450 ‘vampire’ skeletons in mass graves as some decapitated and in strange poses

Archaeologists have discovered a disturbing mass burial filled with 450 desecrated skeletons that the boffins believe may have been “vampires”.

The mass grave, found by construction workers in Luzino in northeast Poland, was filled with skeletons, many of which were decapitated and put in odd positions.

On top of this, many were found with coins in their mouths and their skulls between their legs – two “cures” of vampirism that were used by Europeans in the 19th century.

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Maciej Stromski, who oversaw the major dig, toldthe MailOnlinethat centuries ago, superstitions about burial were very common.

"It was believed that if a member of the deceased's family died shortly after the funeral, then he or she could be a vampire. Therefore, after burial, the grave was dug up and the deceased's head was cut off, which was then placed in the legs,” he said.

"We also discovered an example of a woman after decapitation. The skull of a child was laid on her bosom."

Roughly a third of the bodies were also spotted with bricks in their mouths, which was another common “cure” for vampirism.

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Matteo Borrini, principal lecturer of forensic anthropology at the Liverpool John Moore University, previouslytold Insiderthat people did this because they believed that undead bodies were responsible for spreading diseases such as the bubonic plague around.

He said that they believed that through “demonic influence”, the undead bodies would chew through the earth and spread deadly diseases “in a sort of black magical way.”

The expert said that Europeans believed that the only way to prevent this would be to put something hard, like a brick, in their mouths to prevent them from spreading diseases.

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Even to this day, the myth of the vampire still lives on in the popular imagination.

In 2003, a senior politician in Malawi was nearly stoned to death by a furious hundred-strong mob who accused him of harbouring vampires in his home.

Eric Chiwaya, a governor in the country, luckily managed to survive the ordeal, which saw the protestors throwing stones at him over allegations that he was colluding with bloodsuckers to collect human blood for international aid agencies.

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