The remains of a six-year-old child who the community feared would return to life as a vampire have been discovered in Poland, partially exhumed with half the body missing, archaeologists say.
The 17th-century Polish cemetery in the village of Pien was the focus of historians’ attention this week after it emerged that several bodies had been exhumed using ‘anti-revenant’ conservation methods.
Myths surrounding the undead and vampires date back as far as the 11th century in Eastern Europe, and it is not uncommon for skeletons bearing the marks of these superstitions to be unearthed.
In Eastern Europe, stories of people dying and returning to the living world several months later were widespread, and were often blamed for sudden deaths, accidents, or even making life in general more difficult – such as being blamed for a bad harvest .
But the discovery of the skeleton of a small child treated in this way is believed to be the first of its kind.
The remains of a ‘female vampire’ who was padlocked to the ground with a sickle in her throat and a toe to ‘prevent her from returning from the dead’ were also found in a village in Poland
Researchers discovered the remains during archaeological work at a 17th-century cemetery in the village of Pien (photo)
The child, believed to be about six years old, was found buried face down so that when he woke up he would bite the ground instead of sucking the blood of those above. Time reports.
His foot was also held in a padlock, which could have made it more difficult to leave the grave, or symbolized the ‘closing of a stage’ and made it impossible for the child to return.
But archaeologists also discovered that after burial the body was partially exhumed and the top half removed, presumably for destruction.
Team leader Professor Dariusz Poliński from Nicholas Copernicus University in the nearby town of Torun told the Times that the child was clearly “very feared”.
He continued: ‘The reason for such a brutal and disgusting funeral is unknown.’
The grim discovery was made in the same cemetery as a woman was buried with a scythe pressing down on her neck – a way to ensure she would behead herself if she tried to rise from the dead, experts said.
Professor Poliński previously told MailOnline: ‘Ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite the ground, burning of it and crushing it with a stone.
“The sickle was not laid flat, but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had attempted to rise, the head would most likely have been cut off or injured.”
Researchers also found that the skeletal remains had a silk cap on the head, indicating that she had had a high social status, and a protruding tooth.
Team leader Professor Dariusz Poliński from Nicholas Copernicus University said: ‘Ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite the ground , burn them and smash them with a stone. ‘
The grim discovery was made in the same cemetery as a woman was buried with a scythe pressing down on her neck – a way to ensure she would behead herself if she tried to rise from the dead, experts said.
In a similar fashion to the witch trials, myths surrounding blood-sucking vengeance returning to haunt a local population caused significant hysteria in some parts of Europe – and even led to some executions of innocents believed to be vampires.
Those who died and were considered at risk of returning were often buried in remote cemeteries, far away from major settlements.
Professor Poliński said this could include people who died unbaptized or people who committed suicide.
They also could have suffered particularly violent deaths or experienced frightening symptoms of mental illness or serious illness.
Methods to ensure they stayed dead included placing a scythe over the body, burning it, or even staking and beheading it.
In 2015, archaeologists in the village of Drewsko, 210 kilometers away, found five skeletons buried in a similar manner in a 400-year-old cemetery.
Sickles were found pressed against the throats of an adult male, estimated to be between 35 and 44 years old, and an adult female, approximately 35 to 39 years old.
An elderly woman, who was 50 to 60 years old when she died, was buried with a sickle on her hips and a medium-sized stone on her throat.