Bottles concealed and revealed: examining the phenomena of stone and glass 'witch bottles' and their concealment in mid to late 17th-century England

使用玻璃瓶和德国或英国制造的石器瓶作为“女巫瓶”，并将它们放置/隐藏在建筑物，教堂墓地，沟渠和河岸上，这一现象仅限于17世纪中后期，特别是在大伦敦，英格兰东部和英格兰东南部的某些县。虽然这代表了“女巫瓶子”的起源，以及它们在全国范围内作为一种实践的隐藏，但它仍然不同于其他形式的流行“瓶子”魔法，这些魔法在接下来的两个世纪里出现在不列颠群岛上。这种独特的现象有两种解释。第一个是建筑保护：在这里，瓶子被放置在烟囱/壁炉或门槛下，作为一个幽灵陷阱。第二，它们被用作治疗巫术的容器。约瑟夫·布拉格雷夫（Joseph Blagrave）等人对这一时期的书面描述表明，受害者会在瓶子里装满尿液、别针、钉子、荆棘和/或个人物品（如剪下的头发），然后燃烧瓶子，直到它爆炸或埋葬。这一举动会对女巫造成痛苦，并揭示他们的下落，从而解除诅咒。自从“女巫瓶”在19世纪首次被报道以来，它们已经出现在各种各样的出版物中，被许多博物馆/民间传说收藏和考古档案所收藏，并在有关异教和民间传说研究的网站上进行讨论。它们的数量从考古学家和博物馆馆长拉尔夫·梅里菲尔德（Ralph Merrifield, 1987）首次绘制的少量地图开始增长，并从考古遗址、建筑记录调查和/或历史建筑翻新中恢复。尽管许多石器和玻璃“女巫瓶”及其内容物保存至今，但这是一个从未被作为整体收藏进行批评和调查的部分资源。由于瓶子通常被单独考虑，解释依赖于Merrifield(1987)，而Massey（2000）则强调了对液体内容物的科学分析，参与仍然仅限于少数独立的（即Hoggard 2004； Hoggard在Hutton (ed) 2015）和学术学者（Davies，同上）。讨论在很大程度上与发现瓶子的建筑类型及其文化背景脱节，例如在现代早期如何管理和理解药物，以及流行魔术所起的作用。这个应用程序旨在重新校准我们对这些瓶子及其内容物的理解超过36个月，通过合作和可访问的研究，通过与Nigel Jeffries作为首席研究员（PI）和其他考古学家在MOLA与赫特福德大学（UH）历史系的Owen Davies教授和Ceri Houlbrook博士合作，实现了与魔法，巫术，物体隐藏研究的学者，流行医学和物质文化的魔术作为Co-Is。这项研究的受益者不仅包括这一时期的历史学家和考古学家，还包括博物馆/民俗馆长，而巫术的主题具有超越学术界的吸引力。进一步阅读戴维斯，O，和Easton T， 2015年“民间和神奇的人工制品的生产”在R. Hutton（主编）仪式行为，巫术和巫术的物理证据在基督教英国：对魔法的感觉，Palgrave MacMillan, 2009 -32 hoggard， B 2004年“反巫术和流行魔法的考古学”，在O戴维斯和W de blacimcourt（编辑）超越女巫审判：巫术和魔法在启蒙欧洲曼彻斯特：曼彻斯特大学出版社，167-86霍格加德，B 2015“女巫瓶子：他们的内容，背景和用途”在R赫顿（编）同上，91-105梅西，A和埃德蒙兹，T 2000“女巫瓶子”当前考古学(69，第十五卷(1)，第34-6梅里菲尔德，R 1987的考古仪式和魔法，伦敦

The use of glass bottles and German or English made stoneware bottles as 'witch bottles' and their placement / concealment in buildings, churchyards, ditches and riverbanks is an occurrence limited to the mid to late 17th century and (largely) particular to Greater London, Eastern England and certain South East counties of England. Whilst this represents the beginnings of 'witch bottles' and their concealment as a practice in the national context, it remains distinct from other forms of popular 'bottle' magic that emerge over the next two centuries across the British Isles. This unique phenomenon has been interpreted in two ways. The first is for building protection: here the bottle was placed in the chimney/hearth or under a threshold as a spirit trap. Second is their use as containers of an administered cure against witchcraft. Written accounts from this period by Joseph Blagrave (among others) that describe the practice suggest the victim would fill bottles with urine, other contents such as pins, nails and thorns and / or personal objects (e.g. hair clippings) and then burn the bottle until it exploded or had it buried. This act would inflict pain on the witch and reveal both their whereabouts and reverse the curse. Since 'witch bottles' were first reported in the 19th century, they have featured in a varied range of publications, are curated in numerous museum / folklore collections and archaeological archives, and discussed on websites concerned with paganism and folklore studies. Their numbers have grown from the few first mapped by archaeologist and museum curator Ralph Merrifield (1987) and have since been recovered from archaeological sites, building recording surveys and or/ historic building renovations. Although many stoneware and glass 'witch bottles' and their contents survive in the present, it is a partial resource that has never been critiqued and surveyed as a whole collection. With bottles often considered individually, interpretations are reliant on Merrifield (1987) and whilst the scientific analysis of liquid contents has since been emphasised by Massey (2000), engagement remains limited to a few independent (i.e. Hoggard 2004; Hoggard in Hutton (ed) 2015) and academic scholars (Davies, ibid). Discussion is largely disconnected from the building types the bottles are found in and their cultural context, such as how medicine was administered and understood during the early modern period, and the role popular magic played.This application aims to recalibrate our understanding of these bottles and their contents over 36 months through collaboration and accessible research achieved through partnership with Nigel Jeffries as Principal Investigator (PI) and other archaeologists at MOLA with Professor Owen Davies and Dr Ceri Houlbrook of the History Department at the University of Hertfordshire (UH) - academics concerned with the study of magic, witchcraft, object concealment, popular medicine and the material culture of magic as Co-Is. Beneficiaries of this research will include not just historians and archaeologists of the period, but engage and inform museum / folklore curators, while the subject of witchcraft has an appeal that resonates beyond academia.Further readingDavies, O, and Easton T, 2015 'Cunning-Folk and the Production of Magical Artefacts' in R. Hutton (ed) Physical Evidence for Ritual Acts, Sorcery, and Witchcraft in Christian Britain: A Feeling for Magic, Palgrave MacMillan, 209-32Hoggard, B 2004 'The archaeology of counter-witchcraft and popular magic', in O Davies and W de Blécourt (eds) Beyond the Witch Trials: Witchcraft and magic in Enlightenment Europe Manchester: Manchester University Press, 167-86Hoggard, B 2015 'Witch bottles: their Contents, Contexts and Uses' in R Hutton (ed) ibid, 91-105Massey, A and Edmonds, T 2000 'The Reigate Witch Bottle' Current Archaeology (69, Vol XV (1), pp. 34-6 Merrifield, R 1987 The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, London