Grave with 450 ‘VAMPIRES’ discovered during road works in Poland
Grave with 450 ‘VAMPIRES’ discovered during roadworks in Poland: cemetery is filled with decapitated skeletons with skulls between their legs
- The grim discovery was made in the village of Luzino in northeastern Poland
- Coins had been placed in victims’ mouths, as was customary in the region in the 19th century
A mass grave containing more than 400 suspected vampires has been discovered during roadworks in Poland.
The grim discovery in the northeastern village of Luzino revealed that some of the 450 skeletons had been decapitated and had their skulls placed between their legs and a coin stuffed in their mouths.
The practice common in the region in the 19th century is said to remove the “vampire curse.”
Archaeologist Maciej Stromski said: ‘We discovered examples of belief in the dead returning from the grave, which could only be stopped by decapitation.
“It was believed that if a relative of the deceased died shortly after burial, he or she could be a vampire.
The grim discovery, made in the village of Luzino in northeastern Poland, revealed that some of the 450 skeletons had been decapitated and had their skulls placed between their legs and a coin stuffed in their mouths.
“Therefore, after the burial, the grave was dug up and the head of the deceased was cut off, which was then placed in the legs.
“We also discovered an example of a woman after decapitation.
“A child’s skull was placed on her bosom.”
He added that in about 30 percent of the excavated graves, researchers had also found stones placed next to the skeletons’ legs, arms and heads.
Last September, the remains of a “female vampire” were also found in Poland who had been padlocked to the ground with a sickle on her throat and a toe to “prevent her from returning from the dead.”
The practice of beheadings, common in the region in the 19th century, is said to lift the “vampire curse”
The excavation site in Luzino, Poland. Archaeologist Maciej Stromski said researchers had also found stones placed next to the skeletons’ legs, arms and heads in about 30 percent of the excavated graves.
Discovered during archaeological work in a 17th-century cemetery in the village of Pien, researchers also found that the skeletal remains had a silk cap on her head, indicating she was of high social status.
Records of myths about the undead date back to the 11th century in Central Europe.
People feared that some who had been buried would claw their way back to the surface like blood-sucking monsters and terrorize the living.
It’s not uncommon in the region to find cemeteries where a metal rod – or stake – has been driven through the skull of the deceased.
People believed at the time that this was a way to ensure that the person remained dead.