June 6, 2012
Bulgarian archaeologists unearthed two 800-year-old skeletons close to a monastery in Sozopol, thought to be the ominous creatures themselves, with metal rods pierced through the chests, according to a report in The Daily Mail on Tuesday.
According to legend, metal was the only weapon that could cease the transformation of human to the supernatural.
“These two skeletons stabbed with rods illustrate a practice which was common in some Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th century” Chief of Bulgaria’s national history museum Bozhidar Dimitrov told the newspaper.
The recent finds showcase the importance of such creatures at the time and how people were convinced of their existence. These discoveries are just a small fragment of a long line of findings in western and central Europe and emphasize their significance in the areas.
Archives suggest that if people performed bad deeds, they could turn into a vampire after death, unless a metal or wooden pole through the chest was used to clamp them down to the ground. This idea would prevent the dead from awakening at night in order to terrorize the living.
Only a month ago, a female vampire was discovered in Venice with a brick shoved in between her jaws. This was allegedly done to halt the feeding of victims, especially at the time of plagues which spread all across Europe at the time of her assumed death.
(Additional writing by Matthew Bolton)
Source: Alarabiya
