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June 10, 2009: Witch Bottle
This witch bottle, more accurately anti-witch bottle, was buried in Greenwich England during the 17th century.
| During the 17th century in England, someone urinated in a jar, added nail clippings, hair and pins, and buried it upside-down in Greenwich, where it was recently unearthed and identified by scientists as being the world's most complete known "witch bottle." This spell device, often meant to attract and trap negative energy, was particularly common from the 16th to the 17th centuries, so the discovery provides a unique insight into witchcraft beliefs of that period, according to a report published in the latest British Archaeology. |
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Lead researcher Alan Massey, a former chemist and honorary fellow of Loughborough University, believes "the objects found in witch bottles verify the authenticity of contemporary recipes given for anti-witchcraft devices, which might otherwise have been dismissed by us as being too ridiculous and outrageous to believe." CT scans and chemical analysis, along with gas chromatography conducted by Richard Cole of the Leicester Royal Infirmary, reveal the contents of the bottle to include human urine, brimstone, 12 iron nails, eight brass pins, hair, possible navel fluff, a piece of heart-shaped leather pierced by a bent nail, and 10 fingernail clippings. |
except maybe Elspode, but that's just because he's kinky and he surely will ask politely.
| Archaeologist Mike Pitts, the editor of British Archaeology, told Discovery News, "The discovery of something so apparently bizarre, indicating a clear belief in witchcraft and forces that have nothing at all to do with conventional, approved religion, remind us that early modern England did not belong to the same world we now inhabit." |
Sundae Wednesday Jun 10 03:18 AM
I would like to point out the mention of two previous places I have lived in a post about witchcraft is pure coincidence.
Now, can I have my bottle back?
limey Wednesday Jun 10 03:34 AM
I lol'd!
ZenGum Wednesday Jun 10 04:00 AM
More here from New Scientist.
And more pictures too.
Here is, well not the actual bottle, but a very similar bottle, apparently.
Attachment 23736
Here are the contents:
Attachment 23735
Notice the pins and nails are almost all bent. Quoth the boffin in New Scientist:
| "The urine and the bulb of the bottle represented the waterworks of the witch, and the theory was that the nails and the bent pins would aggravate the witch when she passed water and torment her so badly that she would take the spell back off you." |
xoxoxoBruce Wednesday Jun 10 04:15 AM
What makes you think that's not the actual bottle?
| The bottle itself is actually a salt-glazed jar made in the Netherlands or Germany and stamped with the face of Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino (1542-1621), who played an important role in the Catholic Reformation. |
ZenGum Wednesday Jun 10 04:19 AM
At the link it says
| A 17th-century stoneware bottle similar to the Greenwich find (Image: Alan Massey) |
xoxoxoBruce Wednesday Jun 10 04:28 AM
That is strange. They show the CT scans and contents of the actual bottle, but not the real bottle itself. 
ZenGum Wednesday Jun 10 05:14 AM
My guess is that the actual bottle is very dirty or damaged or something. Or cursed.
classicman Wednesday Jun 10 08:50 AM
... or has pee in it and they dinna wanna get to close
Shawnee123 Wednesday Jun 10 09:39 AM
I'd rather have a witch bottle in front of me than a witch frontal lobotomy.
Sheldonrs Wednesday Jun 10 09:43 AM
Why is it that when they find a bottle with piss in it that was buried 200+ years ago, it's called an "archeological find" but when they found dozens of jars of piss from Howard hughes, he was just nuts?
Maybe he just had more witches to deal with.
TheMercenary Wednesday Jun 10 10:29 AM
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Originally Posted by ZenGum
More here from New Scientist.
And more pictures too. Here is, well not the actual bottle, but a very similar bottle, apparently. Attachment 23736 Here are the contents: Attachment 23735 Notice the pins and nails are almost all bent. Quoth the boffin in New Scientist: I recently mentioned the comments thread on a different NS article. This time, OMFG, don't waste your time. Nutjob city. |
sweasel Wednesday Jun 10 01:02 PM
Also to be found in old houses in Britain: dried horseheads, mummified cats and deliberately concealed clothing. And the hell it stopped in the 17th C.
The peak of our roof (and several other old rooves around here) has the bottom of a bottle cemented in. The locals shrug and look embarrassed. One day, I'll get a ladder and see if it's a whole bottle, or what. I'd hate to miss out on some 400 year old bent nails and pee.
Sundae Wednesday Jun 10 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Sheldonrs
Why is it that when they find a bottle with piss in it that was buried 200+ years ago, it's called an "archeological find" but when they found dozens of jars of piss from Howard hughes, he was just nuts?
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Sheldonrs Wednesday Jun 10 01:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Sundae Girl
Because he used to offer it to guests with olives and cheese?
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Gravdigr Wednesday Jun 10 05:32 PM
Quote quote: ...reveal the contents of the bottle to include human urine, brimstone, 12 iron nails, eight brass pins, hair, possible navel fluff, a piece of heart-shaped leather pierced by a bent nail, and 10 fingernail clippings. end quote quote
O.K. Who found the recipe for my duck glaze??
Shawnee123 Wednesday Jun 10 06:53 PM
Possible navel fluff? It's either navel fluff, or it's not. Unless, navel fluff is optional, in which case I need to know how much more effective the witch bottle is WITH navel fluff before I decide if I really want to go digging around in there.
TheMercenary Thursday Jun 11 09:27 AM
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Originally Posted by sweasel
Also to be found in old houses in Britain: dried horseheads, mummified cats and deliberately concealed clothing. And the hell it stopped in the 17th C.
The peak of our roof (and several other old rooves around here) has the bottom of a bottle cemented in. The locals shrug and look embarrassed. One day, I'll get a ladder and see if it's a whole bottle, or what. I'd hate to miss out on some 400 year old bent nails and pee. |
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