Archaeologists Cound 400-Year-Old Vampire Burial in Poland

Bright Side

Did you hear about the spooky discovery in Poland? Archaeologists found a 400-year-old "vampire burial"! The skeleton was buried with a sickle placed across its neck, which people back then thought would stop a "vampire" from rising from the dead. There was also a padlock on the skeleton’s toe, another creepy precaution to keep it in the grave. Historians believe it was more about superstition than real vampires—probably a way to deal with fear during tough times like plagues. It’s wild to think how much folklore shaped burial practices back then, right?   Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00A girl, once and beautiful, ended up in a grave with a huge sickle across her neck.

00:06There were no signs of violence, no indications of any actual crime, yet someone was clearly

00:12terrified when they forced her into that grave.

00:15So scared that they even placed a padlock on the big toe of her left foot.

00:21They wanted her to stay in the tomb once and for all, fearing she might rise and take revenge

00:25on them.

00:27So a whole community turned against a young lady who wasn't even over 20 years old, deeming

00:32her to be of ultimate danger.

00:35Do you see what I'm driving at?

00:37Let's test your historical knowledge.

00:40Who has been feared throughout human history to such an extent that commoners couldn't

00:44shake off that lingering sense of dread, even after their passing?

00:49If you say witches, warlocks, and vampires, you'd be completely correct.

00:54Just a little hint here.

00:55If you can't overpower someone physically, you can do it supernaturally.

00:59Well, that's at least what people used to think back in the 17th century.

01:05Not only was there a sickle and a padlock, but there were also signs of an attempt to

01:09twist the girl's corpse in the grave and turn it face down.

01:14This attempt had failed, leaving her spine buckled and twisted.

01:18By the way, the padlock wasn't necessarily meant to lock a vampire.

01:22It was more likely a talisman against evil spirits.

01:27That's a peculiar and, let's face it, very cruel way to bury someone.

01:31Yet it was a common practice for creating anti-vampire burial sites.

01:37The methods for preventing vampires from rising were quite elaborate.

01:41First off, let me introduce a term.

01:44Anti-vampire graves, known as revenant graves, date back thousands of years and have been

01:48found in various locations across Europe.

01:52Europe, you heard that right.

01:56Now before you say, hey, vampires are a Romanian thing, Dracula, duh, let me convince you otherwise.

02:03They are a part of all European folklore, meaning you can find references to them throughout

02:08Europe.

02:09With new settlements in America, vampire lore spread there too, eventually turning into

02:14the Twilight Saga.

02:17These anti-vampire burials are characterized by evidence of precautions taken to prevent

02:22those who bit the dust from rising.

02:25Such measures could include placing large stones on the deceased's legs or even piercing

02:29the body with a lens to fix it to the ground.

02:33To be completely safe, they could also consider removing the head from the torso.

02:38So burying the body face down, cutting off the head, and pressing the body with a stone

02:43were the methods used to keep someone believed to be a demonic being from leaving the grave.

02:50Let's return to the poor lady, or rather, the girl.

02:53A couple of archaeologists, Dariusz Polinski and his partner, Magda Dorodzka, who happened

02:59to be partners in both crime and life, stumbled upon her grave.

03:03Strangely, all of her 206 bones remained untouched, yet no gravestone, no name, nothing.

03:11Just a lonely grave on a hill in northern Poland.

03:14Polinski, a professor of archaeology, and Dorodzka began piecing together the story

03:20of the woman they eventually named Zosia.

03:23Carbon dating suggested she had been about 18 years old and had passed away about 350

03:29years ago during a chaotic time in Poland's history.

03:32There is little documentation about this graveyard which seemed to serve as a resting place for

03:37individuals marginalized by the community.

03:40Was Zosia a poor girl who had been marginalized because life forced her into the worst situation

03:46a lady could face?

03:48Not really.

03:49As the archaeologists delved deeper, they stumbled upon some hints that indicated she

03:53might have hailed from a rich family.

03:56Her burial featured a stylish bonnet, and the delicate silk along with shiny silver

04:00and gold threads found with it suggested that it was part of an elegant headdress.

04:06This all pointed to the idea that she had some serious status or wealth.

