Real Life Horror: Accused Witch Tortured

One thing about horror fiction – it seems never to be able to equal the horrors humans inflict upon one another.  In many cases, scholars have determined that those who are different, those who are immigrants, or those who live in a marginalized society are frequently persecuted by the status quo and particularly in times of societal stresses.

Here we have a 25 September 2011 report from Tuscany, Italy.

800-year-old remains of witch from the Middle Ages was discovered in Italian graveyard… with seven nails driven through her jaw !!

The grim discovery was made during a dig on what is thought to be a ‘witches graveyard’ after another woman’s skeleton was found surrounded by 17 dice – a game which women were forbidden from playing 800 years ago.  Experts say they believe the women are aged around 25 – 30 years old and were found buried in a simple shallow grave in the ground with no coffin or shroud.  The macabre remains were found during a dig close to the sea at Piombino near Lucca in Italy’s Tuscany region and the woman had seven nails through her jaw as well as another 13 nails surrounding her skeleton.

The entire article is here.