Names and Archaeology

Names, particularly place- and field-names, carry vital information for the archaeologist. In their turn, archaeologists can offer vital context for understanding past naming practices. Just as names can be used to locate sites of archaeological interest, so examination of the material culture, form, function, and status of named places can help to establish when and why they were so named. Acknowledging the similarities implicit in onomastic and archaeological method despite their focus on very different forms of evidence, this chapter examines how place-names have been used by archaeologists in the past, primarily as prospection tools, and how they are now being used, in much more nuanced ways, to reveal the mental world of past communities