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Tuesday 2 August 2011

Magical Architecture Caches Witch Bottles Mummy Cats And Abandoned Shoes

Magical Architecture Caches Witch Bottles Mummy Cats And Abandoned Shoes
Cross-post, due to conference this go out with, from my archaeology blog

The discover of a mummified cat in an quick 19th-century Edinburgh dwelling (dead accomplice) reminded me of one of the niftiest stuff in forgotten archaeology, magical deposits. Common caches cavernous under confound or within walls place in shoes, cats, or "witch bottles" specially solidify with pins and urine. These were magical charms in British culture, and become quiet verify some power. As noted on Brian Hoggard's page on these charms and other folk magic, cats were normally had it or before noted by formation teams that naked them. They can be creepy whether interpreted by the discoverer as an pitiable fluke or as an occult consequence, and in some hand baggage are burned to disinfect the obstinate and in all probability help the cat in the afterlife.

Update: Initial witch canister become quiet solid (and superficially containing urine) found in Greenwich.

Update: Term paper from Strike 2008 has breed images and declare (dead accomplice)

Flicker April 2009: Sealed shoes from Nova Scotia

Flicker June 2009: The solid witch canister has been analyzed