1799 – Amulet: Bone

Physical description:

Animal (or bird) bone roughly shaped like a T or a Tau cross. Probably used as an amulet.

Museum classification:

Protection

Size:

50 x 25 x 5

Information:

Scarborough Museum has a similar (but not identical) bone (in fact a sheep's hyoid bone), collected in the Isle of Man in 1911, labelled as a "Thor's Hammer", and which was used to help a traveller choose the right route at a crossroads; also three other sheep's hyoid bones simply labelled as charms, which were carried by Scarborough fishermen to protect them from drowning (information provided by Tabitha Cadbury - see her report 'The Clarke Collection of Charms and Amulets' in the museum library).
The Horniman Museum also has a similar bone, collected by Edward Lovett, described as a Thor's Hammer, and carried by a Yorkshire seaman as an amulet.

Resource:

Object

Materials:

Bone

Copyright ownership:

Treetrunk Ltd

Scarborough Museum has a similar (but not identical) bone (in fact a sheep's hyoid bone), collected in the Isle of Man in 1911, labelled as a "Thor's Hammer", and which was used to help a traveller choose the right route at a crossroads; also three other sheep's hyoid bones simply labelled as charms, which were carried by Scarborough fishermen to protect them from drowning (information provided by Tabitha Cadbury - see her report 'The Clarke Collection of Charms and Amulets' in the museum library).
The Horniman Museum also has a similar bone, collected by Edward Lovett, described as a Thor's Hammer, and carried by a Yorkshire seaman as an amulet.