděného v rámci České republiky, který byl postaven zejména na rozhovorech s respondenty a kritické práci s písemnými, audiovizuálními a elektronickými prameny. Na příkladu vybraných lokalit jsou rozebírány způsoby, jakými se může utvářet význam opuštěného, archeologizujícího se místa s ohledem na jeho fyzickou podobu, historii a další typy vlastností. V sekci věnované slovesnému folkloru je dále podán návrh kategorizace motivů sebraných pověstí, které jsou uvedeny v přiloženém katalogu, a je zde diskutována vzájemná podmíněnost jednotlivých dílčích motivů charakterem místa a typem aktivity, která je na něm prováděna. Ve výsledku je možné říci, že jednotlivá opuštěná místa nejsou z hlediska percepce živou kulturou a rejstříku k nim vztaženého slovesného folkloru zaměnitelná – výrazné odlišnosti je možné pozorovat například v závislosti na tom, nakolik má místo přírodní charakter, zda jde o objekt původně plnící funkci domova nebo je-li smyslově snadno přehledné. Vztah současné společnosti k ruinám je také silně ovlivněn romantickým paradigmatem, které vede mimo jiné k akcentování tajemna, stáří a případně i nebezpečnosti jako hodnot, které mohou být za určitých okolností a na některých typech míst vnímány esteticky pozitivně. 

This thesis discusses contemporary folklore interpretations of meanings of abandoned and decaying buildings and other types of artificial immovable monuments. Mutual relations between these interpretations and modes of place usage are also being observed. The research is based on ethnographic survey focused on Czech republic and including primarily interviews with various respondents and crtitical analysis of written, electronic and audiovisual resources. Aside from general part of the research, several sites were chosen as a more in-depth example of formation of meanings belonging to an archaeologizing place,
a complex proces influenced by the history of the site, its physical appearance and other attributes. An attached catalogue includes collected contemporary legends related to abandoned places and a system of categorization of their motifs is offered. This collection is further discussed, especially with regard to ways how character of a location and activities that take place here influence appearance of various motifs. In general, it can be said that different abandoned places are also perceived differently and there are groups of motifs that are more characteristic for certain categories of places. Similarity to purely natural environment, former usage of a place as a home or its optical surveyability seem to be among most influential factors that affect folklore interpretation of an abandoned location. The way how contemporary society perceives ruins is also strongly affected by romantic aesthetic paradigm which can accentuate mysterious, old age or even danger as values that can be sometimes and at some types of places perceived as aesthetically pleasing.

The aim of this article is to introduce what kind of place-lore concerning bog bodies can be found in Estonian folklore. How could this place-lore be used by archaeologists? There is folklore describing people buried in swamps and bogs and drowning in wetlands. Moreover, some place-lore mentions finds of human remains from wetlands, which refers to incidents where bog bodies were found in the past but of which we do not have any knowledge based on archaeological records. The case-study presented in this paper illustrates the complex relationship between an archaeologically documented find, the Rabivere bog body and place-lore. There are various stories about the Rabivere bog body, and this place-lore has been used to interpret the bog find. This paper gives an example how folkloric information can provide a rather different picture about the past in comparison with archaeological data, bringing out the possibilities and difficulties of this kind of interdisciplinary approach.

Full text: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NNA23giFZGtnPKgsIvdz/full

Luovutetun Karjalan alueelta tunnetaan kymmenittäin erilaisia linnavuoria, joista vain osa on voitu arkeologisesti todeta muinaislinnaksi. Yksi epävarma muinaislinna sijaitsee Karjalankannaksella entisessä Raudun pitäjässä. Vehmaisten Linnamäestä on koottu 1870-luvulta lähtien hyvin runsaasti muistitietoa ja tarinoita, joiden perusteella paikkaa on pidetty muinaislinnana. Myös paikalla vierailleet muinaistutkijat ja arkeologit ovat pitäneet mäkeä mahdollisena linnana. Paikalta ei kuitenkaan ole havaittu valleja tai löydetty ajoittavia esineitä. Artikkelissa esitellään Linnamäkeen liittyvää vanhaa tarinastoa, aikaisempia havaintoja sekä paikalle vuonna 2013 tehtyä tarkastusta. Maastotarkastuksen perusteella paikka voitiin todeta luonnonmuodostumaksi.

