The remains of a 'vampire' child were found shackled in a grave.

Poland The people who buried a 5-7 year old child suspected of being a "vampire" used a triangular shackle to keep him in the grave for 400 years.

The child's skeleton was buried with shackles in the grave. Photo: Dariusz Poliński — The child's skeleton was buried with shackles in the grave. Photo: *Dariusz Poliński*

Researchers have unearthed the remains of a “vampire” child buried face down and shackled to the ground, likely to allay villagers’ fears and ensure the dead would not return. The remains of the child, aged between 5 and 7, were discovered in an unnamed mass cemetery in the village of Pień, near Ostromecko, Poland, Business Insider reported on August 11. In the same cemetery, last year, the team found the remains of a “vampire” woman with shackles on her thumbs and a sickle across her neck to prevent the dead from rising from the grave.

Archaeology professor Dariusz Poliński of Nicolaus Copernicus University, who led both excavations, said the two graves were located two meters apart in the cemetery. He and his colleagues believe that this was a temporary cemetery for “expelled persons” who were not allowed to be buried in Christian cemeteries for various reasons.

Poliński’s team excavated about 100 graves in the cemetery, many of which revealed unusual burial practices, including vampire deterrents such as triangular shackles worn on the feet to secure the deceased to the ground. They speculated that there were several reasons why a person might be buried in such a cemetery. The individual may have exhibited strange behavior while alive that frightened those around them, or they may have died from a disease that disfigured them. Or they may have died suddenly under mysterious circumstances.

Villagers in the 17th century tended to fear children buried without baptism or those who drowned. According to Poliński, the archaeologists also found a series of bones near the child’s grave, along with the body of a woman who was about six months pregnant.

Matteo Borrini, lecturer in anthropology at Liverpool John Moores University, said the practice of burying vampires was common in Europe from the 14th century. People at that time believed that vampires would hunt and kill family members first, then neighbors and other people in the village.

An Khang (According to Business Insider )

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