‘Zosia the vampire’ likely cause of death revealed after finding 350-year-old skeleton with a sickle around her neck
THE padlocked ‘vampire’ skeleton, whose face was recently reconstructed, has had her likely cause of death revealed after 350 years.
Zosia, as the 17th century remains have been called, was found at a gravesite in the Polish village of Pień by archaeologists in 2022.
Her grave sparked intrigue at the time, as the skeleton of the 18-year-old woman was found with a sickle around her neck and a padlock on her foot.
The sickle was placed so that if Zosia had tried to get up, she would have been decapitated.
These are believed to have been safety measures made by the living, who feared the teenager was a vampire and could come back from the dead.
Zosia died at the height of a fabled vampire epidemic in Poland during the 17th century.
During the time, laying a sickle across the necks of the dead, or even placing stones beneath their jaws, became common practice.
Such discoveries led to the area, just outside the village of Pień, being called the “Field of Vampires”.
While Zosia was the only one at the burial site with a sickle around her neck, 30 others appeared to have been restrained in some way.
Six so-called ‘vampire skeletons’ were also found at a cemetery in northwest Poland in 2013.
A 3D model of the woman’s skull served as the foundation for recreating her most-likely appearance, which was unveiled last week.
DNA analysis also suggests Zosia came from Scandinavia and could have been seen as an unwanted outsider as her death occurred during a period of conflict between Poland and Sweden.
Her skull has also revealed that she had a protruding tooth which may have contributed to fears of her being a blood-sucker.
Scans of the skeleton revealed she also had an abnormality of the breast bone, which Archeology Magazine reported led to her death.
The abnormality was a haemangioma – a tumour located in the sternum.
In severe cases, hemangioma can be life-threatening, as it can affect the breathing system and other organs.
A haemangioma can also suffer uncontrollable bleeding, which also could have brought about her death – particularly when you consider the medical interventions available at the time.
Forensic anthropologist Dr. Heather Edgar, from the University of New Mexico, said the tumour and symptoms like pain and possible fainting spells may have contributed to the woman’s perceived ‘otherness’ in a superstitious society.
The recent findings about Zosia are set to feature in a new two-part documentary on Sky History called Field of Vampires.