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. Massey believes witch bottles "emphasize just how frightened people were of the 'black arts' -- the early settlers even took their superstitions to the New World with them as excavated witch bottles demonstrate." The general time period of the bottle coincides with the Salem Witch Trials, which happened in late 1600's America. 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." Related Links: |
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