Female “Vampire” Skeleton Discovered In Poland With A Sickle Across Her Neck
Researchers around the world dig up skeletons all the time, but archaeologists in Pień, Poland, came across an unusual skeleton in 2022. Then, while exploring a small graveyard, they found the skeleton of a woman who had been buried with a sickle across her neck and a padlock on her toe.
Experts believe that she had been suspected of being a vampire during her life in the 17th century, and had been buried with a sickle across her neck so that if she tried to rise from the dead, she’d be decapitated.
Miroslav Blicharski/AlexsanderThe sickle was arranged in such a way that the woman would be decapitated if she tried to rise from the dead.
This spooky piece of archaeology news from 2022 probably had something to do with the rising fear of vampires in Eastern Europe, a widespread terror which reached its peak during the 18th century.
Curiously, the alleged vampire was also buried with a silk hat on her head, which would’ve been very expensive during her time. This suggests that she’d had a high social status while she was alive, and reinforces the notion that accused vampires were more often locals than strangers.
Though her community decided to stop her “rising” with a sickle, others used different forms of vampire prevention. To keep a dead vampire from rising from the grave, people in Eastern Europe might cut off the deceased’s head, turn the body onto its stomach, or simply burn the remains.
