Daily Prayers with Decomposing Corpses: Death Chairs at Aragonese Castle
The Aragonese Castle is a castle built on top of a rocky islet next to Ischia, a small Italian island on the northern end of the Gulf of Naples. Whilst a stronghold is said to have already been built during Classical times, much of the present structure dates to the Middle Ages. The Aragonese Castle…
Christians Supplied Medieval Pagans with Horses for Sacrifice for Funeral Rituals
In the late medieval period, pagans in the Baltic region of northern Europe imported horses from neighboring Christian nations for use in funeral rituals, according to a study. Horse sacrifices were highly visible and symbolic public rites across pagan prehistoric Europe, persisting the latest among the Baltic tribes, up to the 14th century AD. Offering pits might…
Most visited pilgrims sites in the world
Pilgrimage has been a significant part of human civilization, binding cultures, religions, and races across continents. It's a spiritual voyage that millions undertake each year, seeking solace, answers, or simply an intimate encounter with their faith. What are the  pilgrimage destinations you must visit, and why are these places so revered? River Ganges Photo…
Categories: Christianity

Scientists have announced hunting for witches. Join now!

A team of archaeologists and historians from MOLA and the University of Hertfordshire are calling on people who may have discovered 17th century ‘witch bottles’ during restoration work or know of examples curated at their places of work, to come forward, reported Phys.org

 


Photo:museumoflondon.org.uk

‘Witch bottles’ is the name given to 17th century  and  vessels believed to have served as objects for ritual protection or as the containers of a ‘prepared cure’ against witchcraft. Their contents most commonly include pins and nails, but sometimes also urine, nail clippings and thorns. They have been found deliberately concealed in a range of places: in hearths or beneath the floors of historic buildings, in churchyards, ditches and riverbanks, and on archaeological sites

 

MOLA Finds Specialist Nigel Jeffries, and Professor Owen Davies and Dr. Ceri Houlbrook from the University of Hertfordshire are conducting the most comprehensive synthesis of evidence relating to the much practice mythologised phenomenon of ‘witch bottles’ ever undertaken. Led by Jeffries, ‘Bottles concealed and revealed’ is a three year project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

For the first time, all known examples that survive in museums and other collections around Southern and Eastern England (the apparent geographical extent of the phenomenon) are to be surveyed first-hand or through literature review and critiqued along with their contents. Extensive research will also be done to explore the origins of the practice and to situate ‘witch bottles’ in their full historic and cultural context, perhaps debunking some myths along the way.

 

Photo:museumoflondon.org.uk

The team asks that anyone who believes they may have found a ‘witch bottle’ to treat it as an archaeological artefact, not move it, and report it to their local Finds Liaison Officer (finds.org.uk/contacts) at the Portable Antiquities Scheme before notifying the ‘Bottles concealed team’ by:


Explore further

Israeli archeologists dig up liquor bottles of WWI troops


More information: Email witchbottles@mola.org.uk

Book “Discovery of Witches” – by Matthew Hopkins
Religious Tourism

Recent Posts

Daily Prayers with Decomposing Corpses: Death Chairs at Aragonese Castle

The Aragonese Castle is a castle built on top of a rocky islet next to…

5 months ago

Christians Supplied Medieval Pagans with Horses for Sacrifice for Funeral Rituals

In the late medieval period, pagans in the Baltic region of northern Europe imported horses from neighboring…

6 months ago

Most visited pilgrims sites in the world

Pilgrimage has been a significant part of human civilization, binding cultures, religions, and races across…

6 months ago

Паломницкий маршрут “Шлях Сантьяго”: поради початківцям

«Щасливий ти, здійснюючи паломництво, якщо, завершуючи дорогу, ти відкриваєш, що справжній Шлях тільки починається». Колись…

6 months ago

14th Century Church Discovered under a Tennis Court in Hungary

During an archaeological excavation in  Visegrád, a fortified medieval castle on a hill overlooking the Danube…

6 months ago

The Worst Popes and Their Dirty Secrets

Throughout history, the papacy has been a beacon of spirituality and moral guidance for billions…

6 months ago