The Poland vampire discovery has been raising many eyebrows around the world. Vampires are considered to be just mythical and fictional characters shown in movies, TV shows, or web series have been the talk of the town for the past few days. Courtesy of Poland Vampire discovery, social media are on the buzz with the interesting yet fearsome found of the archeologists. For the unversed, archeologists found skeletal remains of a female 'vampire' on Friday from a 17th-century Polish graveyard with a sickle across her neck to prevent her from rising from the dead. The female vampire discovery took place in Pien, Poland. For obvious reasons, Poland's Vampire discovery has sparked questions yet again about whether Vampires are real or not. However, what the Vampire skeleton remains discovery does not tell is the tale of the 'bloody and barbaric' history of Europe.
In the viral Poland Vampire photos, it can be seen the remains of 'Female Vampire', which were found wearing a silk cap and with a protruding front tooth. In the viral Poland Vampire photos, a skeleton remains can be seen buried inside a graveyard with a sickle around her neck. Notably, the sickle was not laid flat but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up, the head would have been cut off or injured.
#Archaeologists from Nicholas Copernicus University in Torun, #Poland unearthed the skeletal remains of a 17th century #vampire woman. The characteristics found within the burial, consistent with #ancient vampire lore and other #medieval vampire burials found in Polish territory. pic.twitter.com/fuRsHXjeE8
— Dr Teresa Naidoo š (@teresa_naidoo) September 3, 2022
Vampires and Europe
Now the big question arises, if Vampires are just fictional, then how the women or men were termed as blood-sucking monsters in Europe? As per a Smithsonian magazine report, in the 11th Century, people of Eastern Europe were terrorized with the fear of 'blood-sucking' monsters (Vampires) and therefore began treating their dead with anti-vampire rituals. The people of Eastern Europe used to believe that 'some people who died would claw their way out of the grave as blood-sucking monsters that terrorized the living'. Furthermore, ScienceAlert reported that in response to fear of Vampires, such brutal burials became common practices in Poland.
Interestingly, the Poland Vampire skeleton discovery which came as a shock for people around the world is not new. A Twitter page named Bizarro Bazar shared a series of discovered skeletons who allegedly faced 'unusual bruial'. While many of the found skeletons, indeed show that they were buried under anti-vampire rituals, a report suggests that it was not necessary that all of them were buried in that way due to the fear of vampires. Many might have been seeming unworthy of proper Christian burial due to multiple crimes or even if any person committed suicide. In the shared photos, it can be seen the skeleton of a beheaded person, the skeleton of a woman on whom a large and heavy piece of rock was placed in order to stop them from resurrection. It is pertinent to mention here that it was not necessary for every person buried under anti-vampire rituals were actually feared to be a blood-sucking monster.
[1/5] Polish vampireš§µ
— Bizzarro Bazar (@BizzarroBazar) September 5, 2022
A couple of days ago archeologists working in a 17th C. cemetery in Pien, Poland, unearthed a female skeleton with a sickle across her neck to prevent her rising from the dead.
As you might expect, all newspaper immediately went VAMPIRE! VAMPIRE! pic.twitter.com/ALBVkODTRr
[2/5] Atypical burials have been found in several sites around Poland: these persons were probably deemed unworthy of a proper Christian burial.
— Bizzarro Bazar (@BizzarroBazar) September 5, 2022
So of course you'd want to make sure that the bad guys stayed in their grave, and not come back as a revenants. pic.twitter.com/C2khbWRWvm
[3/5] Here's another female skeleton found in Rypin, Poland: a boulder was placed on her belly.
— Bizzarro Bazar (@BizzarroBazar) September 5, 2022
Other atypical burials included face-down positioning of the body, the use of padlocks, the absence of the head, burial by the cemetery walls or outside of sanctified ground. pic.twitter.com/4t3SXxBbgQ
[4/5] So despite the fact they're so cool, not all unusual burials need be of "vampires".
— Bizzarro Bazar (@BizzarroBazar) September 5, 2022
In fact, the list of reasons for these burials could be "practically endless" - from crime to suicide, from disability to birthmarks. pic.twitter.com/wmtlE48MhW
[5/5] The previous quote, and this one below, are taken from this great article:https://t.co/LZwa5A5OCT pic.twitter.com/1KPEMSI2JP
— Bizzarro Bazar (@BizzarroBazar) September 5, 2022
Other 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," PoliÅski who headed the Poland female vampire discovery's archaeological team was quoted by New York Post.
What are vampires?
In European folklore, Vampires are referred to as undead people who feed and survive on human blood. Several movies and television shows have been based on vampires to great popular appreciation. However, in the 17th and 18th centuries, men and women were persecuted on the slightest suspicion of being a āvampireā. It is pertinent to mention here that academics differ in opinions and there is no scholarly consensus on how people came to be classified as āvampiresā.