Polish archaeologists unearthed a large quantity of ostracized burials at an ancient graveyard in the village of Pień. As reported by the Nauka w Polsce portal, a team of scholars led by Dariusz पॉलिński from the Nicolaus Copernicus University has been conducting excavations in this region for more than two decades and concluded that the local rural cemetery might be a record-holder for the number of such interments in the nation. Out of roughly 100 deceased residents resting there, at least 12 were interred in a peculiar manner.
One of the most significant discoveries is the grave of a woman aged 30–50, upon whose arm and left side large stones were placed. Scholars determined that during her life, she suffered from late-stage syphilis, an illness that provoked dread in others during the 17th century. Due to changes in her appearance, the woman was viewed as a vampire, and the stones, in the researchers’ view, served as a “magical lock,” intended to prevent her from rising from the grave and harming the living.
In 2025, archaeologists found other unusual burials. These included the grave of a boy named Włodzimierz, also covered in stones, as well as the interment of a 25-year-old pregnant woman over whom a similar rite was performed. Of special note is the grave of a 60-year-old local resident: big stones were pressed into the earth around her head. Another finding involves the remains of a young man, near whose feet lay a two-year-old child with arms raised upward. Such burials of men with children are infrequent, and this instance, according to the scholars, also suggests the execution of some protective ritual.
Poliński attributes such a high volume of “fear burials” to the difficult historical climate of the 17th century. The Little Ice Age continued across Europe, accompanied by famine, prolonged conflicts, and epidemics. Unaware of the true causes of illnesses, people frequently ascribed them to associations with evil forces, and viewed the afflicted themselves as vampires or demons capable of rising from their graves after death.
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