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Two overlapping V shapes scratched as a protective mark.
Also known as: VV mark, Double V
A doubled V or interlocking W cut into beams and around openings in English buildings. Conventionally read as invoking the Virgin Mary — Virgo Virginum — though the reading is an interpretation of an undocumented practice.
Two overlapping or conjoined V shapes incised into timber or stone in historic buildings, usually near openings, recorded as a ritual protection mark.
England · Roughly 16th–18th century
Conventionally interpreted as invoking the Virgin Mary, from Virgo Virginum — Virgin of Virgins — or as a doubled M for Maria inverted. The interpretation is standard among researchers and remains an interpretation: the people who cut these marks left no explanation.
A widely accepted reading of an undocumented practice, not a recorded statement of intent.
Two V shapes overlapping one another, drawn as straight incised lines forming a W-like figure with a crossing point.
Both are ritual protection marks recorded in English historic buildings.