The skeletal remains of a female “vampire” have been found in a 17th-century Polish cemetery — with a scythe around her neck to prevent her from rising from the dead. Professor Dariusz Poliński from Nicholas Copernicus University led the archaeological dig that led to the discovery of the remains, which were found wearing a silk cap and with a protruding front tooth, the Daily Mail reported on Friday. “Vampire” woman with a protruding tooth and a sickle on her neck. Miroslav Blicarski “The sickle was not lying down, but was placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased tried to get up … the head would have been cut or injured,” Poliński told the Daily Mail. In the 11th century, citizens of Eastern Europe reported fears of vampires and began treating their dead with anti-vampire rituals, according to Smithsonian Magazine, believing that “some people who died would emerge from the grave as blood-sucking monsters. terrorized the living.” By the 17th century, Science Alert reported that such burial practices “became common throughout Poland in response to a reported vampire outbreak.” Lock wrapped around the toe of a “vampire” female skeleton. Miroslav Blicarski “Other ways to protect the dead from returning include cutting off the head or legs, placing the dead face down to bite the ground, burning and crushing them with a stone,” Poliński told New York Post. Although other common anti-vampire burial methods involved a metal rod hammered through the skeleton, the remains in Poland were found with the scythe around the neck and a finger with a padlock to hold it. The padlocked big toe attached to the skeleton’s left leg, Poliński told the Daily Mail, probably symbolized “the closing of a scene and the impossibility of going back.” Poliński did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
