The discovery of a suspected “vampire” burial site in Poland is not a first and is unlikely to be the last, according to researchers.When we think of vampires, we often think of magic, dark arts, bats, capes and, these days, attractive young actors in dark clothing. But we all know they aren’t real, right?
Last week, a group of construction workers building a highway near Gliwice, Poland, discovered what was most likely a vampire burial. The workers found four bodies, each decapitated and buried with their skulls between the knees, according to National Geographic.
“Interred in the ground were skeletal remains of humans whose severed heads rested upon their legs — an ancient Slavic burial practice for disposing of suspected vampires, in hopes that decapitated individuals wouldn’t be able to rise from their tombs,” National Geographic reported.
There was a time, not all that long ago, when people legitimately feared vampires.
“They weren’t funny or romantic. They were seen as a genuine threat to public safety. And people took real measures” to stop them, said Benjamin Radford, an author and folklore researcher who studies vampire myths.
At a loss to explain disease or other deadly natural phenomena, people created myths, like those about vampires, to explain them, Radford said. In Central Europe in the Middle Ages, a lot of death and misery was attributed to vampires. Preventative measures such as garlic and Bible verses were thought to ward them off, but ritualistic burial was used to prevent them from rising in the first place.
While the Polish remains haven’t been dated exactly, lead archaeologist Dr. Jacek Pierzak said they could date to the 16th century, The Guardian reports.
“Other clues possibly suggesting a vampire burial included the skeleton’s lack of any personal items, such as jewelry,” the paper notes. Local media have pointed out the bones could simply be those of victims of a local gallows.
But the apparently ritualistic disposal suggests to many that the graves belong to suspected vampires in a region where “vampire” graves are not uncommon.
The stake method of vampire burial may be most well-known to current consumers of horror fiction, but as Radford noted, it’s far from the only one. In an article on Live Science, he describes the remains of a woman found with a brick wedged in her mouth in Venice, Italy. Elsewhere, bodies of suspected vampires have been found buried facedown, in an apparent attempt to prevent them from rising. And they’ve been found decapitated, sometimes with the head stuffed with vampire-repelling garlic.
“Traditionally, this goes back to the head being the operative part of the body: It’s where the senses are, where our identities are, so that’s why throughout history one of the most violent and decisive ways to kill someone was to attack the head,” Radford said.
“They could have just cut the head off and left it in place. But if you’re thinking symbolically, and it’s all about how can we make sure this evil thing doesn’t come back, then move the head. Put it down by the feet,” Radford said. “I think the symbolic removal of the head was a powerful psychological comfort. It made people who were burying these vampires feel secure.”
Until the next plague, deformity or other completely natural yet unexplained destructive force moved through town.
PREVIOUS VAMPIRE BURIAL FINDS
•In Bulgaria last year, archaeologists found human remains buried with iron stakes through the heart, a traditional method of vampire burial meant to prevent the undead from rising again.
•In Greece, archaeologists in the 1990s found a set of remains staked to the ground in a heavy coffin, while those who shared the same cemetery were mostly interred in simple winding cloths. “Whoever buried the man had driven several eight-inch-long iron spikes through his neck, pelvis, and ankle,” in an apparent effort to prevent him from rising, National Geographic reports.
-MSN News
