Unearthing Zosia: Inside the Cutting-Edge Science of a 17th-Century Polish ‘Vampire’ Burial
A 400-year-old grave unearthed near the village of Pień in northern Poland holds the remains of a young woman pinned down by the rusted blade of a sickle across her throat and a padlock fastened to her foot—macabre physical evidence of a community terrified the deceased would rise again. Archaeologists first uncovered the remains, nicknamed Zosia, in 2022, and they now form the subject of pioneer scientific investigations merging ancient DNA and advanced testing to determine her identity, cause of death, and the reasons why she and other individuals interred in that same plot roughly four centuries ago were apparently suspected of being demons or vampires.
According to lead study author Dariusz Poliński, a professor at the Institute of Archaeology at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland, “It was unusual that there were two precautions, two methods of showing that this skeleton should be kept in the grave — so the fear of the body coming back to life was greater.” Poliński and his team published these findings on July 30 in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
Excavating the Cemetery at Pień and the Protestant Context
The field near Dąbrowa Chełmińska was used as a cemetery for around four generations in the 17th century. Excavations led by Poliński and his colleagues since 2005 have uncovered a total of 101 graves at the site. Because there were zero religious artifacts like the medals and crosses typically found in Catholic graves, the cemetery most likely belonged to a Protestant community. During that era in this region, a predominantly Polish Catholic population lived side by side with Protestant communities originating from Germany and the Netherlands, mostly consisting of Mennonites and Lutherans.
While padlocks have been found at Jewish cemeteries in Poland, the authors of the research pointed out that this particular burial lacked any other hallmarks that would point to a Jewish origin. The location of the cemetery in Pień, set away from the village on a slope by a crossroads and far from a church or chapel, suggested the field might have served as a “burial place for individuals rejected by society, irrespective of their social status, who were likely feared even after death,” the researchers wrote. “Such burial places were generally omitted from written sources, which explains the absence of source data concerning them. This mode of burial was applied to suicides, heretics, outsiders without municipal citizenship, vagrants, tragically deceased,” the team noted.
Decoding the Sickle and the Padlock
At the time of Zosia’s original burial, a triangular-shaped padlock was attached to her big toe, though it was later discovered in an unlocked position. Positioned above her neck at a subsequent date to serve as a decapitation hazard should she attempt to rise from the dead, the sickle featured a handle constructed from maple, birch, or alder wood. Based on the absence of any detached or displaced joints, the researchers’ study theorized that the sickle was introduced prior to the complete decomposition of the body.
John Blair, a University of Oxford professor emeritus of medieval history and archaeology who was not involved in the study, noted, “They were undoubtedly perceived as potentially dangerous corpses, that might harm the living if not disabled in this way,” referring to females buried with sickles over their throats. He is also the author of Killing the Dead: Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World. “Corpse-killing measures are widely attested in burials, at many dates and across the world, though this specific practice seems to be distinctive of early modern Poland,” said Blair.
A Landscape of Atypical Burials and What Comes Next
The study characterized numerous graves within the field as deviant or unusual due to the specific placement of bodies or the inclusion of particular items. The unusual interments featured a face-down child, a skeleton arranged in a crucifixion posture, graves containing stones positioned near the skulls to inhibit movement or biting, and additional sites containing padlocks and sickles.
Researchers retraced her potential facial features during the production of the 2024 documentary “Field of Vampires.” Investigators now aim to utilize ancient DNA and advanced scientific techniques to uncover the woman’s identity, the cause of her death, and the reasons behind the demonic or vampiric dread surrounding her and potentially other individuals interred in that same plot roughly four centuries ago.
