Ralph Merrifield	Witch-bottle from the cover of 'The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic'.
his contribution to this field

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Ralph Merrifield was renowned for his work on the archaeology of Roman London. However, he is also the person who has so far contributed the most to the subject of the archaeology of folk magic. Without his book, The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic this project would probably not have begun. The book covers the subject from the prehistoric to the modern period and about half of it is directly relevant to the content of this site. This is the only book which discusses the archaeology of folk magic in any detail at all. The book has been a rare hardback for some time now, so any opportunity to buy it should be seized upon.

Ralph's more academic works on folk magic were published significantly earlier - here is a bibliography of his published works relating to folk magic. If anyone can add to the list below please contact me. All of these are available through the British Library for a fee (select services then document supply on their site) - or alternatively you could try and get hold of them through your local library. This list is in date order:

‘The Use of Bellarmines as Witch-Bottles’, Guildhall Miscellany, no 3, February 1954, offprint.
‘A Charm Against Witchcraft’, Country Life, June 23rd 1955, pp1612-3.
'Witch-Bottles and Magical Jars', Folklore, 1955, vol LXVI, pp195-200.
with Norman Smedley, ‘Two Witch-Bottles from Suffolk’, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, vol XXVIII, 1958-60, pp97-100.
‘Folklore in London Archaeology – Part 2’, London Archaeologist, 2 (5), 1969, pp99-104.
The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, 1987, Batsford, London.

Ralph's particular expertise in the field of folk magic lay with witch-bottles and his work on them is still the best starting point for research into their nature and use. This photo of Ralph comes from the back cover of The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, 1987. It is hoped that this web page serves as some small memorial to this fine researcher.

I must extend my thanks to the estate of Ralph Merrifield for permission to publish this page.

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www.apotropaios.co.uk
© Brian Hoggard 2000-2008
This site has been on the web since July 3rd 2000