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Robert, I'm not sure this counts as architectural, but there are records of (specifically horse) skulls being buried under the floors & sealed in the walls of Medieval & later buildings. It's said to be to help the acoustics (whole pots are used in the same way). At least 24 were found screwed to the underside of floor-boards of an inn near Hereford, where they were said to have 'made the fiddle go better', and horse skulls were also found in the belfry of Elsdon church in Northumberland. The same custom was found in Ireland; a horse's head was buried under the floor, often under the flagstone in front of the hearth, & was said to give an echo & make the dancing sound better. In Ireland also they were buried in churches, & sometimes cattle skulls were used instead. There's also a record of them being buried under threshing floors, presumably to give a good acoustic when threshing. There's a very full account of this in a book by Ralph Merrifield, called 'The archaeology of ritual and magic', published by Batsford, London, 1987, pp 121-9; it also has useful references to other animal foundation offerings. Julie Bond ---------------------- Julie Bond Dept of Archaeological Sciences University of Bradford [log in to unmask]