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Archaeology & History

800-year-old witch remains discovered

By T.K. Randall
September 27, 2011 · Comment icon 54 comments

Image Credit: Sabbhat Sabacio Striges
The remains of a witch from the middle-ages has been unearthed at a dig in Italy's Tuscany region.
The gruesome discovery was made at a place believed to have been a witches graveyard some 800 years ago, with the unfortunate victim being found with seven nails driven through her jaw and another 13 throughout her skeleton. "She was buried in bare earth, not in a coffin and she had no shroud around her either," said archaeologist Alfonso Forgione. "Intriguingly other nails were hammered around her to pin down her clothes."
The grim discovery was made during a dig on what is thought to be a 'witches graveyard' after another woman's skeleton was found surrounded by 17 dice - a game which women were forbidden from playing 800 years ago.


Source: Daily Mail | Comments (54)

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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #45 Posted by Device 13 years ago
I still say it was her husband being tired of being nagged. Lol. Yea, they didn't muck around in the old days. "Silence woman! Or I'll hammer several large nails into your jaw and clothes!"
Comment icon #46 Posted by Robert1 13 years ago
I still say it was her husband being tired of being nagged. That's an interesting theory. For all we know, she may have been a nag or a scold or a degenerate gambler. Without more definative information all we have on this subject is pure speculation.
Comment icon #47 Posted by Blackwhite 13 years ago
You know, one mainly hears about the witch trials in England and Germany ,and the workings of the Spanish inquisiton, but rarely or never about witch trials in places like Italy.If you do hear about such things, it's in connection with Galileo's troubles with the Church, or Giadormo Bruno or the Dominican Savenralo( sure I'm misspelling his name),famous italians. I don't know why that is the case, because England had relatively few witch trials and executions compared to most other European nations. The number of witch trials and executions in Scotland dwarved the number in England.
Comment icon #48 Posted by ChristianWitch 13 years ago
Around a 1,000 convicted witches died in England and 4,400 estimated convicted witches died in Scotland. England also did not burn witches but hung them. Torture was also against the law for the most part which also extended to North America as an English colony. Scotland used fire. Of course convicted witches do not mean they claimed to be witches or were. One reason it was more severe in the north of Europe is that it was a more tense area. Witches destroying crops and summoning storms was a major fear. There were less crop failures and storms in Southern Europe. They were more concerned wit... [More]
Comment icon #49 Posted by Blackwhite 13 years ago
Around a 1,000 convicted witches died in England and 4,400 estimated convicted witches died in Scotland. England also did not burn witches but hung them. And that was only when England decided to execute them. Most accused witches in England were not executed. In the 1600s, many supposed witches in England were captured and brought to trial by the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins. He is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 300 women between the years 1644 and 1646. Ironically, legend has it that he was eventually accused of being a witch and then hanged. He and his companion... [More]
Comment icon #50 Posted by KnockoutMouse 13 years ago
Armaros, I'd almost forgotten. And to think the hapless hillfolk ventured to keep you pinned in the earth all with only a few wooden fetishes and this pitiful tacking. They placed far too much stake in carpentry.
Comment icon #51 Posted by SCHMITTHEAD 13 years ago
so who says shes a witch?? where there any papers saying so or...let me guess, there was a note attached.
Comment icon #52 Posted by SCHMITTHEAD 13 years ago
so who says shes a witch?? where there any papers saying so or...let me guess, there was a note attached?
Comment icon #53 Posted by Damian Bâthory 13 years ago
Nails in her jaws and her clothes nailed down, i think they thought she was a vampire not a witch....
Comment icon #54 Posted by Damian Bâthory 13 years ago
Torture was also against the law for the most part which also extended to North America as an English colony. In Québec, Canada, in the 17th century a woman was tortured to death and hanged in a metal cage to be displayed as an example to witches and woman who practiced adultery, she was taken down and buried with the cage by the peoples of her village, the cage and her remains where found and dugged up in late 19th century and sold, she is now beleive to be part of a private collection in the USA, a man was also tortured to death by removing his internal organ while still alive, the executio... [More]
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