What happened
On 30 August 2022 archaeologists from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, led by Prof. Dariusz Poliński, uncovered an extraordinary burial in a 17th-century cemetery at Pień. It held a woman aged about 18–20. An iron sickle had been laid across her neck with the blade facing her throat – so that if she tried to rise from the grave, it would cut off her head. A triangular padlock was fastened to the big toe of her left foot, a symbol of “locking” the way back. She wore a silk cap, which suggests she was well off. Media around the world called her a “vampire,” and the researchers named her Zosia. In the next season, in 2023, the same cemetery yielded a child's grave with a padlock at the foot and other unusual burials.
Witnesses
A team from the Institute of Archaeology at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń led by Prof. Dariusz Poliński.
Explanations and hypotheses
The sickle and padlock are known Polish anti-vampire precautions meant to prevent the dead from returning to the living. Researchers stress that they tell us nothing about the woman herself beyond the fact that the community feared her – she may have been ill or looked different from others. Analyses revealed, among other things, a change in her sternum. The excavation leader himself said the label “vampire” is a simplification; scholars suggest Pień may have been a cemetery for people “rejected” by the local community.
Explained The phenomenon has a widely accepted, down-to-earth explanation.
Sources
- Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, Instytut Archeologii – Cmentarzysko wczesnośredniowieczne i nowożytne w Pniu
- Gazeta Wyborcza – Polscy archeolodzy odkryli unikalny pochówek „wampira” z XVII wieku (2022)
- TVN24 – Pień koło Bydgoszczy. Odkryli upiorny pochówek dziecka (2023)
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