The discovery of a grave in a Polish cemetery has led archaeologists to uncover a chilling tale that seems straight out of a horror story.
It’s one thing to come across a skeleton in an old grave, but it’s another to find one with clear signs that someone went to extreme lengths to make sure it stayed buried for good.
As October rolls in, bringing spooky season with it, many people are indulging in ghost stories and dressing up as supernatural beings.
But hundreds of years ago, fear of such entities was no seasonal affair; it was a constant worry. Centuries ago, fear of vampires was woven into daily life, especially across Europe.
In 2022, a team of archaeologists took on a dig at a 17th-century cemetery in Pien, a village in Poland, and what they unearthed was both fascinating and eerie.
While excavating an unmarked grave, Professor Dariusz Poliński of Nicholas Copernicus University discovered something unusual beneath the soil.
But it wasn’t just human remains that he found. Instead, the skeleton of a young woman was revealed, along with a sickle—a tool with a sharp, curved blade used in farming—placed around her neck, and a padlock attached to her big toe.
It was clear from the arrangement of the body that those who buried her had a specific intention: to prevent her from rising from the grave, as if they believed she was a vampire.
The researchers noted that someone had even attempted to twist the body so it would be face down, which often signifies an intent to stop a corpse from leaving its grave.
All the signs pointed to her burial being set up in a way to prevent her from returning to haunt the living. Professor Poliński commented to the Mail Online, saying:
"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."
"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."
Poliński further suggested that the padlock on her toe symbolized the idea of closing off any chance of her return from the afterlife.
Though today, vampires are largely seen as fictional characters, back in medieval Europe, the threat of the dead coming back was a serious concern that weighed on people’s minds.
One traditional way people attempted to keep suspected vampires in their graves was to drive a stake through the skull, ensuring they would stay put.
Interestingly, a sickle positioned around a person’s throat doesn’t always indicate a fear of vampires specifically.
About 130 miles from Pien, in the village of Srewsko, several male skeletons were found back in 2015 with sickles placed against their throats as well.
The researchers noted at the time: "When placed in burials they were a guarantee that the deceased remained in their graves and therefore could not harm the living, but they may also have served to protect the dead from evil forces."
"According to folk wisdom, a sickle protected women in labour, children and the dead against evil spirits. It also had a role in rituals designed to counter black magic and witchcraft."