Concerning Things Which Will Not Die

Jacqui Woods, the archaeologist who helped advise in 1991 on the excavation of the Iceman, has had her most recent work highlighted in a British newspaper. The article details sites being excavated in Cornwall, which show evidence of Pagan rituals. What makes this article so interesting is that, while any site that shows evidence of Pagan rituals in the UK is a real find, this site, and it's evidence, only date back to the mid-seventeenth century. This is well after the fairly early conversion to Christianity throughout the British Isles.

The sites are described as pits containing the remnants of birds, eggs, swan pelts, stones, fabric, and more. Woods hints that the offerings may have been fertility symbols connected to conception and pregnancy. Some of the pits were also wells at one time that seem to have been sealed up by Puritans at some point. All of this becomes particularly interesting when we remember that this is at the height of the witch hunts in England and most of Western Europe.

The archaeologist was also quoted with something in the article that, quite frankly surprised me,

"Often when secret rituals are abandoned people will talk about ‘things that were done in my grandmother’s day’ but there has been no whisper of this. It really makes me wonder whether that is because it is still going on."

This juicy little piece really makes you wonder how long things like this have gone on, or if they're still going on. This, I think would surprise most Americans since they view Britain as staunch, and sometimes, boring.

The article can be found by clicking here.