If one were to walk down a crowded street wearing a black conical hat, passersby would not question the wearer's intention. Obviously, the wearer would be playing the role of a witch. Yet as obvious as the pointed hat is as a sign of witchcraft today, its origins as representing witchcraft is just as evidently difficult to trace. Conical hats have a long history in the fashions of the world; however, it was not until the pervasiveness of Christianity in the Middle Ages and medieval periods that the term "witchcraft" took on a such nefarious meaning, that a symbol of this role was necessary.
Different type of Hennins. (Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
Though the conical hat as representative of a witch appears to be a fairly recent creation, pointed hats were worn throughout ancient history as symbols of ceremony and ritual. Scholars have determined based from various media (works of art, written records, etc.) that the pointed hat was indicative of ritual from the Bronze Age to the medieval period in the same manner that a horned helmet or scepter was associated with ritual activities. The use of the horned helmet in ritual dates back to the 12th century BC, and continued to be used in the first millennia AD in cultures such as the Celts and Scythians. It is because of artistic interpretations and the weak material by which many of these hats were made that scholars have been led to believe their use for ritual, rather than military purposes.