Mysterious Minature Coffins
Posted: 16 Aug 2017 14:11
Lost Edinburgh:The Arthur's Seat coffins.
TWO CENTURIES ago, 17 concealed miniature coffins were discovered in a cave on Arthur's Seat.
To this day their exact origin and purpose remain shrouded in mystery.
One June afternoon in 1836 five young local lads accidentally stumbled
upon the extraordinary. The boys had spent the day mucking around hunting for rabbit warrens
on Arthur's Seat when they made a startling discovery at the entrance to a small cave on the
rugged north-eastern face of the famous hill: a horde of intricately-carved miniature figures
set in coffins.
The coffins, numbering 17, had laid undisturbed for an indeterminate amount of time beneath
just a few thin slabs of slate. They were neatly laid out in 3 tiers; two lower rows of 8 and a
third supposedly just begun.
According to The Scotsman of July 16, 1836, several of the figures were either badly damaged
or lost altogether as the decrepit-looking cache provided convenient fodder for the boys to pelt
one another with. Fortunately, a few did manage to endure the onslaught.
They were eventually purchased by a private collector where they remained until being passed
over to the museum in 1901. Only 8 figures, in varying states of decay.
Each of the 17 caskets found in 1836 held an expertly-carved human effigy creepily dressed in
it's own unique garb, with painted black boots and distorted facial features verging on the
macabre. The figures assembled on two upper tiers appeared to be less worn and deteriorated
than the coffins had been deposited in stages over a number of year.
In recent times experts have sought hard to explain exactly when and why the coffins were made
and who put the. There. The theories very the years have differed wildly.
Some cite attempted witchcraft as a possibility, while others have suggested that they were
perhaps kept by sailors to ward off death.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/e ... -22371426/
TWO CENTURIES ago, 17 concealed miniature coffins were discovered in a cave on Arthur's Seat.
To this day their exact origin and purpose remain shrouded in mystery.
One June afternoon in 1836 five young local lads accidentally stumbled
upon the extraordinary. The boys had spent the day mucking around hunting for rabbit warrens
on Arthur's Seat when they made a startling discovery at the entrance to a small cave on the
rugged north-eastern face of the famous hill: a horde of intricately-carved miniature figures
set in coffins.
The coffins, numbering 17, had laid undisturbed for an indeterminate amount of time beneath
just a few thin slabs of slate. They were neatly laid out in 3 tiers; two lower rows of 8 and a
third supposedly just begun.
According to The Scotsman of July 16, 1836, several of the figures were either badly damaged
or lost altogether as the decrepit-looking cache provided convenient fodder for the boys to pelt
one another with. Fortunately, a few did manage to endure the onslaught.
They were eventually purchased by a private collector where they remained until being passed
over to the museum in 1901. Only 8 figures, in varying states of decay.
Each of the 17 caskets found in 1836 held an expertly-carved human effigy creepily dressed in
it's own unique garb, with painted black boots and distorted facial features verging on the
macabre. The figures assembled on two upper tiers appeared to be less worn and deteriorated
than the coffins had been deposited in stages over a number of year.
In recent times experts have sought hard to explain exactly when and why the coffins were made
and who put the. There. The theories very the years have differed wildly.
Some cite attempted witchcraft as a possibility, while others have suggested that they were
perhaps kept by sailors to ward off death.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/e ... -22371426/