“This is a cemetery for outcast people who were feared after death. And, perhaps, during his lifetime.”
Polish archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 17th-century woman and child, padlocked in their burial. Against the backdrop of Halloween being celebrated these days, this find has a special sinister meaning.
Photo: Institute of Archaeology/Nicholaus Copernicus University
Archaeologists in Poland have discovered the remains of a 17th-century child padlocked in his grave to prevent him from rising from the dead, a discovery that draws attention to vampire beliefs as Halloween approaches, Reuters notes.
The bones of a six- or seven-year-old child are the most recent discovery in a cemetery in the northern Polish village of Pien, dating back to an era when ghosts, zombies and other supernatural phenomena were seen as more than just masquerade fun.
A body was also found in the cemetery a woman with a padlock on her leg and a sickle around her neck, which suggests that she was considered a vampire, Reuters further notes.
“This is a cemetery for outcast people who were certainly feared in death, and perhaps even in life… who were suspected of contact with evil spirits, people who also behaved differently in some way,” said Dariusz Polinski, researcher of medieval burials at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland.
The child was buried face down with a triangular iron lock under his foot, likely in an attempt to prevent him from sitting up and leaving the grave to feast on the living, Dariusz added Polinsky.
“These are people who, if it was done intentionally, were afraid … of contact with these people, because they could bite, drink blood,” Polinsky claims.
The child's grave was desecrated at some point after the burial, and all bones were removed except for the leg bones.
Archaeologists have found other methods used to stop the living dead, and Polinsky describes strange practices, found in some burials.
“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,” — says the Polish medievalist.