We are pleased to share a call for papers for the edited volume Archaeology, Oral Tradition and Place Names – New Perspectives, to be submitted to Springer. The volume aims to explore how oral traditions and toponymy can provide key insights into the interpretation of archaeological landscapes, bridging material evidence with memory, narrative, ritual practices, and place-names.

Presentation

We are pleased to share a call for papers for the edited volume Archaeology, Oral Tradition and Place Names – New Perspectives, to be submitted to Springer. The volume aims to explore how oral traditions and toponymy can provide key insights into the interpretation of archaeological landscapes, bridging material evidence with memory, narrative, ritual practices, and place-names. It seeks to foreground the dynamic relationships between places, communities, and their past, with a particular focus on the integration of archaeological, historical, ethnographic, and oral sources. Contributions are invited from all chronological periods and geographical areas, especially those addressing themes such as the construction and perception of places, the role of oral narratives in shaping landscapes, social memory, and the interaction between material and intangible heritage.

Far from treating oral traditions as secondary or supplementary sources, this volume positions them as central interpretative tools for understanding how landscapes are experienced, remembered, and continuously reconfigured over time. It is particularly interested in the ways in which narratives, place-names, and local knowledge systems contribute to the long-term construction of meaning in archaeological landscapes, often preserving information that is not accessible through material remains alone.

The volume welcomes contributions that engage with the interaction between tangible and intangible dimensions of heritage, and that critically reflect on how different forms of knowledge—archaeological, historical, ethnographic, and oral—can be integrated in the study of past landscapes. Special attention will be given to processes of transmission, transformation, and reinterpretation of places within collective memory, as well as to the ways in which these processes shape contemporary understandings of the past.

The volume welcomes contributions that engage with the interaction between tangible and intangible dimensions of heritage, and that critically reflect on how different forms of knowledge—archaeological, historical, ethnographic, and oral—can be integrated in the study of past landscapes. Special attention will be given to processes of transmission, transformation, and reinterpretation of places within collective memory, as well as to the ways in which these processes shape contemporary understandings of the past.

Contributions should address one or more of the following themes:

• the construction, perception, and interpretation of places
• the role of oral narratives and cultural practices in shaping, transforming, and resignifying landscapes
• social memory and oral tradition as tools for understanding past and territorial dynamics
• oral traditions, local knowledge, and toponymy linked to archaeological contexts
• the interplay between material remains and the symbolic, cultural, and belief systems embedded in landscapes

We welcome contributions from all chronological periods and geographical areas.

Editors

The volume is edited by Loredana Lancini (Université catholique de Louvain), Alexandra Vieira (Instituto Politécnico de Bragança), and Tõnno Jonuks (Estonian Literary Museum).

Submission guidelines

Proposals should include an abstract of 300–350 words and a short bio (c. 150 words), and should be sent by 30 June to loredana.lancini@uclouvain.be

Acceptance notification: 30 July 2026
Authors of accepted abstracts must submit full papers by 30 December 2026
Further information will be communicated to authors in due course