Mummified cats and witch markings hidden inside walls of British homes to ward off demons
THE ARCHAEOLOGY of British homes may not sound too interesting but superstitious Brits have actually been burying some pretty creepy stuff in their walls for centuries.
Between the 15th and 18th centuries a lot of people wanted to protect their homes from supernatural forces and had rather unusual methods to do this.
Mummified cats
According to Readers Digest, our ancestors had several different methods for “warding off evil” from the most vulnerable areas of their homes.
Burying mummified cats and bones in the walls and roof cavities of houses is one of the most creepy.
Cats were seen as a defence against witchcraft and bad luck, especially around the 1600s.
People still find mummified cats when they renovate their homes today, including George Hartley who found a mummified moggie in the ceiling of her Knaresborough, North Yorkshire property back in 2012.
Similar incidents have happened all over the UK including in Whitby, Devon, and Pendle Hill in Lancashire which was famous for witch trials.
Witch markings
If you live in a really old house then you should look out for witch markings like the star pictured above.
Flower and star shapes like this would be carved onto beams, fireplaces and wooden door frames.
They’re known as apotropaic marks and were thought to protect from evil.
Hundreds of protective marks were recently discovered at Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border that has 60,000 years of history.
Witch bottles and shoes
Other creepy artefacts sometimes found in old British homes include witch bottles and old shoes.
In the 17th century, witch bottles would often be filled with things associated with a bad person in the hope that they would die and the bottle would break open.
Well-worn shoes have also been found concealed in places like Hampton Court Palace and Winchester Cathedral.
It’s a mystery why shoes were chosen to ward off evil but children’s shoes are more commonly found, suggesting their innocence might have been seen as a more powerful way to protect from evil.
UK mysteries 'solved' by archaeology
Here are some of the most exciting discoveries that have happened in Britain...
- Richard III final resting place: The skeleton of King Richard III was discovered by archaeologists in a supermarket carpark in Leicester in 2013
- How Stonehenge was built: The huge monoliths that make up Stonehenge may have been dragged there using greasy sledges lubricated with pig fat, according to new research from Newcastle University
- Why there were 39 decapited skulls at the London Wall: Skulls discovered within the boundaries of ancient London back in 1988 are now believed to have belonged to gladiators who were beheaded for amusement purposes thanks to a recent reassessment of the remains
- Queen Emma’s remains: The lost bones belonging to an 11th-century English queen called Queen Emma are believed to have been found in a chest in Winchester Cathedral
TOP STORIES IN SCIENCE
In other news, a medieval sword found embedded in a rock at the bottom of a Bosnian river is being hailed as ‘Excalibur’.
Complete skeletons of mother and child have been found under the floor at the Tower of London.
And, hoard of treasure unearthed at an ancient Trojan city in Greece has been revealed by archaeologists.
What do make of the ancient superstitious beliefs above? Let us know in the comments…
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk