Encountering a corpse is unsettling enough, but discovering one that has been secured to prevent it from rising from the earth is even more alarming.
As Halloween approaches, many indulge in spooky activities like sharing ghost tales, watching vampire movies, and dressing up as these creatures. However, centuries ago, the fear of vampires was a daily concern.
In 2022, archaeologists unearthed a startling find at a 17th-century burial site in the Polish village of Pien.
During an excavation, Professor Dariusz Poliński from the Nicholas Copernicus University discovered something unusual while examining an unmarked grave.
It wasn’t just the skeleton of a young woman that was uncovered, but something far more ominous.
The woman was found with a sickle, a tool with a curved blade used for harvesting, placed over her neck, and a padlock on her big toe.
Evidence suggested attempts to turn the body face down, with the spine showing signs of manipulation.
This burial style indicated that those who interred her believed she might be a vampire, attempting to prevent her from rising again.
Professor Poliński explained to Mail Online: “Ways to protect against the return of the dead 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.
“The sickle 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.”
He further noted that the padlocked toe symbolized ‘the closing of a stage and the impossibility of returning’.
While today, vampires are seen as fictional, this wasn’t the case in 11th-century Europe, where there was genuine fear of the dead returning to cause harm.
A common practice to ensure the dead remained in their graves was driving a stake through their skulls.
However, a sickle around the neck does not always signify fears of vampirism.
In the village of Srewsko, about 130 miles from Pien, several male skeletons were found with sickles similarly positioned.
Back in 2015, researchers stated: “When placed in burials they were a guarantee that the deceased remained in their graves and therefore could not harm the living, but they may also have served to protect the dead from evil forces.
“According to folk wisdom, a sickle protected women in labour, children and the dead against evil spirits. It also had a role in rituals designed to counter black magic and witchcraft.”