arstechnica.com Open in urlscan Pro
3.141.227.118  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

GET /search/

<form action="/search/" method="GET" id="search_form">
  <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="UTF-8">
  <input type="text" name="q" id="hdr_search_input" value="" aria-label="Search..." placeholder="Search...">
</form>

POST https://arstechnica.com/civis/ucp.php?mode=login

<form id="login-form" action="https://arstechnica.com/civis/ucp.php?mode=login" method="post">
  <input type="text" name="username" id="username" placeholder="Username or Email" aria-label="Username or Email">
  <input type="password" name="password" id="password" placeholder="Password" aria-label="Password">
  <input type="submit" value="Submit" class="button button-orange button-wide" name="login">
  <label id="remember-label">
    <input type="checkbox" name="autologin" id="autologin"> Stay logged in</label> <span>|</span> <a href="/civis/ucp.php?mode=sendpassword">Having trouble?</a>
  <input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="./ucp.php?mode=login&amp;autoredirect=1&amp;return_to=%2Fscience%2F2022%2F09%2Farchaeologists-unearth-remains-of-17th-century-female-vampire-in-poland%2F">
  <input type="hidden" name="return_to" value="/science/2022/09/archaeologists-unearth-remains-of-17th-century-female-vampire-in-poland/">
  <input type="hidden" name="from_homepage" value="1">
</form>

Text Content

Skip to main content
 * Biz & IT
 * Tech
 * Science
 * Policy
 * Cars
 * Gaming & Culture
 * Store
 * Forums

Subscribe

Close


NAVIGATE

 * Store
 * Subscribe
 * Videos
 * Features
 * Reviews

 * RSS Feeds
 * Mobile Site

 * About Ars
 * Staff Directory
 * Contact Us

 * Advertise with Ars
 * Reprints


FILTER BY TOPIC

 * Biz & IT
 * Tech
 * Science
 * Policy
 * Cars
 * Gaming & Culture
 * Store
 * Forums


SETTINGS

Front page layout


Grid


List


Site theme

Black on white

White on black

Sign in


COMMENT ACTIVITY

Sign up or login to join the discussions!

Stay logged in | Having trouble?
Sign up to comment and more Sign up

THE DEAD SHALL (NOT) RISE —


ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH REMAINS OF 17TH-CENTURY FEMALE “VAMPIRE” IN POLAND


FEMALE SKELETON WAS BURIED WITH SICKLE PLACED ACROSS HER NECK AND A PADLOCK ON
BIG TOE.

Jennifer Ouellette - 9/6/2022, 4:52 PM

Enlarge / Archaeologists discovered what may be the skeleton of a 17th-century
female "vampire" near Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Mirosław Blicharski/Aleksander Poznań

READER COMMENTS

102 with 76 posters participating

SHARE THIS STORY

 * Share on Facebook
 * Share on Twitter
 * Share on Reddit

Vampire folklore across cultures is filled with various tips on how to keep a
recently deceased person from rising from the grave as an undead fiend who preys
on the living. Now archaeologists have uncovered an unusual example of people
using these tips in a 17th-century Polish cemetery near Bydgoszcz: a female
skeleton buried with a sickle placed across her neck, as well as a padlock on
the big toe of her left foot.

Tales of vampire-like creatures date back at least 4,000 years to ancient
Mesopotamia. For instance, the Assyrians feared a demon goddess called Lamastu
(literally, “she who erases”), who they said killed babies in their cribs or
while still in the womb. Other ancient texts mention a similar creature,
Lilith—who also appears in Hebrew texts and folklore—who steals away infants and
unborn children. Neither of these could be considered “vampires” in the modern
sense, but they are the precursors to the Greek legend of Lamia, an immortal
monster who sucked the blood from young children.

In Chinese folklore, another type of proto-vampire, called the k’uei, were
reanimated corpses that rose from the grave and preyed on the living, as were
the Russian upir, Indian vetala, Romanian strigoi, and Greek vrykolakas. News
reports specifically referencing vampires didn't appear in English until 1732,
as suspected "epidemics" of vampirism caused a mass hysteria that swept across
Eastern Europe. By the 19th century, most of Europe was consumed by vampire
hysteria, inspiring writers like John Polidori ("The Vampyre," 1819), Sheridan
LeFanu (Carmilla, 1872), and of course, Bram Stoker, whose Dracula (1897) pretty
much spawned the modern vampire genre.

Enlarge / Archaeologists excavating a 17th-century cemetery near Bydgoszcz in
Poland.
Beata Zielińska-Gołembiewska

Naturally, the fear evoked by the presumed existence of such creatures inspired
many different approaches to ensuring that the dead stayed dead. In the early
Middle Ages, Russian villagers would exhume suspect corpses and destroy the body
by cremation, decapitation, or by driving a wooden stake through the heart.
Stakes were often secured above corpses upon burial, so the creature would
impale itself if it tried to escape.

Advertisement


In Germany and the western Slavic regions, suspected vampires were decapitated,
and the head was buried between the feet or away from the body. Other strategies
included burying corpses upside down, severing the tendons at the knees, or—in
the case of Greek vrykolakas—placing crosses and inscribed pottery fragments on
the chest of the deceased. In places where vampires were believed to suffer from
arithmomania, poppy seeds or millet seeds would be scattered at the site of a
suspected vampire. (The X-Files episode "Bad Blood" humorously used this bit of
folklore with Mulder's favorite snack, sunflower seeds.)

