Category: skeleton

Vampire graveyard found in Poland?

On By A.P.In archeology, burial, Dr Jacek Pierzak, Gliwice, Masovia, Poland, skeleton, Stare Mierzwice, vampireLeave a comment

vampires

Archaeologists in Gliwice, southern Poland have discovered a burial ground where the dead were laid to rest in accordance with practices for alleged vampires.

Four skeletons were found at the site, where mandatory digs were being carried out prior to the construction of a ring road.

In each case, the deceased had been buried with the head between the legs.

According to folk beliefs, this prevented a possible vampire from finding his or her way back to the land of the living.

There was no trace at the burial ground of any earthly possessions, such as jewellery, belts or buckles.

“It’s very difficult to tell when these burials were carried out,” archaeologist Dr Jacek Pierzak told the Dziennik Zachodni newspaper.

However, it is believed that they took place in the early modern period.

Tests are due to me made, so as to determine exact dates.

Archaeologists believe that the burials may have been done in such a fashion so as to protect locals from vampire attacks. Another theory is that the skeletons were the victims of cholera epidemic. Further research will be undertaken.

The last recorded instance of a vampire burial within current Polish borders was in the village of Stare Mierzwice, Masovia, in 1914. A corpse was dug up in the village, and the head was cut off and placed between the person’s legs.

http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/141129,Vampire-graveyard-found-in-Poland

Skeletons in Romania uncovered holding hands

On By A.P.In Adrian Rusu, Cluj-Napoca Institute of Archaeology and History of Art, Romania, skeletonLeave a comment

Skeletons-grave-love-coup-393958

While excavating the courtyard of a former Dominican monastery in experts discovered skeletons of a couple buried together holding hands. The bodies were discovered in the former cemetery of the monastery and it is believed the double grave dated back to the Middle Ages.

Adrian Rusu, from the Cluj-Napoca Institute of Archaeology and History of Art, said: “It is a mystery – and rare for such burials at that time. We can see that the man had suffered a severe injury that left him with a broken hip from which he probably died. Because of the fact that the young woman obviously died at the same time and was presumably healthy we are speculating that she possibly died of a broken heart at the loss of her partner.”

It is believed the bodies were buried somewhere between 1450-155. The remains of a child were also found in the grave but archaeologists believe that may not have been linked to the pair.

Mr Rusu added: “Suicide is unlikely as it is regarded as a sin and it’s unlikely she would have been buried in such a holy place if that was the case. They were obviously buried together as a tribute to the love they had for each other.”

http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/393958/Love-beyond-the-grave-Skeletons-discovered-holding-hands-in-coffin-together

Sandy Unearths Bones and Caskets

On By A.P.In bones, Connecticut, Hurricane, Lincoln Oak, Mr. C, New Haven, Sandy, skeleton, storm, Weather, Yale University1 Comment

Residents of New Haven, Conn., got an eerie Halloween surprise when a famed tree uprooted during Hurricane Sandy, unearthing the bones of a woman who died nearly 200 years ago – and maybe from others who died during the same period.

Around 6 p.m. on Monday the famous tree at New Haven’s Upper Green, named the “Lincoln Oak” after President Abraham Lincoln, was uprooted as Sandy swept through. New Haven resident Katie Carbo was passing by when she saw the back of a skull in the 60- to 70-foot-tall tree’s roots, police said.

Carbo quickly contacted the New Haven police, and soon after detectives were on the scene as a crowd of onlookers formed. Officer David Hartman with the New Haven Police Department told ABCNews.com that the timing of the discovery was particularly striking.

“I found myself standing there, among onlookers saying, ‘Wow this is really cool, the day before Halloween,’” he said.

Detectives from the NHPD’s Bureau of Identification and the state Medical Examiner’s office came to collect the bones, which Hartman said included a spine and rib cage.

New Haven police also contacted staff from Yale University’s anthropology department, Hartman said, and the New Haven Independent shot some images.

The NHPD said that it had not launched a criminal investigation into the discovery, and that the remains were being taken to the medical examiner’s office.

“What we haven’t yet determined is what will happen with the remains,” Hartman said. “This archaeological event that is going on will last for probably about a week, they’re estimating.”

New Haven police said that the bones belonged to a probable victim of yellow fever or smallpox, who likely was buried between 1799 and 1821, when the headstones were removed to New Haven’s Grove Street Cemetery, but the bodies were never relocated.

Later, the New Haven Independent, citing an initial investigation by an anthropologist and a state investigator, reported bones at the scene actually may be from two or more centuries-old skeletons – not just one.

The Lincoln Oak was planted at the town green by Admiral Andrew Hall Foote’s Grand Army of the Republic post, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birthday in 1909, according to the New Haven police.

Robert S. Greenberg, a local historian, said that the town green is the burial ground for as many as 5,000 to 10,000 bodies.

Hartman said that he learned today that this is actually not the first time this has happened on the historic Upper Green. According to a local historian, the same situation occurred in 1931, when an uprooted tree brought up skeletal remains, he said.

New Haven is not the only place where the dead were unearthed in Sandy’s wake. The Associated Press reported that at a cemetery in Crisfield, Md., two caskets were forced out of their graves, making their sides visible from the grass, after the cement slabs covering the graves became dislodged.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/10/superstorm-sandy-unearths-bones-caskets/

Thanks to Mr. C for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.