Two years ago, in rural Poland, archaeologists made a gruesome discovery: a skeleton buried with a sickle on its neck and a giant padlock on its toe.
Feared as a “real-life vampire,” Polish locals placed this form of “double protection” on the woman’s corpse to prevent her from rising from the grave.
Now, experts have revealed new information about the woman, along with artists’ illustrations of what she might have looked like.
The ‘vampire’, baptized Zosia by archaeologists, was 18 years old at the time of her death, about 350 years ago, in the mid-17th century.
Bone scans have uncovered an abnormality in Zosia’s sternum, suggesting she may have had a physical deformity that caused her great pain.
It may have been this deformity that made her especially feared as a vampire before she was brutally sacrificed and buried.
But although it is considered to attack the living after death, the artist’s impression suggests that it had a blonde face, blue eyes and short hair.
The latest revelations about Zosia are the subject of a new two-part documentary, ‘Field of Vampires’, which will air on Sky History.
The ‘vampire’, baptized Zosia by archaeologists, was 18 years old at the time of her death, about 350 years ago, in the mid-17th century.
His body had been doubly protected so that the deceased would not rise from the grave: a triangular padlock on the big toe of his left foot and his neck was nailed to the ground with a sickle.
The artist’s impression suggests that he was light-faced, blue-eyed and short-haired, possibly coming from Scandinavia.
Zosia is one of around 100 skeletons found in a field outside the small village of Pien, south of the city of Torun, Poland.
It was unearthed in the summer of 2022 by archaeologist Professor Dariusz Polinski and his partner Magda Zagrodzka.
It was at the end of his excavation at Pien, two years ago, that Professor Polinski’s trowel struck what sounded like metal.
After carefully sweeping the land, the researchers found Zosia, who is the only skeleton in the field with a sickle around her neck.
The sickle, a farming tool with a sharp, curved blade, would have been placed to ensure that he would decapitate himself if he attempted to rise from the dead.
“It can be assumed that, for some reason, those who buried the woman feared that she would rise from the grave,” Professor Polinski said.
‘Maybe they feared she was a vampire.
“The sickle was not laid flat, but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up, his head would most likely have been cut off or he would have been injured.”
The around 100 graves are located in a field outside the small village of Pien, south of the city of Torun, Poland.
The grim discovery was made in the same cemetery as a woman who was buried with a scythe pressed against her neck, a way to ensure she would be decapitated if she tried to rise from the dead, experts said.
Padlocks and keys on tombs were common to prevent the dead from returning to the world of the living.
Zosia was also found with a silk cap on her head, indicating that she had had a high social status, as well as with a protruding tooth.
Zosia’s bone scans were examined by medical researcher Dr. Heather Edgar of the University of New Mexico, who identified an abnormality in her sternum.
This could have been a visible deformity that caused Zosia pain and “marked this person (to others) in a negative way,” Dr. Edgar said. the times.
Because she died around the time of the Swedish-Polish Wars, researchers speculate that she may have been Swedish and was therefore considered an “unwanted foreigner.”
Polinski and Zagrodzka worked with facial reconstruction expert Oscar Nilsson, who performed a digital scan of his skull and made a copy with a 3D printer.
He molded new ‘muscles’ of his face using clay and used silicone to give him new skin.
In total, about 100 tombs have been found in the Pien field, nicknamed “Vampire Field” because about thirty of them show signs of having been immobilized.
Among the 100 graves are a partially exhumed child, a pregnant woman, a woman with advanced syphilis and a man with the corpse of a child at his feet.
Professor Polinski and his partner plan to return to Pien for more excavations, including a nighttime one in which fluorescent lamps will be used to uncover new bones.
Because she died around the time of the Swedish-Polish Wars, researchers speculate that she may have been Swedish and was therefore considered an “unwanted foreigner.”
In the photo, facial reconstruction expert Oscar Nilsson, who performed a digital scan of the skull and made a copy with a 3D printer. He molded new ‘muscles’ of his face with clay and used silicone to give him new skin.
Professor Polinski says this cemetery was specifically for people “excluded from the community.”
However, all the graves were left unmarked and there are not even written records about the bodies at the site, making identification a monumental task.
Some bodies were face down, others were loaded with stones and others had coins in their mouths.
“Ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite the ground, burning it and crushing it with a stone,” Professor Poliński told MailOnline.
However, only Zosia had the sickle on her neck, suggesting that those who killed her were the ones who feared her the most.
The sickle around the neck is rare, although not unheard of; Only this year investigators found a similarly placed body in a church in Pączewo.
Records of myths about the undead date back to the 11th century in Eastern Europe, while vampire myths date back to the late 17th and 18th centuries.
People feared that some of those buried would return to the surface as blood-sucking monsters and terrorize the living.
In some parts of Europe (especially among Slavic peoples) belief in vampires became so widespread that it caused mass hysteria and even led to executions.
People who died prematurely, such as by suicide, would often also have been suspected of vampirism, and their bodies would have been mutilated to prevent them from rising from the dead.
Thanks to classics like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and FW Murnau’s Nosferatu, the legend of the vampire has spread throughout the world today.
Professor Polinski and his partner plan to return to Pien for more excavations, including a nighttime one in which fluorescent lamps will be used to uncover new bones.
Field of Vampires will air on Sky History at 9pm on October 29 and November 5.