Cont.; Unearthing Dracula
- cheyennetrent3
- May 7
- 5 min read
The Brutal Burials of the Undead
Many modern "Vampire" lovers are privy to the history or origins of these unfortunate myths - born of fear, hysteria, religious trauma, grief, and war.
I explained in my previous blog exactly how the modern vampire came to be what we know and love today. I do recommend reading that post before continuing here, but for those of you who have caught up on all the hot vampire gossip, I'll remind you briefly of what we covered last time.
Vampires originally did not even carry this name, they were simply known as the ones who "rose from the grave," as this was the basic concept - an unruly corpse rising from the dead to takes its revenge against those who wronged them in life, and able to kill a man with a single glance. While this morphed over time, particularly during the Middle ages, to be closer to our modern beliefs concerning these creatures - they gained the power to suck the life force from a human instead.
They eventually gained the name "revenants" from the pagans, but when Christianity eventually took over and bouts of war and plagues ran rampant, the pagan idea of a revenant shifted and married with Christian ideals - thus our concept of the "vampire," was born - even earning this title officially.
This fear of the "undead" that ranged as far back as the 5th century was showcased in a myriad of ways, mainly post-mortem, but particularly regarding the way these "monsters" were buried.
There have been numerous findings indicating the gruesome treatment these corpses were succumbed to - including intentionally placed traps for these creatures, just in case they did choose to rise from the dead.
Some of these corpses even dated back to the 5th century themselves, while this isn't surprising since almost every culture and religion around the world has some belief surrounding the idea of the dead rising, the way we have dealt with this superstition has changed subtly in the past 4,000 years.
In fact, in 2018 a little town in Italy hosted an archeological dig at a villa constructed around the first century that was repurposed in the 5th, 400 years later, and turned into an emergency cemetery - this dig managed to uproot 50 separate corpses; all under the age of 5 from what I've found through research, but that number could be too high, some arguing the oldest body recovered was only 3 years old. Of course this "holy ground" is locally referred to as the "Cemetery of the Children," but archeologists managed to unearth a find much different from the rest of the bodies plucked from their grave at the site, not just in age, as the un-gendered corpse found was said to be around 10 years old when they passed, but was found on their side in an "improvised tomb" crafted from the roof-tiles of the ruin the cemetery itself was built on top of.
While the age was pretty different from the rest of the children, its positioning was also very off. Laid on its' side, mouth ajar - with a stone shoved inside. Data has indicated this stone was from the ruin of the villa as well, meaning the placement of this was very intentional - upon this discovery - the corpse was dubbed "The Vampire of Lugnano."
In combination with the belief that the cemetery was created due to a malaria outbreak, mixed with an indication of an abscessed tooth on the 10 year old's skeleton, a sign of malaria itself, archeologists have come to an agreement that The Vampire of Lugnano was probably laid to rest in this manner, simply because they were the first to die of the illness.
While this all happened around 800 years before the actual term "vampire" came to be, this find is proof of the existence of the superstition surrounding the dead raising from their dirt naps, and the way we have dealt with them throughout time, has in fact dated back at least 4,000 years.
Vampires found their corpses buried in a plethora of interesting ways throughout time, but the theme of the ideas behind them remain roughly the same. Others with the accusation have been found over time with rocks shoved into their mouths as well, with the intention of preventing the corpse from draining the life of their victims if they did roam the earth again.
Stones weren't the only way we've handled these superstitions in the past. In fact, its probably one of the less common ways to handle this infliction. Many corpses of "vampires" have been found with sickles over their necks, chests, and waists to prevent them from sitting up in their coffins, hoping to cut them in half with half the work I suppose.
Padlocks have been found on the toes of the victims of these claims, as well as the idea of placing the bodies themselves on their sides or stomachs, with the idea of confusing the dead, or preventing them from moving.
Coins have also held significance surrounding the dead in general, for generations, centuries even. The belief also spreads across many cultures and religions, some leave coins to show they have visited their loved ones, some leave coins with the body itself so they may take their wealth and fortunes with them in death. Vampires, would have the pleasure of having coins shoved in their mouths, most of the time with their teeth removed, then buried with a combination of other beliefs to combat these entities.
Our most popular and common way of dealing with them now, is of course, with fire or a stake through the heart (which would kill anyone by the way). This has been the case since long before even the Vampire of Lugnano's time. Although it has often been seen as a "last case scenario" type of thing, especially in the Middle Ages.
The ways of handling this stream of superstition have been handed down from generation to generation, morphing and changing over time as needed, allowing other influences clashed with the ideal itself in order to take on many forms.
We have found ourselves in a time where these superstitions, born of the horrors of the past, have even been given anatomy - going so far as to sexualize these entities in some cases, but what we don't consider - is the fear that had instilled itself into the very bones of our ancestors. The long history of vampire burials is plagued with a variety of brutal truths that we must remember going forward as a society. Acknowledging the terror that shaped this modern Halloween-favorite is allowing yourself to "kill the fun" a bit, sure, but I still believe we should be aware of how humans have reacted to situations in the past, and learn from them.
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