Macabre 18th Century mummified cat ward against witchcraft au/Kalti-Paarti-Introduction

au/Kalti-Paarti-Introduction

This is a lovely skull of the Manx shearwater Manx shearwater skull Puffinus puffinus

This species is a large member of the Auk family with circumpolar distribution of the sub-species in the Northern waters

These are made by the Bena Bena people of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea

The lower half of the vessel is wood with a wide band of leather very finely stitched onto the top

Macabre 18th Century mummified cat ward against witchcraft au/Kalti-Paarti-IntroductionThe practice of putting sealing up dead animals into the walls of houses has been going since the middle ages in Europe. The belief seemed to be that a dried cat or dog would protect against witchcraft and scare a witch's familiar away from the house. It might have also been believed that the presence of these mummified animals also scared away rats and mice. This cat was discovered behind the plaster when the owner was renovating a house that dated