Recently, archeologists discovered a new archaeological site A Polish example of a vampire burial with a sickle around his neckTo keep it from rising from death.
But there are. Humans also prevented undead vampires from torturing the living in other waysExperts said that one way to do this was to put a brick or a rock in their mouths.
These are just two examples of such burials that archeologists have found and what experts believe they represent.
A stone to stop Nachzehrer’s “vampire”
This is the case. The body of a woman was found in a Lazzaretto Nuovo 16th-century graveAbout 2 miles from Venice, Italy.
The scientists who discovered her nicknamed her “Carmilla”, because she was found inside a mass-grave with a brick in the mouth, an unusual ritual not seen in other burials.
Although little is known about her life, archeologists have determined that she was killed by the bubonic plague.
Matteo Borrini (principal lecturer in forensic anthropology, Liverpool John Moore University) told Insider that he had to figure out how someone could manipulate the body of someone with a deadly illness.
Borrini led the scientific team on the dig. He was responsible for the conduct of the dig. A careful forensic examination is necessary to determine what actually happened..
He realized that the woman was likely a Nachzehrer. This is an old European vampire type.
It is not the classic idea that a vampire is out sucking people’s blood. He said that it’s more someone who is killing people from their graves before they can rise as full vampires.”
“What I discovered was that there was a tradition that claimed that certain bodies were responsible for spreading the disease. Borrini said that these bodies weren’t completely dead, but were captured by demonic influences.
He stated, “And then they were chewing their shroud within their graves and spreading plague in a kind of black magical way.”
According to these beliefs, a brick placed in the Nachzehrer’s mouth will prevent them from chewing their way out and protect the living from the illness.
Carmilla wouldn’t have been considered to be a vampire in her lifetime. Borrini’s research showed that the mass grave had been reopened shortly after Carmilla was buried. Her body was wrapped in a shroud and likely had not been fully decomposed by that time.
Grave diggers might have believed that the body was still in its original state and had placed the brick on top of it.
A stone to protect the soul from disease
Stanford University and the University of Arizona are home to researchersAnother example of a “vampire” was found. This one was buried in an infant cemetery at the Poggio Gramignano site in Teverina (Italy).
The little girl, about 10 years old, was buried in 5th century, during a deadly epidemic of malaria. Also, a stone was placed in the mouth of the child.
Jordan Wilson is the bioarchaeologist in charge. the Villa Romana di Poggio Gramignano archeological projectInsider was told by a source that the stone was likely to protect the child’s soul against entering or leaving the body.
She said, “There is an ancient belief that breath is linked to the soul and life, with the mouth being a portal through which the soul escapes after death.”
The stone could have been used as a protection against the spirit or body spreading the disease to the living. It could also have protected the child from witches who were believed to be capable of raising children from the dead and using their souls.
Vampires serve as disease vectors
Since centuries, “Vampire” myths have been associated with the death of human beings.
Borrini stated that they were methods to understand things that couldn’t be explained by the knowledge at the time, such mysterious deaths in contagious epidemics.
“These vampires start to hunt down and kill family members, then neighbors, and then every other village. He said that this is the classic pattern of a contagious disease.
Borrini defines “vampire” to be a person who rises from the dead and becomes a human body.
Wilson stated that myths in which a dead person can torture the living through their spirit or reanimated bodies are part of “Vampire” folklore.
“The notion that the dead can rise directly from the grave or that the dead can be resurrected spiritually is something that is essentially present in nearly every culture, and has very, Very ancient roots,” she stated.
This article was originally published in Business Insider.
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