1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi. My name is Robert Lamb, and 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: this is the artifact, a short form series from Stuff 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas, 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: and moments in time throughout the pandemic. I have recorded 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: from my home, and that has meant recording from my closet. 7 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: As it appears, home recording is here to stay. I've 8 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: been trying to move this operation into another room. I'm 9 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: going to start out with some acoustic panels, but I 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: wonder if I might want to eventually consider the use 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: of horse skulls. You see, there's a long human history 12 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: of secreting away various objects within a home's construction. They 13 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: range from spells and curses written on bits of parchment 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: to mummified cats and old shoes. Back in the nineteen 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: thirties and forties, many medicine cabinets included a razor blade 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: disposal slot so that you could store your used blades 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: right inside the wall. Now, the razor blade solution was 18 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: at the time purely practical? Is Sarah Mogoosin points out 19 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: in the Not So Dull History of in home razor 20 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: blade disposal slots for apartment Therapy dot com. Many families 21 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: burn their own trash at the time and use the 22 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: ashes in their home gardens, not an ideal place for 23 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: biohazard razor blades. Better to seal them away in the 24 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: walls and ultimately in the floor. However, this is actually 25 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: reminiscent of cultural practices that saw the hiding of hair 26 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: and fingernails and walls to keep them from falling into 27 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: the hands of witches and elsewhere in England and in 28 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: the United States, which bottles were used in the seventeenth 29 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: century as anti witchcraft measures. The bottles often contained human hair, 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: bent nails or pins, and perhaps a solution of urine, 31 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: which brings us back to the horse skulls which have 32 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: been found in floors throughout Europe, the British Isles, and 33 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: the United States. Were these counter magical measures as well, 34 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: or something more practical. According to Magical House Protection by 35 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: Brian Hoggard, published in twenty nineteen, there are three primary 36 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: theories regarding such horse skulls. One is that they're the 37 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: remains of a foundation sacrifice. Another is that it's simply 38 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: there is a token of luck. But one of the 39 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: more interesting and at times. Popular theory is that it 40 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: served partially or primarily as an acoustic enhancer. The idea 41 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: here is that horse gulls were placed in the floor 42 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: in order to enhance the acoustics of dance halls or 43 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: threshing floors, both activities with positive and protective supernatural associations. 44 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: In this the practice is reminiscent of the ceiling of 45 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: acoustic vases in the walls of medieval churches, where, based 46 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: on the writings of Vitruvius on sonorous architects, were thought 47 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: to enhance choral music. Haggard, however, argues that such horse 48 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: skulls were primarily used to ward off evil, and that 49 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: a particular Norfolk accounts suggests a form of foundation sacrifice. 50 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: It is the seeming secrecy of these acts, he argues, 51 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: that supports magical practices rather than legitimate acoustic function, which 52 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 1: would not need to be hidden. However, he suggests that 53 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: actual acoustic experiments could shed more light on the matter. 54 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,519 Speaker 1: So scientists, grab your equipment, head to the dance halls 55 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: and the threshing barns. The skulls await tune into additional 56 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: editions of the artifact each week. As always, you can 57 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: email us at contact at stuff to Blow Your Mind 58 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of 59 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, 60 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 61 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.