Archaeology and Geomythology: Virtual Special Issue 12, 2021

Virtual Special Issue of Folklore, 12, 2021: Archaeology & Geomythology

Introduced by Dr Juliette Wood

Listen to the Podcast  Folklore’s 2021 Virtual Special Issue on Archaeology & Geomythology, podcast introduction by Juliette Wood. And explore the featured articles chosen by the Editor, Jessica Hemming. These articles are free to access by Folklore Society members: just log in to the Members’s area at https://folklore-society.com/wp-login.php

Excerpt from the Podcast: Folklore relating to prehistoric monuments involves beings and powers that reinforce the values and norms of social and cultural practices, while nations and ethnic groups often consciously attempt to lengthen their historical traditions to validate their cultural identity. Prehistoric monuments provide suitable focal points for this precisely because they are visible but ambiguous and can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. New techniques in folklore studies have helped to refine our understanding of the folklore of prehistoric monuments and fossil-related traditions, and geomythology has offered new perspectives on what folklore can reveal about geological phenomena and the natural environment.

Download the transcript of the Podcast

Featured Articles from Folklore

Archaeology & Folklore [Presidential Address], by H. J. Fleure, vol 59/2 (1948): 69-74.

The Folklore of Ancient Egyptian Monuments, by L. V. Grinsell,  vol.58/4 (1947): 345-60.   

The Devil’s Footprints & Other Folklore: Local Legend & Archaeological Evidence in Lancashire, by David A. Barrowclough & John Hallam, vol. 119/1 (2008): 93-102.

Those Who Dwell under the Hills: Orkney’s Mound Lore & Its Wider Context, by Nela Scholma-Mason, ‘Those Who Dwell under the Hills: Orkney’s Mound Lore & Its Wider Context’, Folklore 131/2 (2020): 180-203.

Fossil Folklore in the Liber Monstrorum, Beowulf, and Medieval Scholarship, by Timothy J. Burbery, vol. 126/3 (2015): 317-35.

Further Reading  

Folklore of Some Archaeological Sites in Corsica, by Dorothy Carrington & Leslie Grinsell, vol.93/1 (1982): 61-69.

Antiquity Imagined: Cultural Values in Archaeological Folklore, by Jerome A. Voss,  vol.98/1 (1987): 80-90.

Burials & Archaeology: A Survey of Attitudes to Research, by Francis Celoria,  vol.77/3 (1966): 161-83.

A ‘Divine’ Purpose? The Legacy of T.C. Lethbridge, by Niall Finneran, vol. 114/1 (2003): 107-14.

Snakestone Bead Folklore, by Rachael Pymm, vol.129/4 (Dec. 2018): 397-419.