A human skull with a 40-centimeter nail driven in to the very top is one of the most striking exhibits. Such artifacts suggest that a few centuries ago any person could be mistaken for a vampire. All those who were different from others suffered from “vampire hunters” – people suffering from rare diseases or seen in incomprehensible to most occupations. Too tall and too short, people with an unusual set of teeth or a defect in the nasal septum, which caused whistling when breathing – they all became victims of prejudice. Hunting gained momentum in difficult times – during periods of rampant epidemics, famine, droughts and natural disasters.
Often the victims of the “hunters” were people suffering from porphyria, a hereditary disease in which pigment metabolism is disturbed. Patients with porphyria have brown tooth enamel and skin that is very sensitive to light. In addition, they often react strongly to strong odors that healthy people find pleasant – for example, the smell of garlic.
“Vampires” were drowned in rivers, burned, and their heads were cut off. Sometimes the deceased were recorded as vampires – in this case, they were exhumed and the remains were subjected to additional magical procedures. Confirmation that the body of the deceased does not spend all the time in the coffin could be any random factors – unusually good preservation of the body or an unusual order of decomposition. Polish archaeologists often manage to identify the burial as a repeated one, made after carrying out “anti-vampiric” procedures – for example, sometimes the deceased was simply turned over on his stomach.
Eastern Europe was not the only place on the planet where people believed in the “living dead”. Such burial practices are described by researchers of the Babylonian kingdom, Egypt, India, China and many other places. Some researchers believe that these superstitions are rooted in the Paleolithic.
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