Where did this torture block in the National Museum come from? Microfossils of pollen and fungi point to Spain

Sherlock Holmes would have been jealous of the diligence of a team of Dutch paleobotanists and historians in tracking down the provenance of a 19th-century torture block. The slender piece of wood, with holes in it to hold the prisoner’s feet, had been in the collection of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum for five years, but no one knew where the “football” came from. Now it turns outThe oak comes from the Iberian Peninsula, thanks to research based on pollen grains and borer spores.

When you think of pollen, you quickly think of flowers and hay fever sufferers. But in recent decades, the field of forensic palynology has also been on the rise: pollen grains are used to solve crimes. Under the soles of a suspect’s shoes or on his trouser legs, they can provide important information about the places the person has visited. In the current study, paleobotanists proceeded in a similar way. They deemed the wooden foot float “suspicious” and took as many samples of microfossils as possible, from pollen to diatoms (single-celled algae with a silica skeleton) and fungi.

Micro detective work

Researchers are so keen to explore the origins of the ball partly because the piece of wood was on display at a 2021 exhibition about slavery. It is believed that the beam was used to bind the ankles of slaves on Brazilian plantations in the 17th century, but analysis of the wood suggests that the tree is younger than that and wasn’t cut down until around 1800.

Microscopic detective work showed that the oak pieces were from at least the Mediterranean region, with pollen grains from species such as lavender and oleander. The presence of Spanish heather suggested an Iberian origin: Spain or Portugal. Pollen from wild grasses was also present, as well as fungi from livestock manure — the wood might have been used in a damp stable or cellar with floors covered in hay, the researchers wrote. Freshwater diatoms and traces of borer and beetle damage also indicated a humid environment.

The results of the study seem to be consistent with the information in history books. Because while shackles with holes on the side, into which the prisoner had to put his feet in a sitting position, were often used in most countries (including the Netherlands), the block examined was a relatively rare horizontal example, i.e. with holes from top to bottom. The prisoner had to stand upright, often chained to the wall by the neck. It was this horizontal type that was often used during the Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814).

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