Archaeologists digging at a 17th century graveyard in Pién, Poland recently found the grave of what they describe as a "female vampire". The find was the skeleton of a woman that was pinned to the ground by a sickle across her neck.
Professor Dariusz Poliński and a team of researchers from Nicolaus Copernicus University were conducting the dig when they discovered the skeletal remains.
“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 have been cut off or injured,” Poliński stated.
Professor Poliński also noted that the dead woman also had a padlock wrapped around her toe, which further strengthened the theory that the woman was considered a "vampire" at the time of her death.
“Other 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,” Poliński added.
During the 11th century, people in Eastern Europe started believing in vampires, believing that “some people who died would claw their way out of the grave as blood-sucking monsters that terrorised the living.”
By the 17th century, unusual burial practices became common throughout Poland in response to a reported "outbreak of vampires".
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