据路透社11月21日报道，这条皮鞭是在伦敦一座建于公元900年至1050年间的房屋的垃圾坑里被发现的。为了增加皮鞭抽打的“威力”，皮鞭有多条尾巴，每条尾巴上都打有结。伦敦博物馆指出：“撒克逊时代后期，大部分人都沦为做家务或干农活的奴隶。奴隶们常因一点点过失而受到责打，而犯罪的奴隶还会被砍手砍脚或被杀掉。”

　　当时，英国的奴隶出口贸易十分兴旺，撒克逊人经常将威尔士人和年轻女性卖到斯堪的纳维亚半岛作奴隶。伦敦博物馆表示，尽管伦敦当时有很多妓院，但皮鞭发现的地方与妓院没有任何关系，所以它更可能是用来鞭笞奴隶的工具。

　　伦敦博物馆举办此次展览的目的，是为了展现伦敦中古时期的历史风貌。在1200多件展品中，包括有当时的儿童玩具、家具用品等，还有众多关于北欧海盗入侵、黑死病和古伦敦日常生活情况的文字记录。

　　A 1,000-year-old multi-tailed leather whip that was initially associated with the sex trade but more recently identified as a slave scourge is one of the stars of a new exhibition.

　　The whip, whose knotted thongs are reminiscent of the later cat o'nine tails used to discipline navy defaulters, was found during excavations of the rubbish pit of a London house dating back to the late Saxon period between 900 and 1050 AD.

　　The Museum of London, which is staging the exhibition exploring the city's mediaeval history, said the location of the find indicated it was not connected with any brothels, which were all elsewhere.

　　"The truth is less saucy but more scandalous," it said. "In the late Saxon period many of the population were slaves, working as household servants and farm workers.

　　"Slaves were flogged for minor offences, mutilated or killed for more serious crimes."

　　Far from being a consumer of imported slaves, the Saxons of London were running a thriving export trade -- particularly of Welshmen and pretty young girls -- to Scandinavia.

　　The whip is among more than 1,200 objects from children's toys to pointed shoes and household objects and including eye-witness accounts of Viking raids, the Black Death and everyday life in the teeming streets of the ancient port city.

　　There is also a range of beer tankards from an era when ale was safer to drink than either water or milk -- both of which were likely to be heavily polluted with sewage -- and far cheaper than imported wine.

　　However, observations from the period suggest that the habit also had a not unfamiliar downside -- not only was there widespread drunkenness on the streets of the city but unbecoming vistas of vast beer bellies.

　　The exhibition opens on Friday.