The first early medieval graves in the region near Bydgoszcz were discovered
between 2005 and 2009, when archaeologists recovered jewelry, semi-precious
stones, a bronze bowl, and fragments of silk clothing. Dariusz Poliński of the
Nicholas Copernicus University led the archaeological team that returned to the
site earlier this year in hopes of discovering more artifacts. That didn't
happen, so they turned their attention to a nearby 17th-century cemetery in the
village of Pień instead.

Enlarge / The burial is unusual because a sickle was placed across the
neck—presumably to decapitate the corpse if the woman tried to "rise" as a
vampire.
Mirosław Blicharski/Aleksander Poznań

That's when the researchers identified the grave containing the female skeleton.
Other examples of anti-vampire burials have been found in Poland, according to
Poliński. Several skeletons with severed heads were found in 2008, for example,
and a body with a brick forced into the mouth and holes drilled through the legs
was also found. “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," said Poliński.

Nonetheless, this latest find is unique. While there have been reports of people
placing scythes or sickles near a grave as an offering to prevent demons from
entering the body, the placement of this sickle was different. “It 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,” said Poliński. As
for the padlock on the big toe, "This symbolizes the closing of a stage and the
impossibility of returning."

Another unusual feature is that the skeleton appears to be that of a woman of
high social status, given the care with which she was buried. There were also
remnants of a silk cap on her head, which would not have been affordable for a
member of a lower class. As for why she would have been buried in such a
way, Poliński said that she had very noticeable protruding front teeth. This may
have made her appearance different enough that she was deemed a witch or vampire
by superstitious locals.



READER COMMENTS

102 with 76 posters participating

SHARE THIS STORY

 * Share on Facebook
 * Share on Twitter
 * Share on Reddit

Jennifer Ouellette Jennifer Ouellette is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a
particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from
physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV
series. Jennifer lives in Los Angeles.
Email jennifer.ouellette@arstechnica.com // Twitter @JenLucPiquant

Advertisement


You must login or create an account to comment.




CHANNEL ARS TECHNICA

BIOMARKERS, FROM DIAGNOSIS TO TREATMENT

To find cancer before it strikes, look for the molecular clues

 * BIOMARKERS, FROM DIAGNOSIS TO TREATMENT

 * SCOTT MANLEY REACTS TO HIS TOP 1000 YOUTUBE COMMENTS

 * TEACH THE CONTROVERSY: DOWSING

 * TEACH THE CONSPIRACY: GMOS

 * HOW DOES THAT WORK?: RISING SEA LEVELS

 * TEACH THE CONTROVERSY: FLAT EARTHERS

 * HOW DOES THAT WORK?: RADIOMETRIC DATING

 * HOW DOES THAT WORK?: THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER

 * WHAT "FIRST MAN" TELLS YOU ABOUT NEIL ARMSTRONG, AND WHAT IT DOESN'T

 * DELTA V: THE BURGEONING WORLD OF SMALL ROCKETS, PAUL ALLEN'S HUGE PLANE, AND
   SPACEX GETS A CRUCIAL GREEN-LIGHT

 * INSIDE THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WITH SCOTT KELLY

 * CHRIS HADFIELD EXPLAINS HIS 'SPACE ODDITY' VIDEO

 * ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY TEACHES ORBITAL MECHANICS WITH KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM

 * GO INSIDE THE AERODROME, WHERE THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT TAKES SHAPE

 * THE SOFT FUTURE OF ROBOTICS

 * SEE THE GEAR THE CDC'S DISEASE DETECTIVES USE IN THE FIELD

 * ARS TECHNICA INTERVIEWS PEGGY WHITSON

 * THE ICE AGE SECRETS OF WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

 * INSIGHT LANDING ON MARS

 * TALKING SPACE AND ROBOTS WITH NASA'S TERRY FONG

More videos
← Previous story Next story →


RELATED STORIES

Sponsored Stories
The Best Men's Shoes for Walking and Standing All Day Orthopedic Shoes
[Galerie] 33 schlechteste Casting-Entscheidungen aller Zeiten HistoryA2Z
[Gallery] 19+ der beeindruckendsten Cosplayerinnen der Welt HistoryA2Z
[Fotos] Julia Roberts: Tochter Hazel ist schon so erwachsen Healthy George
[Galerie] Wussten Sie, dass sie so groß war? Wir hatten keine Ahnung HistoryA2Z
How to Quickly & Easily Clear Mucus From Lungs & Airways Product Hunter
Recommended by



TODAY ON ARS

 * Store
 * Subscribe
 * About Us
 * RSS Feeds
 * View Mobile Site

 * Contact Us
 * Staff
 * Advertise with us
 * Reprints


NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered
to your inbox.

Sign me up →

CNMN Collection
WIRED Media Group
© 2022 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any
portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated
1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Ars
Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018). Ars may earn compensation on sales from
links on this site. Read our affiliate link policy.
Your California Privacy Rights | Manage Preferences
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted,
cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé
Nast.
Ad Choices




WE CARE ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY

We and our partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique
IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices
by clicking below or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will
be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.


WE AND OUR PARTNERS PROCESS DATA TO PROVIDE:

Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for
identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised ads
and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product
development. List of Partners (vendors)

I Accept
Show Purposes