A 16 th – 17 th century grave has been unearthed in Poland which shows evidence that the deceased was believed to be a vampire – a brick was found wedged between his teeth, and his leg had been staked to the ground to prevent him rising from the dead and terrorising the living.

According to pagan beliefs, people who were considered bad during their lifetimes might turn into vampires after death unless certain rituals were practiced, including wedging open the jaw to prevent the vampire from feeding after death, and stabbing the deceased with an iron or wooden rod before being buried. People believed the rod would pin them down in their graves to prevent them from leaving at midnight and terrorising the neighbourhood. The legends formed an important part of Poland’s folklore, as well as other countries throughout Europe.

A 16 th century vampire burial discovered in 2006 on the island of Lazaretto Nuovo, Italy. Photo source.

Hundreds of ‘vampire burials’ have already been found throughout Eastern Europe, including more than 100 in Bulgaria, all of them male and all prominent citizens. Incredibly, the ancient practice, which began at least as early as the 13 th century, only stopped being practiced in Bulgaria 25 years ago.

The latest discovery was made during excavations in the town of Kamien Pomorski, in north-western Poland, according to the Kamienskie.info news site. A brick had been so forcefully wedged in the deceased’s mouth that it knocked out the upper teeth. The remains also featured a large puncture in the leg, which suggests that the leg had been staked to the ground. According to Slawomir Gorka, who led the excavation, such vampire-slaying rituals were common in the region.

It has been suggested that some of the beliefs about vampires stemmed from the characteristics of Black Death corpses. Mass graves were often reopened to bury corpses during epidemics, which sometimes displayed blood seeping out of the mouth and with a hole in the shroud used to cover their face. The people of the time believed that these ‘vampires’ spread the plague by chewing their way through their shrouds after death. Placing a brick in their mouths was believed to prevent this from happening.

Featured image: The “vampire” skeleton unearthed in Poland. Credit: Kamienskie.info

Location: Kamien Pomorski, Poland