Similar Stories to Archaeologists Discovered A 17th-century 'vampire Child' With A Padlocked Ankle In A Polish 'necropolis' Graveyard on Bing News

Archeologists discovered the skeletal remains of what they believe to be a 17th-century "vampire child" in an unmarked Polish cemetery.Courtesy of Dariusz PolińskiResearchers have unearthed the skeletal remains of a "vampire child" in a Polish graveyard.The child was buried face down with a triangular padlock on its foot.Anti-vampiric burial techniques such as this were used across Christian Europe starting in the 14th century.Researchers have unearthed the remains of what they believe to be a 17th-century "vampire" child who was buried face down and padlocked to the earth in a likely effort to assuage villagers' fears that the child would not return from the dead, the lead archaeologist on the dig told Insider.The skeletal remains of the child, who anthropologists believe was 5 to 7 years old, were discovered in an unmarked, mass cemetery in the Polish village of Pień, near Ostromecko.The "necropolis," which literally translates from Greek into "city of the dead," is also where archaeologists discovered a "vampire" woman last year, who was buried with a padlock attached to her big toe and a sickle laying across her neck meant to sever her head should she try to rise from the dead.Archaeology professor Dariusz Poliński from Nicolaus Copernicus University, who led both digs, told Insider the two graves were found a mere two meters from one another in the cemetery, which his team believes to be a makeshift graveyard for "the excluded," or those who were not welcome in Christian cemeteries for various reasons.Poliński said he and his researchers have uncovered about 100 graves in the cemetery, many of which display irregular burial techniques including "anti-vampiric" tactics used to stop people "coming back from the grave," including triangular padlocks attached to people's feet to keep them tethered to the ground and evidence of grave sites being disturbed or dug into after the initial burial.Triangular padlocks were attached to people’s feet to keep them tethered to the ground once buried, Poliński said.Courtesy of Dariusz PolińskiThere are several reasons a person may have been buried in such a cemetery, Poliński said.