A Female Vampire Skeleton From The 17th Century Was Just Unearthed In Poland, And She Had A Sickle Across Her Neck, Along With A Lock On One Toe
For centuries, vampire folklore has included tips and tricks to ensure that recently deceased people do not rise from the grave and sink their teeth into the living.
But just recently, archaeologists from Nicholas Copernicus University discovered a bizarre example of the age-old practices.
In a seventeenth-century Polish cemetery located near Bydgoszcz, the researchers found a female skeleton buried with a padlock on her left foot’s big toe and a sickle across her neck.
The circulation of vampire legends and widespread fear of their blood-sucking practices were far from uncommon during this time period.
In fact, tales including vampire-like beings actually date back to ancient Mesopotamia– where the Assyrians claimed a demon goddess named Lamastu would kill babies in the womb or in their cribs.
Hebrew texts also spoke of a similar being named Lilith, who was known to steal babies and unborn children.
And even though these descriptions may sound far off from the more modern depictions of vampires, these beliefs were the predecessors of the Greek legend of Lamia. That tale spoke of an immortal monster who feasted on the blood of young children.
So, with the supposed existence of such a horrid creature in their midst, many different cultures implemented various approaches to basically make sure that the dead remained dead.
During the Middle Ages, for example, people in Russia would actually exhume any suspect corpses and destroy them either by decapitation, cremation, or thrusting a wooden stake through the heart.
kharchenkoirina – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person
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Meanwhile, Germany took a different approach. There, any supposed vampires were decapitated, and their bodies were buried a few feet away from their heads.
In Poland, though, yet another tradition was practiced. Sometimes the Polish would sever heads or force bricks into the mouths of presumed vampires and drill holes in their legs. Archaeologists found several skeletons that had undergone this tradition back in 2008.
But, the most recent female skeleton the researchers unearthed is the first of its kind to be discovered there. There had been reports of locals placing sickles or scythes near grave sites in order to prevent demons from entering deceased bodies. However, this female skeleton had a sickle placed across her neck– which had never been seen before.
“It 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,” explained Dariusz Polinski, who led the archaeological team.
And as for the padlock found on the skeleton’s big toe, that was found to symbolize “the closing of a stage and the impossibility of returning.”
Another interesting discovery to note is that the skeleton was also found to be wearing a silk cap on its head– which likely meant she was of high social status since silk was very expensive during the seventeenth century.
Moreover, the remains were buried with great care– another uncharacteristic practice during the significant anti-vampire movement of the time. Now, the researchers have transported the remains and plan to conduct a more detailed examination of the skeleton.
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