Accidental or Ritual?
Have you ever noticed strange, tear-shaped scorch marks on timbers in historic buildings? Most people tend to assume that they were left their by the unattended candles of careless occupants. Based on fieldwork survey, research and experimental archaeology this talk demonstrates that such marks are evidence of a number of ritual practices in the mediaeval and early modern periods linked to a desire to bring good luck and avert evil…
The speaker, James Wright (Triskele Heritage), is an award winning buildings archaeologist. He has two decades professional experience of ferreting around in people’s cellars, hunting through their attics and digging up their gardens. He hopes to find meaningful truths about how ordinary and extraordinary folk lived their lives in the mediaeval period. He is the author of the popular Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog and his book Historic Building Mythbusting will be released via The History Press on 6 June 2024.
