Doll Necropolis

In the month of June 1836, five boys exploring the countryside around Arthurs seat, Edinburgh, Scotland, made a strange discovery.

Inside a concealed cave they came across something peculiar and unfathomable that has remained mysterious for the past 175 years.

They found, stacked in three tiers, 17 miniature coffins approximately 10 centimeters in length - each containing a carved wooden effigy.



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Upon inspection of these coffins, it was noticeable that there was some degree of degradation on the ones from the bottom tier whilst the the uppermost coffins looked as if they were placed there fairly recently. This suggested that these carvings were added over a long period of time by somone who was careful to keep this bizarre tomb hidden and secret.


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But what would possess a person to carve these elaborate sculptures and then take the odd step to arrange them in a considered fashion in a cave, in the belief that nobody would find them?

No real answer has been forthcoming, only speculation - and none of it particularly convincing.


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Here is a link with more pic's and theories:

www.edinburgh-royalmile.com...

Another odd little episode from history!

I would have loved to be one of the boys who came across this!


'EDIT - sorry if in wrong forum!'

[edit on 16-7-2010 by Silver Star]

[edit on 16-7-2010 by Silver Star]

I remember reading this story awhile back. It is certainly an interesting find. I would love to see them in person.

Star and flag,because i love creepy little dolls! I think what we have here though,is a case of black majick. I've studied this kind of thing for a long time,and usually if a person wanted someone to die,they would make a doll of them and attach something that belonged to the person to the doll,curse it and nail it shut and hope the spell worked. But who knows,maybe they were just passing the time,lol

reply to post by GATruthseeker

Yep, the story has always captured my imagination.

I'd love to have a closer inspection of them.

I believe they are on display somewhere.

reply to post by CASH69

Hey yes!

My theories revolve around the black magic (or 'majick') aspect of it too.

A lot of effort obviously went into these little carvings and that suggests they were created by somone who was passionate about something.

Hmmm, quite interesting.
The theory of a voodoo doll fits, but not the location.
Any chance a wayward ship from Haiti fits into the scenario?

reply to post by AccessDenied

Haha true!

Perhaps there is a Celtic tradition that operates on the same principles?

reply to post by Silver Star


Scotland is full of magical lore,and many branches of magick have their similarities. Poppets or voodoo dolls may be European in origin,who knows?

As long as we are throwing theories around...

My initial thought was that these are perhaps some way of honoring respected members of the tribe or group that had passed on, possibly the greater the depth of the coffin found the farther back in history the figure that they represented lived..

Something like a 3D model of the liniage of the clan's elders or witchdocter?

Anyway S+F for the interesting story.

~meathead

ETA second theory: Perhaps there was a Serial Killer on the loose hundreds of years ago, and this was his way of keeping a "momento"





[edit on 16-7-2010 by Mike Stivic]

reply to post by Mike Stivic

Thanks for your comment.

Perhaps it was a personal thing for the creator of the coffins? Maybe when a family member died, they would whittle out another carving and put it in the cave.

This was back in the early 19th century when there were large families and high death rates. Could it be one persons way of grieving? That could possibly explain why the coffins were hidden away, they were a private representation of a dead loved one.

If that were the case, this person must have been mortified to read in the paper that their secret cave had been found and the contents looted - to be put on display for the amusement and bafflement of the general public!