Making the bone work

The last part of the text also discloses the function of the bone. It tells the deceased that he (or she) should start bringing all his or her own sufferings upon the victim “as soon as I place this bone under your back”. Now we also know why the bones were found in a tomb.

They were introduced, probably originally four of them, one for each side, under the corpse buried in the tomb. Pricking in the dead person’s back they were supposed to stir the deceased into action. As the tomb was a pre-Christian, ‘pagan’ tomb, the magician could be sure that the soul of the owner was in Hell.