During spatial navigation, hippocampal place cells rely on visual inputs to map space, but other sensory modalities, such as odour, can also be effectively used (doi: 10.1093/cercor/bht239). Although rodents are nocturnal and short-sighted, little is known about the role of other sensory modalities as substrates for place fields. Here, we recorded electrophysiologically from place cells in the hippocampal CA1 region of adult male rats while they explored a round empty field arena in darkness and in the absence of reliable tactile, olfactory, and visual cues. We compared place cell behaviour under these conditions with arena exploration in the presence of local (floor-sourced) or distal (externally sourced) auditory tones. Our aim was to clarify to what extent auditory cues can serve as a substrate for the generation of place fields.We found that distal auditory cues, but not local auditory cues, enable and support the manifestation and stabilisation of place fields, regardless of the sound frequency used. Our data suggest that place cells can use context-dependent auditory information to map space. Moreover, our findings underscore the capability of CA1 neurons to use sensory modalities other than vision to generate spatial representations.Supported by the Deutsche Forschunggemeinschaft (SFB 874/B3, project number: 122679504).