The remains of a ‘female vampire’ have been unearthed by archaeologists at a cemetery in Poland, according to a report in the New York Post. Researchers found the remains of a woman with a sickle around her neck and a triangular padlock on her foot.
The finding was made at a village of Pień in Poland. The sickle was supposed to prevent a deceased person thought to be a vampire from returning from the dead, researchers said.
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The research team was led by Professor Dariusz Polinski of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. The team said the remains also had a silk headdress – woven with gold or silver thread – and that the padlock and sickle are linked to 17th-century superstitions, both of which ‘may have protected against the return of the deceased’.
The ‘anti-vampiric’ practice of placing the blade on the neck, researchers explained, was done so the head would be cut off if the deceased tried to ‘get up’, a USA Today report said.
The practice became common throughout Poland in the 17th century, as a response to a reported vampire epidemic. Experts are planning further research at the cemetery and a survey of the entire area.
In an interview with CBS News, Professor Polinski said the find left him speechless. “Such a discovery, especially here in Poland, is astonishing, especially now — centuries later. Pure astonishment.”