multidisciplinary study of anti-vampire burials from early medieval Culmen, Poland: were the diseased and disabled regarded as vampires?

Matczak, Magdalena ORCID: 0000-0003-2934-0036, Kozłowski, Tomasz ORCID: 0000-0003-3409-0991 and Chudziak, Wojciech ORCID: 0000-0003-3409-0991 (2022) multidisciplinary study of anti-vampire burials from early medieval Culmen, Poland: were the diseased and disabled regarded as vampires? Archaeologia Historica Polona, 29. 219–252-219–252-.

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Abstract

<jats:p>The definitions and interpretations of anti-vampire burials have provoked impassioned discussion in archaeology over the last century. That the diseased and disabled were sometimes perceived as vampires is very intriguing and worth investigating because historical and ethnographic materials and archaeological studies indicate a connection between disease (e.g. tuberculosis and anaemia) and vampirism. Until the development of germ theory in the 19th century, some people explained the phenomenon of disease and death as its consequence by connecting it with beliefs in vampires. We investigate if the diseased and disabled were buried in anti-vampire graves based on materials from early medieval Culmen in Poland. We selected 574 skeletons from 566 graves for our analysis. The research allowed the identification of 13 antivampire graves, which include 14 skeletons. Of 574 skeletons, 299 indicate pathological lesions associated with diseases and 8 skeletons indicate lesions associated with disabilities. Among the individuals buried in anti-vampire graves (N=14), 11 had pathological lesions associated with diseases and one – lesions associated with disability. We analyse each disease and condition separately to see if it was a reason for burying individuals in anti-vampire graves. Our analyses have shown that the diseases and conditions that were identified on skeletons in anti-vampire graves were common in the past populations, including Culmen, and apparently not connected with the appearance of a vampire. Therefore, we conclude that diseases and disabilities were not the reason for perceiving someone as a vampire in Culmen.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	3 Good Health and Well Being
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	18 Apr 2023 13:43
Last Modified:	15 Mar 2024 15:17
DOI:	10.12775/ahp.2021.012
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.12775/AHP.2021.012
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3169682