The witch bottle that Mary mentions in her memoir. It was reported to have been discovered in June 2009.
[37] In June 2009 Dr. Alan Massey, a former chemist and honorary fellow of Loughborough University has analysed the contents of a Witch Bottle which was found buried in a garden in Greenwich.
It must have contained Mary’s urine and Lemuel’s fingernails, because the British Archaeology Magazine (July/Aug 2009) goes on to list: “some bent nails and pins, a nail-pierced leather “heart”, navel fluff and hair. The presence of iron sulphide in the mixture also suggests that sulphur or brimstone had been added.”
Dr. Alan Massey also detected nicotine in the urine, suggesting the one who produced the urine was a smoker. Of course, he didn’t read Mary’s diary, so he didn’t know that smoking was part of that particular witchcraft ritual.