Also to be found in old houses in Britain: dried horseheads, mummified cats and
deliberately concealed clothing. And
the hell it stopped in the 17th C.
The peak of our roof (and several other old rooves around here) has the bottom of a bottle cemented in. The locals shrug and look embarrassed. One day, I'll get a ladder and see if it's a whole bottle, or what. I'd hate to miss out on some 400 year old bent nails and pee.