Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 13, 2023 20:15:22 GMT -5
Mass Grave of ‘Vampires’ Discovered in Poland
Highway workers in Luzino, Poland, inadvertently uncovered a mass grave containing approximately 450 skeletons of individuals suspected of vampirism. The site is near Saint Lawrence Roman Catholic Church (above), constructed in the 1740s, however, archaeologists believe the remains date to the 17th century.
This number of “vampire” burials seem excessive for a village with a population of only 7,560 today. However, according to Professor Darius Poliski of Nicolaus Copernicus University, vampire hysteria, which can be traced as far back as the 11th century in some regions, became so prevalent that by the end of the 17th century, bodies were being exhumed and mutilated throughout Poland.
In some vampire re-burials, a sickle was positioned in a manner to prevent the individual’s rising from his or her grave. “The sickle,” he said, “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.
“Other ways to protect against the return of the dead,” he continued, “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.”
Grave sites wherein a metal rod, or stake, has been hammered through the head as a means of preventing the rising of the dead also have been found in some locations.
In medieval times, when the Church, which was all-powerful, kept the peasantry in line with the threat of eternal damnation, superstition was rife. With epidemics (such as the Black Death ) decimating their numbers, the poor and uneducated often took extraordinary measures to ensure the dead stayed dead. There was even a belief that vampires fed on the bodies of those who died of Plague and to prevent such, a brick was wedged into the mouths of their corpses.
Some of the Luzino skeletons had a coins in their mouths and skulls between their legs, which some believed would reverse the vampire curse. “We discovered examples of belief in the dead returning from the grave,” Maciej Stromski, one of the archaeologists excavating the site, confirmed. “Therefore, after burial, the grave was dug up and the deceased’s head was cut off, which was then placed in the legs. We also discovered an example of a woman after decapitation. The skull of a child was laid on her bosom.”
Not long ago, a vampire-slaying kit that once belonged to a British lord sold at auction for £13,000 ($16,390 US). The 19th-century box, decorated with two brass crucifixes on its lid, could be locked, and contained tools and holy items, including a rosary and Bible, and, of course, the most important items of all, a wooden mallet and stake. Appraisers, who had estimated the box would fetch an estimated £2,000 to £3,000, were amazed when it sold for more than three times that amount.
The belief the dead may prey upon the living is an ancient one, and while vampire reports reached their zenith in the first half of the 18th century, there are those with little education living in remote Eastern European villages today who still harbor a belief in, and take precautions against, the undead.
Sources: Brooke Kato, The New York Post, June 10, 2023; Emily Braeger, The Daily Express, June 10, 2023; Ryan Fahey, The Mirror, June 10, 2023; and Markus Milligan, Heritage Daily, September 3, 2022.
