The eerie remains of a ‘vampire child’ have been found in a graveyard of lost souls.
Archaeologists discovered the 17th-century skeletal remains lying face down with a triangular padlock at the foot in the village of Pień, Poland.
The child would have been between five and seven years old.
Archaeologist Dariusz Poliński from the University of Nicolaus Copernicus said: ‘The padlock under the foot symbolizes the closing of a phase of life and is intended to protect against the return of the deceased, which was probably feared.
“Such practices are rooted in folk belief and are sometimes described as anti-vampiric.”
He added that according to the rituals of the time, burial face down was believed to cause the deceased to “bite into the ground and do no harm to the living.”
Archaeologists also discovered more than 30 other burials in the necropolis, which they believe was where people were buried who were “feared not only in life, but also after death.”
Archaeologists discovered the 17th century skeletal remains lying face down discovered in the village of Pień, Poland
The ‘vampire child’ was found with a triangular padlock on his foot
Archaeologist Dariusz Poliński said: ‘The padlock under the foot symbolizes the closing of a phase of life and is intended to protect against the return of the deceased’
Near the child’s grave, investigators found a cluster of loose bones from three other children
Archaeologists also discovered more than 30 other graves in the necropolis in the village of Pień, Poland
At the child’s grave, investigators found a cluster of loose bones from three other children and the fragment of a green-colored jaw, which researchers say could have come from a brass bowl placed in his mouth.
They also found the remains of a pregnant woman.
Magdalena Zagrodzka from the university said: ‘The fetus was determined to be about 5-6 months old.
“This is surprising, because the bones of children of this age are poorly mineralized, so they are usually not preserved.”
The latest finds have been made at the same spot where archaeologists found the remains of a ‘vampire woman’ last year.
Found less than five feet away, the woman who was thought to be of high social status was found with a sickle draped over her neck.
The skeleton, also found in Pień by Poliński and his team, also had a padlock on the big toe of her left foot to prevent her from returning from the dead.
Archaeologists believe that the necropolis was the place where people were buried who were “feared not only during life, but also after death”
A close-up of some of the remains shows where a padlock was placed on the base of the skeleton
Poliński said, “Ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite into the ground, burning them and crushing them with a stone.
“The sickle was not laid flat, but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up, the head would most likely have been cut off or injured.”
He added that the padlocked big toe on the skeleton’s left foot likely symbolized “the closing of a stage and the impossibility of returning.”
In 2015, archaeologists in the village of Drewsko, 130 miles away, found five skeletons buried in a similar manner in a 400-year-old cemetery.
Sickles were pressed to the throats of an adult male, aged between 35 and 44, and an adult female, aged between 35 and 39.
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.
Records of myths about the undead date back to the 11th century in Eastern Europe.
People feared that some who had been buried would claw their way back to the surface like blood-sucking monsters and terrorize the living.
Last year, the remains of a “female vampire” were found in a village in Poland who had been padlocked to the ground with a sickle at her throat and a toe to “prevent her from returning from the dead.”
It is not uncommon in the region to find cemeteries where a metal rod – or stake – has been driven through the skull of the deceased.
People believed at the time that this was a way to ensure that the person remained dead.
In some parts of the continent – especially among Slavic people – belief in the legends of vampires became so widespread that it caused mass hysteria and even led to executions of people believed to be vampires.
People who died in an untimely manner – for example by suicide – were also often suspected of vampirism and their bodies would have been mutilated to prevent them from rising from the dead.