Physical Evidence for Ritual Acts, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Christian Britain

John Billingsley, Independent Scholar, UK Tabitha Cadbury, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, UK Matthew Champion, Freelance Archaeologist, UK Alexander Cummins, University of Bristol, UK Owen Davies, University of Hertfordshire, UK Timothy Easton, Independent Artist and Sculptor, UK Dinah Eastop, University College London, UK Ian Evans, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia Brian Hoggard, Independent Scholar, UK M. Chris Manning, Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, USA June Swann MBE, Northampton Museum, UK

"Few historical works have the capacity to make us see an extended period of history in a completely new way. This deeply enjoyable collection, applying archaeology to the history of ideas, does just that. Ronald Hutton's collection of essayists show how physical and archaeological survivals which have been relegated to the intellectual margins by being classified as merely picturesque, are 'prayers made solid', and deserve our serious consideration in understanding the past." - Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford, UK "A fascinating collection, full of colourful, arresting and sometimes frankly puzzling findings, which pose new questions about continuity and change in popular belief. Readers will be left in no doubt that the 'material culture of magic' is a dimension of the historical record scholars can no longer afford to overlook." - Peter Marshall, University of Warwick, UK

• 1. Introduction; Ronald Hutton 2. Magic On The Walls: Ritual Protection Marks in the Medieval Church; Matthew Champion 3. Apotropaic Symbols and Other Measures for Protecting Buildings Against Misfortune; Timothy Easton 4. Instances and Contexts of the Head Motif in Britain; John Billingsley 5. Witch Bottles: Their Contents, Contexts and Uses; Brian Hoggard 6. Concealed Animals; Brian Hoggard 7. Shoes Concealed In Buildings; June Swann 8. Garments Concealed Within Buildings: Following the Evidence; Dinah Eastop 9. Spiritual Middens; Timothy Easton 10. Textual Evidence For The Material History Of Amulets In Seventeenth-Century England; Alexander Cummins 11. Amulets: The Material Evidence; Tabitha Cadbury 12. Cunning-Folk and the Production of Magical Artefacts; Owen Davies and Timothy Easton 13. The Wider Picture: Parallel Evidence in America and Australia; Ian Evans, M. Chris Manning and Owen Davies