Skeleton of 'vampire' found in Poland that terrified people

In the mythology of many nations of the world one can meetvampires - half-dead people who are nocturnal and feed on blood. Today, almost no one believes in them, but in past centuries, vampires were feared and tried to fight them. For example, people who were considered vampires were buried with stakes in the heart area, their bodies were nailed to the ground, and so on - this was necessary so that they could not rise from the dead. Vampires were especially believed by the ancient inhabitants of present-day Poland, and recently evidence has been found for this. During excavations near the Polish city of Bydgoszcz, archaeologists discovered the skeleton of a woman with a sickle leaning against her neck. The discovery is unique, such scientists rarely discover, so let's find out the details. What makes people think that a sickle around their neck will save them from the uprising of the dead?

Vampire Woman Excavations

The remains of a vampire in Poland

The skeleton of a vampire was found in a burial17th century complex. According to scientists, the body belongs to a woman whom the locals were clearly very afraid of. When she died, they put a sickle to her neck, which at one time must have been well sharpened. Most likely, people believed that if a female vampire rose from the dead, she would try to stand up and the blade would cut off her head. And if he doesn’t cut it off, at least he will inflict a serious injury on her.

Skeleton found by scientists

Residents of XVII played it safe, hanging on a largewoman left toe padlock. How this was supposed to stop her is not clear. Usually people tried to neutralize vampires by burying them with their heads or legs cut off beforehand. Or at least they put the body face down to make it harder for the dead to get up. Bodies with a sickle around their necks have been found before, including in Poland.

The sickle did not lie flat, but was placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased tried to stand up, the head would be cut off or damaged,” explained Professor Dariusz Poliński.

What kind of people were considered vampires

In ancient times it was believed that vampiresbecome "unclean" dead. We are talking, to a greater extent, about criminals and people who committed suicide. Of course, people who were bitten by other ghouls allegedly became vampires.

But sometimes the brand of a vampire was put on a personbecause of his unusual appearance. For example, a bad reputation could be attached to a person who suddenly began to lose weight, feel chest pain, breathe heavily, turn pale, and so on. In 2019, scientists combined all these symptoms and came to the conclusion that in ancient times, people infected with tuberculosis were considered vampires. In those days, no one knew about such a disease, and strange symptoms were associated with something mystical like vampirism.

In ancient times, people believed in vampires, because many strange phenomena were explained by mysticism.

As for the female vampire found, it seemsshe was a representative of the upper strata of society. This is hinted at by the remnants of a silk headdress on her skull - several centuries ago, silk was a very expensive material and not everyone could afford such clothes. Whether she was ill with tuberculosis or suffered from another disease, scientists do not know. But there is one detail for which she could well be mistaken for a vampire - the picture clearly shows that one of her front teeth protrudes strongly forward.

Skull with a blade leaning against the neck

See also: What is it like to be a vampire?

The most famous vampires in the world

That this woman terrified people,there is no doubt, because no one would just bury her in this way. And there were quite a few such people in the history of mankind. When it comes to vampires, the first thing that comes to mind is Vlad the Impaler, better known as Count Dracula. Also, some people may know the name of John Barber - this man was buried, placing his hips in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bbroken ribs. The story of this man is very confusing, you can read it as a small detective story, here is the link.

To some extent, yes, vampires exist.

In order not to miss anything interesting, be sure to subscribe to our Zen channel.

In general, speaking essentially, vampiresreally exist. We are not talking about the walking dead, but some people are known for feeding on the blood of animals. An example is the African Maasai tribe, who regularly drink the blood of their animals. But they do not abuse it, because if you drink a lot of blood, serious health problems can arise. Which? Read in this article. Sometimes, from the clarification of what issues scientists sometimes deal with, frost runs through the skin ...