Polish vampire burial mystery solved

Photo courtesy: slavia.org

At least half a dozen corpses were found to be buried with sickles at their throats and stones on various parts of their bodies.

Now a team of archeologists and anthropologists from Poland and the US have cracked the mystery. The skeletons belong to cholera victims from an epidemic which swept the region in the 17th and 18th centuries.

“The spread of diseases like cholera was very poorly understood in the 17th century,” said University of South Alabama anthropologist Lesley Gregoricka. “So people turned to the supernatural to make sense of death and misfortune.”

As many as 66 of the corpses in the ancient cemetery were found facing the same direction. “Two of them were buried with iron sickles placed around their necks,” wrote archaeologist Dariusz Blaszczyk. “One was buried with the body tied up and stones put on the throat.”

“Placing sharp, iron objects in graves was connected with their protective functions,” Blaszczyk said.

At first, scientists thought that the corpses were from outsiders, but new research has shown that they were from the area.

“We were surprised to learn that the Drawsko ‘vampires’ were local to the area, Gregoricka said. “We expected that these individuals were targeted for deviant burial because of their status as outsiders to the community.” (rg/jb)