Pirkanmaa Provincial Museum conducted archaeological excavations at St. Michael’s Church in Pälkäne, Finland in 2013. The excavation revealed a deliberately carved fragment of a human femur with marks that resemble Cyrillic letters, and a skull with a healed trauma. The finds date to 16th and 19th centuries, which is a period when both folk medicine and developing medical science were in use. The carved femur might be a tangible evidence of death-related magic, which has been described in Finnish folklore, oral tradition and legal history. The magical rituals were often conducted at graveyards and occasionally involved manipulation of human bones. The rituals could have been connected to wishes of recovery or maintaining good health. The skull trauma on the other hand might be an example of successful medical procedures that were put into practice when dealing with ailments and disorders. The presentation considers the archaeological finds in relation to cultural history and folklore. In this paper I suggest that the finds enhance information on the beliefs, approaches and applications concerning treatment of medical conditions in rural Finland between 1500-1800 AD.

Mouras Encantadas are supernatural beings in Portuguese folklore. They live in megalith tombs and guard the entrance to the world beyond.
This study compares the archaeological data of the tombs to the folklore - stories, traditions, perceptions and beliefs concerning the tombs.
The aim of the study is to determine whether it is possible that some fragmentary material from the ancient religious worldview might have been carried to the present day in the symbolic level.
Theoretical background for the study is the idea of symbols as the core of myths - the oldest and most permanent strata of mythologies, which could remain unchangeable or chance very slowly, while the myths around  would change faster, following the changes of the society.
Changes in burial habits indicate changes in society and in its ideology. The study is following the changes of burial practices, trying to find out what the changes are possibly telling about the ideologies prevailing in the society in different times, and what they tell about the significance given to the megalith tombs.
The conclusion of the study is that folklore of Portuguese megalith tombs has absorbed material from  many different eras, throughout the long existence of the tombs, and that in consideration of the symbolic similarities between the archaeological material and the folklore, it is possible that some fragmentary material of the Neolithic worldview has really been carried to the present day, hidden inside the symbols of folklore.

Excavations in the 1960s on the site of the short-lived motte-and-bailey castle at South Mimms (then in Middlesex, now in Hertfordshire) recovered, among mid-12th-century demolition debris, part of a red-deer skull and antler, a hole drilled through the antler containing the remains of an iron nail or peg. At the time the excavators suggested it had been intended to be fixed to a wall as a ‘hunting trophy’. This paper discusses this hypothesis, in the light of more recent finds for which a similar identification has been proposed. However, it also considers possible alternative functions in medieval ceremony or ritual, in particular popular customs of the type evidenced by early medieval churchmen’s condemnation of those who went out ‘cervulum facientes’ (playing the stag) at the New Year.

Consideration is given to how elements of the occult: witchcraft, magic and sorcery may be identified in the archaeological record. Working definitions of occult terminology are established before proceeding to propose a new approach, which triangulates data from historic and folkloric sources with archaeological evidence, to establish contextual narratives that stand for the past. Excavation of an occult ritual site at Barway, Cambridgeshire is presented to demonstrate how the approach works in practice. Archaeological evidence, combined with local folklore and historic accounts of spells and sorcery, identify the site as the locus of occult activity performed by cunning folk, or ‘white’ witches, during the seventeenth-century.

KEYWORDS
OCCULT, CUNNING FOLK, WITCH, WITCHCRAFT, SPELL, MAGIC, SORCERY, FOLKLORE, EAST ANGLIA, ELY, SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY, GRIMOIRE, PENDLE WITCH TRIAL, MATTHEW HOPKINS, JOHN STEARNE.

This study proposes that archaeology should adopt an integrated approach combining archaeology and folklore. As a case study, the legend of “The Devil‘s Footprints on pendle and the stones dropped by him on Apronful Hill” is considered in the context of both the folklore of Lancashire and also the archaeological evidence for rock cut footprints from calderstones and elsewhere in Northern Europe. A possible ancient connection between the two is proposed based upon a close reading of the evidence.

During the mid-twentieth century, British pioneers of Wicca, the religion of contemporary Pagan Witchcraft, adopted prehistoric megaliths as “sacred sites” and appropriated the folklore that surrounded them for their own magico-religious purposes. In turn, Wiccan interpretations of such sites resulted in the creation of new “alternative archaeological” megalithic folklore(s).