Uncanny
mystery
etchings
BRITISH cave enthusiasts have re-interpreted hundreds of centuries-old marks and ritualistic drawings as designed to capture, trap and repel evil forces.
The marks – popularly known as "witch marks" – are in Creswell Crags, an ancient cave system 240km north of London that was once inhabited by Neanderthals.
They date to the mediaeval and early modern eras and were at one time wrongly believed to be more modern graffiti, according to Huffington Post.
But an organisation called Subterranea Brittanica has investigated and analysed the marks, along with academic experts. The etchings are actually atropaic marks, devised for trapping or capturing evil.
"You can't help but wonder: How scared were they of something?" asks Paul Baker, director of Creswell Crags. "What were they so concerned about that they would go to this level? There is no area that hasn't got a mark on it somewhere."
But it's not clear what, specifically, the atropaic marks were aimed at.
"It could be fairies, witches, whatever you were fearful of, it was going to be down there," says Alison Fearn, a University of Leicester expert on protective marks.
"Even two hundred years ago, the English countryside was a very different place," says Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England.
"Death and disease were everyday companions and evil forces could readily be imagined in the dark. We can only speculate on what it was the people of Creswell feared might emerge from the underworld into these caves"
Does all this pre-echo Brexit and Project Fear? It's uncanny, to be sure.
MEANWHILE, nurses at a hospital in Naples have been accused of releasing cockroaches into a ward in order to get it closed.
Media in the Italian city have reported the suspicion of detectives that the cockroaches were introduced to the Accident and Emergency ward at the Vecchio Pellegrini Hospital by staff who wanted to be transferred to less demanding jobs.
Hospital director Maria Corvino is quoted "Nurses and trade unionists appear to have sabotaged the Pellegrini in order to obtain a transfer elsewhere."
This surely is ammo for Britain's brexiteers, a response to Project Fear.
"They say the NHS can't manage without its EU nurses … but do we want EU nurses distributing cockroaches round our hospitals? Let's make a clean break with the EU … a clean break with cockroaches … that's what the people voted for in 2016 …"
OVERHEARD in the Street Shelter for the Over-Forties: "What's the difference between a singles bar and a circus? In a circus the clowns don't talk to you."
MORE than 1 500 live turtles have been found in unclaimed airport baggage in the Phillipines, according to Sky News.
The tiny creatures, with exquisitely patterned shells, were found wrapped in duct tape in four suitcases at Ninoy Aquino airport in Manila. They had been flown in from Hong Kong.
The airport authorities believe the pet smugglers got cold feet at the last moment and abandoned their haul, which has a street value the equivalent of R1.2 million.
This is the international pet smuggling network. Well, at least they weren't headed for the international turtle soup smuggling network.
Tailpiece
WHAT'S the difference between a cat and a comma?
One has the paws before the claws, the other has the clause before the pause.
Last word
Winning may not be everything, but losing has little to recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment