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Votive offerings
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Branwen
824 posts

Re: Votive offerings
Sep 06, 2009, 13:49
I suppose the plastic dolls are a modern version of the poppet dolls. Like the 17 peg dolls found on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh in the 1850's, on show in the Museum of Scotland. I was reminded of them again when they showed them on Rebus on TV this week.

Each was complete with their own little coffin. Those peg dolls and their coffins were biodegradeable though, and buried. They were found in remarkably good condition despite the fact they are believed to have been in the ground for over 100 years. It probably helped in that case that they were buried in their own little version of a cist.

I like this kind of offering. It is one where you offer a part of yourself back to the land, with a promise to protect it, in return for help. The peg doll is carved by you, and it's hair and clothes are made from your own hair and rags torn from your own clothes.

The placement in a coffin in a cist is unusual, I had never heard of that before with this kind of offering, and it makes the ones in Edinburgh unique, as far as I know.
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Re: Votive offerings (moss)		 Replies:
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Re: Votive offerings (Pilgrim)
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