Broken Glass In Crawlspace Of My Old 1900 House...Why?

Question

I recently just purchased an old farm house built in the 1900's. The floor is being raised, but we are finding a lot of broken glass and animal skulls all over the crawlspace...more in some areas than others. The skulls are actually what we think are deer or horse...they are big. Our question is how did they get down their.....someone had to have put them their.
Is their some kind of tradition or superstition that goes along with this?

Answer 1

I've seen several "house detective" type programs, where broken glass was found in the crawlspace.
Explanations [origins] vary, but usually result as some sort of trash disposal conclusion.
The area beneath the hose would prevent shards from being dealt with elsewhere.
Trap doors seemed to be common.

I never thought that I would do a search using the terms "animal skulls in crawlspace", but you did peak my curiosity.
Several variations and venues didn't result in any ritual exercise or other explanation.

I would hazard a guess that the heads of animals slaughtered or hunted were discarded within the predatory range of some carnivore. The crawlspace was a "safe" area to dine.

Answer 2

There is no tradition... but the debris of a century has built up as people have lived in that house.

Modern archaeolgists often find broken crockery, pottery, glass (in more modern buildings) and well animal bones, coins, buttons and more. (HGTV's "If Walls Could Talk" showcases a lot of stuff like this.) And at the turn of the century, they didn't have trash collection in rural areas. Some of the stuff I mentioned above also has been known to turn up in places where outhouses used to stand, some 50 to 100 feet from the dwelling.

In a farming area, it is likely that a dog or coyote could've dragged a large animal skull into a crawlspace area quite handily. It happens even now on farms and ranches.

Who knows? With a bit of luck and a little detective work, you might even turn up something that is pretty historical to the house.

Answer 3

My mom and dad's home was built in 1895 and we'd never heard of this, as long as they're animal, that is.

I think this is some type of unique maneuver of some type that's only in this one instance.