04:11But the way she was buried indicated her outsider status in the village of Pien.

04:16Perhaps her presence there was unwanted, hence the idea of her being a vampire backed up

04:21by the manner in which she was forced into the grave and held there.

04:26By analyzing the structure of her skull and extricating DNA from her skeleton, scientists

04:31created a reconstruction of what her face might have looked like.

04:35The specialists meticulously reshaped Zosia's likeness using modeling clay on a 3D-printed

04:41model of her skull, which proved to be a deeply moving experience.

04:46They remarked that while they often worked on face reconstructions, in this case, they

04:50also sought to restore her dignity.

04:53Utilizing these three methods, the team reconstructed Zosia's 400-year-old face, revealing the

05:00human story buried beneath supernatural beliefs.

05:03It's ironic, isn't it?

05:05At first, people tried their hardest to make the world forget her face and prevent her

05:09from ever coming back.

05:11Four hundred years later, people did everything they could to bring her back to life.

05:16Her picture now is all over the internet, yet we will never see the faces of those who

05:21buried her.

05:22Alas, this reconstruction project only allows viewers to visually connect with Zosia, but

05:28her true story remains a mystery.

05:31But what we know for sure is that people who were deemed vampires were badly discriminated

05:37against, to say the least.

05:39Rumor had it that hungry vampires would even steal people to quench their thirst.

05:44Let's use math to prove this rumor wrong and prove that Zosia wasn't one of them.

05:50Back in the year 1600, there were only 537 million people worldwide.

05:54Yeah, this data may not be very accurate, but it's pretty close to reality.

05:59A physicist, Costas Eftimiu, calculated that if a vampire had been drinking one person's

06:04blood each month, humanity would have faced extinction within a few years.

06:10Starting with one vampire and a population of 537 million in 1600, this math shows we'd

06:16have no humans left by July 1602.

06:21But here we are now.

06:22Well, while placing a stone on a corpse to make sure the vampire doesn't rise may be

06:28something new to you, there are also a bunch of stereotypical things associated with these

06:33creatures that you definitely know, such as garlic and mirrors.

06:39Funnily enough, even though it's all based on a bunch of superstitions, there's pretty

06:43good logic behind the garlic thing.

06:46You see, it contains a special compound called allicin, which is a powerful antibiotic.

06:52While people back then couldn't know what an antibiotic was, they noticed garlic was

06:56pretty effective against various conditions.

06:59Since they believed vampires were created by a particular blood condition, they also

07:04believed garlic could defeat a vampire.

07:07And there's more.

07:08There is actually a blood condition called porphyria, which makes people look like real

07:14vampires.

07:15Their skin is pale and their teeth get bigger as their gums shrink.

07:19And guess what, people who have porphyria cannot consume garlic, as it worsens their

07:24condition.

07:26Wow, that's a cool coincidence!

07:29The next superstition is a bit fresher and it's about vampires avoiding mirrors.

07:34The first known reference to the mirrors comes from the book Dracula in 1897.

07:39But why wouldn't a vampire show a reflection?

07:42Simple.

07:43Before the plastic era we live in, mirrors were traditionally backed with silver.

07:49Silver was commonly believed to repel evil spirits, possibly because it has antimicrobial

07:54properties.

07:55Much like garlic, its healing properties may be what was supposed to scare off a vampire.

08:01Another reason why suspected vampires may have avoided mirrors is the changes to their

08:05appearance from conditions commonly confused with vampirism, like porphyria and rabies.

08:12People afflicted with these conditions may have avoided looking in mirrors for that reason,

08:16causing others to assume that vampires avoided mirrors.

08:21But if you ever met a vampire and these methods don't repel it, I have one more trick for

08:26you.

08:27Ask the potential vampire to count.

08:28It can be spilled grains, seeds, or even the holes in the fishing net if you happen to

08:32have one.

08:34Vampires are into math, so they'll stop to count, delaying them until sunrise.

08:39And we all know that vampires don't do well in sunlight.

08:43Ironically, it's Count von Count, a vampire, who teaches us how to count on Sesame Street!

08:52That's it for today!

08:53Hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

08:57friends.

08:58Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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