Female 'vampire' padlocked inside grave with sickle at neck 350 years ago: Archaeologists

In a chilling discovery, archaeologists have found grisly details of how people buried an elite female “vampire”some 350 years ago.

The grave of the “real-life vampire” was unearthed two years ago at a medieval graveyard in Pień, Poland.

The researchers have dubbed the "vampire" Zosia and in the new illustrations, the 18-year-old vampiress has been depicted as having fair skin, short hair, blue eyes and a single protruding incisor tooth.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Zosia had a silk cap on her head when she was laid to rest which showed that she was from a family of high social status.

However, she was accused of evil and hence her skeleton was only found with a sickle across her neck and a giant padlock on her toe amongst others in the grave site.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Professor Dariusz Polinski,who had carried out therecent research on Zosia with study partner Magda Zagrodzka, said, “It can be assumed that for some reason those burying the woman were afraid that she would rise from the grave. Perhaps they feared she was a vampire.”

Also Read:Mayan city with buildings and plazas hiding in plain sight has only now been found

According to the experts, people used to fit the sickle and padlock to the corpse as a form of “double protection” because they feared that the “vampire” would rise from the grave. It was believed that the sickle would ensure the vampire got decapitated if she tried to rise from her grave.

“The sickle was not laid flat, but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up most likely the head would have been cut off or injured,” Polinski said.

The digital scan of Zosia’s skull was taken by a facial recognition expert and a copy was made using a 3D printer.

Medical investigator Dr. Heather Edgar examined the bone scans at the University of New Mexico and discovered an abnormality in the breast bone of Zosia, which suggested that she had a physical deformity which may have given her great pain.

'Field of Vampires'

The signs of restraint were found in 30 out of the 100 graves because of which the site was nicknamed as the “Field of Vampires.”

Polinski said that people had built the cemetery specifically for those who had been “excluded from the community;” however, they had left all the graves unmarked and no written records were available about the bodies.

Also Read:THIS 2,000-year-old templeis submerged underwater in Italy. It was featured in 'Indiana Jones'

The faces of some of these bodies were turned down and a few were weighed down with stones. In some bodies, coins were placed in their mouths.

“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 smashing them with a stone,” said Polinski, speaking to the Daily Mail.

Since the sickle was placed over the neck of Zosia, she was said to be most feared by those who killed her.

According to a report published in Science Alert, by the 17th century “unusual burial practices became common across Poland in response to a reported outbreak of vampires".

(With inputs from agencies)