Recently, during excavations on the territory of the archaeological complex of San Calochero, located in the area of the city of Albenga on the Italian Riviera, the burial of a girl was discovered, who was first burned (possibly alive), and then thrown into a pit, having covered it with stones on top. In all likelihood, her fellow villagers killed her, accusing her of witchcraft.
"Strange" burials
By the way, in September last year, at about the same place, a group of archaeologists led by Pylyppe Pergola from the Pontifical Roman Archaeological Academy came across a grave containing the remains of a thirteen-year-old girl. The skeleton was buried face down. It also indicated that she was considered a witch. The burial was dated to the XV-XVI centuries.
Archaeologists have already encountered such "strange" graves more than once. The dead were put bricks in their mouths, nailed to the ground with nails or stakes, beheaded, quartered … Apparently, these measures were supposed to prevent a sorcerer or vampire from rising from the dead and beginning to harm the living …
So, in 1994, in the Czech Republic, near the town of Chelyakovitsy, a burial was discovered, attributed by archaeologists to the end of the X century. This place was called the Vampire Graveyard.
In 11 graves there were 13 skeletons tied with leather belts. Aspen stakes were stuck in the region of the heart, some had their heads and hands cut off. All remains belonged to men of approximately the same age, presumably local residents. Undoubtedly, fellow villagers considered them vampires and therefore killed and then buried according to ritual tradition.
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In the Bulgarian city of Sozopol, near the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, a burial was found dating back to the XIII-XIV centuries. The remains of 70 people are buried there, with two skeletons pierced with an iron stake. The director of the National History Museum, Bozidar Dimitrov, believes that the "vampires" belonged to the nobility. Most likely, during their lifetime they were considered villains, he suggests, hence the "anti-vampiric" measures … By the way, in total, about a hundred skeletons of people were found in Bulgaria, whose bodies were pierced with wooden or iron stakes.
In Venice, during the excavations of a medieval cemetery, where victims of the plague epidemic were buried, the remains of a woman holding a stone in her mouth were found. Matteo Borini of the University of Florence says that in that distant era, people believed that the plague was spread by ghouls who drink human blood at night. Perhaps this belief arose due to the fact that the victims of the epidemic sometimes bleed from the mouth. Therefore, when a person suspected of vampirism died, he was gagged with a stone …
Burnt alive?
As for the burial in San Calochero, scientists are still at a loss to determine its exact age. “We are awaiting the results of the radiocarbon analysis,” said excavation director Stefano Roszio. "At the moment we can date the burial to the 9th-15th centuries."
At the time of her death, the girl was about 15-17 years old, she was very small - 145 centimeters … Most likely, the unfortunate woman was killed somewhere else, and then the body was brought here, experts say. It is not clear whether they killed her before being burned, or acted more cruelly, forcing her to go to the fire alive (which was the norm for that time, if we recall the same Joan of Arc).
"Witchcraft" disease
Examination of the skeletal tissues showed that during her lifetime the girl suffered from scurvy. The skull retains traces of hyperostosis, a disease characterized by bone porosity caused by anemia - iron deficiency. Hypoplasia of tooth enamel was also diagnosed, apparently due to malnutrition in childhood.
It is possible that the victim was from a very poor family or an orphan and was poorly fed. Most likely, symptoms such as pallor, the presence of bruises on the body and frequent fainting due to anemia aroused the suspicion of the girl's fellow villagers and became the reason for reprisals against her as a witch or possessed by the devil. The fact that they put her in a pit so that her chin almost touched her chest, and the grave itself was covered with heavy stone slabs, testifies to the fact that the killers feared that she would not return from the other world …
Italian archaeologists intend to continue excavations next year. As for the found skeletons of "witches", then, in all likelihood, they will be subjected to DNA analysis.
