Material traces of past cultures as a motive for the creation of Spanish place names

Abstract

Place names referencing the material traces of past cultures are relatively common in the microtoponymy, of Spanish-speaking areas. Since they were created by rural speech communities completely lacking in historical and archaeological culture, they make it possible to reconstruct how realities of archaeological interest (fragments of tools and building materials, ruins of buildings, dolmens, menhirs, tombs, old coins, inscriptions, engraved or painted cave art, among others) were popularly perceived and interpreted long before becoming objects of scientific study. Taking an extensive toponymic corpus as its starting point, this paper presents an exhaustive classification of such names, differentiating those of a purely descriptive nature from those intended to provide answers to questions concerning the origins, age, and purpose of the enigmatic discoveries. This toponomastic analysis facilitates the rigorous study of the process of onymic creation and its underlying motives.