The Remains Of A Boy From The 17th Century Were Discovered Padlocked To His Grave In Poland, Leading Archaeologists To Believe That The Child Was Chained To Prevent Him From Coming Back To Haunt The Living
Halloween may have come and gone, but there is no shortage of freaky finds to be had in the world of archaeology. History is scary and can be far more disturbing than what might occur on the spookiest holiday of the year.
In Poland, the remains of a child from the seventeenth century were found padlocked to his grave. It is believed that the child was chained down to prevent him from coming back to haunt the living.
The bones of the six or seven-year-old child were discovered in a cemetery in Pien, a village located in northern Poland. When archaeologists uncovered the body, it was lying facedown with a triangular padlock under its foot.
A year ago, a woman’s body had also been found at the same site. She had a padlock on her leg as well, with the addition of a sickle around her neck. The placement of the sickle suggested that people thought she was a vampire.
These findings come from an era when superstitions were rampant, and people believed in the existence of ghosts or other supernatural beings.
“This is a cemetery for rejected people, who were certainly feared after death, and perhaps also during life…who were suspected of having contacts with unclean forces, people who also behaved differently in some way,” said Darius Polinski, a researcher on medieval burials and professor at Nicolas Copernicus University in Toruń.
The people who took precautions to ensure that the bodies stayed in the graves were afraid of coming into contact with the deceased because they might bite them or drink their blood.
At some point after the burial, the child’s grave was desecrated, and all the bones were removed, save for the legs.
Polinski described another method that people practiced in the past to stop the dead from rising after being laid to rest underneath the ground.
Peter Polic – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
“There were also a large number of graves with stones…which were also supposed to protect against the deceased, placed in various places, for example on the elbow, on the larynx or on the neck.”
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