buried-beneath-foundation-as-ward

Kirkegrim · salience 0.95

“The Kirkegrim arises from a practice recorded in Scandinavian and English folk tradition: an animal — most often a black dog, sometimes a lamb or, in the Danish material especially, a sow — was buried alive when a church or its graveyard was founded, and its spirit thereafter guarded the ground.”

Kusarikku

“Small clay and stone figurines identified with bull-men and related protective spirits have been found buried beneath the thresholds and foundations of Mesopotamian houses and temples, a practice consistent with a broader Mesopotamian tradition of installing guardian figures at doorways and boundary points to intercept malevolent influences before they could cross into protected space.”