The remains of a ‘child vampire’ with its head separated from its body and its skull placed face down have been unearthed on a hill in Poland.
Discovered during archaeological work at a 13th-century bishop’s garden in the city of Chelm in the southeast of the country, researchers also found the skeletal remains had stones laid across its torso.
The burial was marked by two posts facing east and west.
Pawel Wira from the Conservator for Monuments said: ‘A burial with a face pressed into the ground, cutting off the head or putting stones on the body are some of the burial methods used to prevent a person thought to be a demonic entity from exiting the grave.’
The grim remains were found alongside that of another child who archaeologists said had received a ‘normal’ burial.
Wira added: ‘Both burials are dated from the Early Middle Ages – 13th century.
‘The dead were buried without coffins.’
The archaeologists say they will now carry out tests on the skeletons to try and determine how old the children were when they died.
They also believe that more graves could be nearby.
Last year, archaeologists in Poland uncovered similar burial grounds in several towns.
One site in the village of Pień included the skeletal remains of another ‘child vampire’ lying face down with a triangular padlock attached to its foot.
Archaeologist Dariusz Poliński from the University of Nicolaus Copernicus said at the time: ‘The padlock under the foot symbolises the closing of a stage of life and is meant to protect against the return of the deceased, which was probably feared.
‘Such practices originated in folk beliefs and are sometimes described as anti-vampiric.’
He added that according to the rituals of the time, being buried face down was believed to make the deceased ‘bite into the ground and not harm the living.’
Another site near the village of Luzino contained a mass grave of almost 400 bodies, many of which had been beheaded, had their skulls placed between their legs and a coin placed in their mouths.
The practice, which was common in the region, was believed to remove the ‘vampire curse’.
Archaeologist Maciej Stromski said: ‘We discovered examples of belief in the dead returning from the grave, which could only be stopped by decapitation.
‘It was believed that if a member of the deceased’s family died shortly after the funeral, then he or she could be a vampire.
‘Therefore, after burial, the grave was dug up and the deceased’s head was cut off, which was then placed in the legs.
‘We also discovered an example of a woman after decapitation.
‘The skull of a child was laid on her bosom.’
He added that in around 30 percent of the graves uncovered, researchers had also found bricks placed next to the skeletons’ legs, arms and heads.
Records of myths about the undead date back as far as the 11th century in Central Europe.
People feared that some who were buried would claw their way back up to the surface as blood-sucking monsters, and terrorise the living.
It is not uncommon the region to find burial sites where a metal rod – or a stake – have been hammered through the skull of the deceased.
People at the time believed this was one way to ensuring the person stayed dead.