The remains of a "female vampire" have been found in a village in Poland pinned by a sickle across her throat, reported First News.
Her toe was found padlocked so she could not "return from the dead". The skeleton was discovered at a 17th-century cemetery during archaeological work.
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| source: Mirosław Blicharski/Aleksander Poznan via First News |
A silk cap was also found with the remains of the skeleton which means she held a high social status.
The team leader of the project said the body was buried in an unusual form.
He said that in older times people buried bodies sometimes by burning them, cutting their limbs, or smashing them with a stone when they did not want them to return from the dead.
The sickle, he said, was purposefully placed on the neck so that if the body tried getting up, the head would cut off. The padlock on the left foot suggested the same.
In Eastern Europe dating back as far as the 11th century, people often believed that the buried could come back, clawing their way back up as monsters.
It is common for such skeletal remains to be found in such burial sites. Reportedly, the myth of vampires became so common in some parts of Europe that it led to mass hysteria and many executions.
Not only those who were suspected of being vampires but even those who died unusually like by suicide were considered dangerous. Their bodies were mutilated as a result.
In 2015, a team of archaeologists found five skeletons buried in the same way. There were sickles pressed against their throats. All the deceased were middle-aged women.