FINDING AND ASKING THE RIGHT PEOPLE THE RIGHT QUESTIONS. ON THE USE OF ORAL TRADITION IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Abstract

A b stract The background of this paper is extensive surveys and interviews for thir­ ty years in maritime milieu, including a great lake environment, as well as the mountains of the interior of Scandinavia. The central theses are: 1) that you can almost be sure of a genuine tradition if a specific place for it can be pointed out in present neutral space, thus a potential archaeological site, and 2) that tradition and place names make a holistic view of culture possible, they offer extremely many-sided aspects of cultural history: mundane everyday existence, emergencies, dramatic events and aspects of life alike. Four principles for field work are outlined, geo­ graphical, social, gender and personal. By way of the study of folklore it is possible even to formulate intricate hypotheses on e.g. cultural barriers and ancient cosmology.