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The breakthrough of an unusual " vampire " burial in Croatia shows the endurance of such belief in eastern medieval Europe , allot to researcher .
" We know that in many Slavonic countries , belief in malign spirits hold on " even after the espousal of Christianity , Nataša Šarkić , an independent archaeologist who research the find , told Live Science in an email . " The belief in lamia has been quite far-flung , for certain . "
The unusual burials at the Rašaška archaeological site in southeastern Croatia date to between the 13th and 16th centuries.
As the Serbian - language websiteSve o Arheologiji ( " All About Archaeology " ) reports , the grave was excavated last year at the archaeological site of Rašaška ( also spelled Račeša ) , about 70 mi ( 112 kilometers ) southeast of Zagreb . The grave is thought to date from between the thirteenth and sixteenth hundred ; the medieval menses in this part is held to have lasted a slight longer than in other parts of Europe .
The researchers first note bombastic stones in the grave , which they later realized had in all likelihood strike from a nearby bulwark . But their analysis let on another surprise — the skeleton had been decapitated , with the skull placed aside from the other bone .
The studies of the skeleton determined that the dead body had been male ; and it seemed it was by choice twist after destruction , so that his torso was face down while other body part were facing up . As well , the legs of the body may have been dislocate , Sarkić and her fellow worker explain in the book " Military Orders and Their Heritage " ( 2024 ) , which contains reports from a recent archeologic conference in Zagreb .
(Image credit: Milica Nikolić)
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The strange burial could betoken that the individual had been look at a " aberrant social person " when they were live — and was therefore suspected of ingest the ability to get up again after destruction , the researchers write . Healed injury on the skeletal system indicated the man had led a violent life , and the new psychoanalysis decide that he had been killed by injury to his skull .
Vampire beliefs
This is not the first medieval lamia burial investigator have constitute in Croatia . Sve o Arheologiji also reportedthat another was found in 2024 in the Old Town district of Pakrac , a few miles northwest of the Rašaška site .
That person was entomb in an ornate wooden coffin but without their head , which has never been found . Both burying exemplify the impression that a headless deceased person could not rise from their tomb to harm the living . Sarkić say there had been a recent flock of discoveries of mediaeval vampire burials throughout Europe , especially in Poland , mayhap because archaeological squad have start include bioarchaeologists who can identify such interment .
The person in the tomb had been decapitated , and their skull was found nearby ; this may have been to prevent a " vampire " from spring up from the tomb .
(Image credit: Nataša Šarkić)
The someone swallow up in the grave had suffered several injuries , which suggested they had led a red aliveness . They were kill by trauma to the skull , which are prove in the two lower images .
The body of the mortal in the tomb was strangely twisted around after last , and the legs may have been luxate . Two orotund stones establish in the grave seem to have fallen from a nearby bulwark .
Medieval graves
The Rašaška land site is part of the larger settlement of Bobare , which was have in the other Middle Ages by theKnights Templar , a military order that lease its name from Jerusalem ’s fabled Temple of Solomon . The res publica was afterwards owned by the Knights of St. John , and by the 15th century it go to local Lord .
archaeologist have been excavating buildings at the site since 2011 , and they have constitute more than 180 graves there . The early may day of the month from the thirteenth C , but many of them are from the fifteenth and sixteenth hundred . So far , this is the only " vampire " burial they ’ve establish at the internet site .
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(Image credit: S.K. Schendzielor)
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Sarkić said people swallow as vampires may have displayed " sinful or fierce behaviour " during their life . But " even a peaceful individual can become a potential threat if the burial ritual are not properly conducted , " she pronounce .
Medieval Croatian vampires , however , did not match the Hollywood thought ofDracula . " Unlike the aristocratic vampires known for their pale skin and lissom figure , vampires from Balkan folklore were often describe as bloated , long - nailed , and having a ruddy or moody complexion , " Sarkić said . Such descriptions aligned with part decomposed clay . " Therefore , any corpse in an advanced point of decomposition can resemble a ' vampire , ' " she said .
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