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17th-century Polish ‘vampire’ found buried with sickle across neck

<p dir="ltr">The remains of a woman found in a 17th-century graveyard in Poland are believed to be an example of an ‘anti-vampire’ burial after a sickle was also found placed across her neck to prevent her from rising from the dead.</p> <p dir="ltr">Dariusz Poliński, a professor at Nicholas Copernicus University, led the archaeological dig where the remains were uncovered, with the <em><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11173505/Remains-VAMPIRE-pinned-ground-sickle-throat-Poland.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Mail</a></em> reporting that the skeleton was found wearing a silk cap and with a protruding front tooth.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The sickle was not laid flat but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up… the head would have been cut off,” Professor Poliński told the outlet.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to the <em><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/17th-century-poland-vampires-werent-boogeymen-out-town-girl-or-boy-next-door-180953476/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Smithsonian</a></em> magazine, Eastern Europeans reported fears of vampires and began treating their dead with anti-vampire rituals during the 11th century.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e1199576-7fff-cba7-8161-75f5e8ce3f2a">By the 17th century, these practices were common across Poland in response to reports of a vampire outbreak, per <em><a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/research-reveals-the-origin-of-poland-s-mysterious-vampires" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ScienceAlert</a></em>.</span></p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/skeleton-lady1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The skeletal remains, pictured from above. Image: Łukasz Czyżewski, NCU</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Professor Poliński told the New York Post that there were other forms of protection to prevent vampires from returning from the dead, including cutting off limbs and using fire.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Other ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite into the ground, burning them, and smashing them with a stone,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The skeleton’s toe was also padlocked, which Professor Poliński said likely symbolised “the closing of a stage and the impossibility of returning”.</p> <p dir="ltr">This isn’t the first time a ‘vampire’ has been discovered by archaeologists either.</p> <p dir="ltr">Matteo Borrini, a lecturer at Liverpool John Moore University, discovered the remains of a woman who died in the 16th century and was buried with a stone in her mouth in a mass grave with plague victims.</p> <p dir="ltr">He explained that outbreaks of ‘vampires’ were often associated with periods where people were dying from unknown causes at the time - such as pandemics or mass poisoning.</p> <p dir="ltr">“These ‘vampires’ start to hunt and kill family members first, then the neighbours, and then all the other villages,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is the classical pattern of a disease that is contagious.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The most recent ‘vampire’ remains, which were dug up in August, are being further investigated by scientists.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c133c871-7fff-ea85-c6ce-820b4d4d2ba2"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Mirosław Blicharski</em></p>

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Are vampires real?

