The local population has believed that some of their neighbors could be vampires and return from the dead to feast on the living for centuries. The superstition led to some unusual burial techniques for those suspected to be a vampire. How locals determined if a person was undead, however, remains unclear.
Archeologists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland have unearthed an unusual, if not unique, grave of a “vampire” – at least so thought to be by relatives or those who buried her near the city of Pień, Poland in the 17th century.
Was it the pale skin, nasty temperament, midnight shenanigans or distaste for garlic and silverware? Researchers do not know what led locals to believe that the woman was a vampire, but they sure did try to make sure she never rose from the grave again. The deceased was pinned in her tomb by a sickle, with the sharp edge touching her neck so that if she had second thoughts about dying, she would cut her head off trying to escape the coffin.
Hellbound and Down 