<div class="copy"> <p>When asked to describe a vampire, most people think of a tall, pale creature, with fangs and a cloak. But were the creatures of folklore inspired by real traits seen in the animal kingdom? </p> <h3>1. Vampire trait: drinking blood</h3> <p>The primary characteristic of a vampire is feeding on blood. Although many ectoparasites such as mosquitoes and <a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiQ08f6AoqM" target="_blank">leeches also drink blood</a>, the vampire bat is the only species of mammal that is truly haematophagic (feeds exclusively on blood).</p> <div class="embed-container"><iframe class="note-video-clip responsive-embed" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iLp-ls8AoaU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLp-ls8AoaU" target="_blank">Vampire bats</a> prey on warm-blooded animals such as livestock, locating blood hotspots with their inbuilt infra-red heat sensors, and even utilise a protein called <a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9795244" target="_blank">“draculin”</a> to keep their prey’s blood flowing.</p> <p>But they also need to feed every two days in order to survive, and finding prey this frequently is a challenge. Fortunately, vampire bats live in communal roosts, so have evolved a mechanism of <a rel="noopener" href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151117-vampire-bats-blood-food-science-animals/" target="_blank">food sharing</a> whereby they regurgitate blood for starving individuals. This is often done in a tit-for-tat manner – so individuals that have benefited in this way will reciprocate later by donating to the bats that helped them.</p> <h3>2. Vampire trait: immortality</h3> <p>Although vampires are often considered immortal, there are few animals that possess the same quality. Animals such as whales and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/11/400-year-old-greenland-shark-is-the-oldest-vertebrate-animal" target="_blank">sharks can live for over 200 years</a>, and tardigrades (a tiny, water-dwelling creature) can exist in a state of suspended animation indefinitely – coming back to life when hydrated.</p> <p>The <a rel="noopener" href="https://thebiologist.rsb.org.uk/biologist/158-biologist/features/1510-everlasting-life-the-immortal-jellyfish" target="_blank">immortal jellyfish</a>, however, is reborn repeatedly. Rather like a caterpillar starting life as an egg and developing into a butterfly, the jellyfish begins life as an egg, develops into a larva, grows into a polyp, then buds into a medusa that grows to just 4.5mm when fully mature.</p> <p>The jellyfish is “immortal” because it can change from a medusa back into a polyp when stressed. This “transdifferentiation” – reverting back to a previous form then redeveloping into the latter form – could aid our understanding of <a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://singularityhub.com/2011/04/25/immortal-jellyfish-provides-clues-for-regenerative-medicine/#sm.000dzk9t91awufhzyj41dybsrlkxe" target="_blank">repairing and regenerating damaged tissues</a>.</p> <p>Although most medusae succumb to predation or disease eventually, this jellyfish has the potential to regenerate indefinitely, making it pretty much immortal.</p> <h3>3. Vampire trait: avoiding sunlight</h3> <p>Like many vampires, animals often avoid light. These tend to include invertebrates that prefer to inhabit dark conditions, or nocturnal species that are adapted to feeding at night. Nevertheless, there are a few species that are hypersensitive to light and actively avoid it at all costs, including some <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/there-be-dragons-creatures-you-might-find-on-a-real-journey-to-the-centre-of-the-earth-57905" target="_blank">cave dwellers</a> that spend their lives in permanent darkness.</p> <div class="embed-container"><iframe class="note-video-clip responsive-embed" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/A5DcOEzW1wA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p>Perhaps one of the strangest-looking creatures is the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5DcOEzW1wA" target="_blank">naked mole rat</a>, which inhabits underground burrows in Africa. Like vampires, they are pale, avoid sunlight and are known for their longevity. They also possess a colonial lifestyle, similar to ants and bees – workers acquire food, maintain the tunnel system and protect the nest of the breeding queen, akin to a vampire sire.</p> <h3>4. Vampire trait: heightened senses</h3> <p>Vampires are often depicted with heightened senses such as vision and hearing. But many animals have also evolved <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/five-comic-book-superpowers-that-really-exist-in-animals-81352" target="_blank">super senses</a> far exceeding those of both humans and vampires.</p> <p>Vampires, for example, seem to have a particularly keen sense of smell. This characteristic is mirrored in animals such as bears, which can <a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ramesh_Padodara/publication/262932824_Olfactory_Sense_in_Different_Animals/links/02e7e53958d94f129c000000/Olfactory-Sense-in-Different-Animals.pdf" target="_blank">smell food from up to 18 miles away</a>.</p> <p>Although it is often stated that sharks can smell a single drop of blood from a mile away, this is an <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/sharks-smell-blood/" target="_blank">exaggeration</a> – it is more like a single drop in a swimming pool. Nevertheless, sharks have nostrils that give them a directional sense of smell, allowing them to pin-point prey with incredible accuracy. Their nostrils also have only one function: to detect odours. Perhaps undead vampires have such an impressive sense of smell because they don’t have to breathe either.</p> <h3>5. Vampire trait: morphing</h3> <p>Vampires can also morph into another form, such as a bat, often behind the shroud of a cloak. Species such as the mimic octopus are similarly capable of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/some-shape-shifting-animals-that-can-morph-to-fool-others-39616" target="_blank">changing shape</a> to avoid a tricky situation. Unfortunately, they can’t turn into a bat and fly away, but this is essentially what a caterpillar does when it morphs into a butterfly and flutters skywards – although this process takes them weeks rather than an instant.</p> <p>Like vampires that disappear in a puff of smoke, squid are also capable of producing <a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/aug/09/why-do-cephalopods-produce-ink-and-what-on-earth-is-it-anyway" target="_blank">clouds of ink</a> – confusing predators and creating the illusion that they have vanished.</p> <div class="embed-container"><iframe class="note-video-clip responsive-embed" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gepRyOILsxE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p>But what about the cloak? Nothing resembles a textbook vampire quite like the black heron. These birds <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gepRyOILsxE" target="_blank">create a cloak</a> of plumage around themselves, forming a shadow that both enables the birds to see prey in the water, and creates a dark trap that fish dart into, assuming it’s cover.</p> <p>There are many animals that possess vampiric qualities, so it is likely that stories of vampires or mythical blood suckers, such as the <a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161109-the-truth-about-a-strange-blood-sucking-monster" target="_blank">chupacabra</a>, are based, in part, on these characteristics.</p> <p>And they all have one more thing in common, too: all can be killed with a stake through the heart.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em>By behavioural ecologist Louise Gentle from the UK’s Nottingham Trent University</em></p> <p>This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/five-vampire-traits-that-exist-in-the-natural-world-104957" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p> </div>

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