Face of ‘Zosia the VAMPIRE’ revealed after her 350-year-old skeleton is unearthed with a sickle around neck
EXPERTS have revealed the face of a 350-year-old 'vampire' after her skeleton was unearthed with a sickle around her neck and a padlock on her foot.
The skeleton of an 18-year-old woman who has been called Zosia was unearthed in 2022 in a field outside of the village of Pien in Poland.
Archaeologists who made the grim discovery revealed that the sickle was placed over her neck and the padlock on her toe because, at the time of her death, some 350 years ago, locals feared that the teenager was a vampire.
It was believed that the sickle, a curved blade used for farming, and the padlock would prevent Zosia from coming back from the dead.
Zosia's skeleton was discovered by archaeologist Professor Dariusz Polinski and his partner Magda Zagrodzka when Polinski's trowel hit metal.
Her remains were fully discovered after the archaeologist carefully brushed away the surrounding soil.
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"It can be assumed that for some reason those burying the woman were afraid that she would rise from the grave," Professor Polinski told the at the time of his discovery.
"Perhaps they feared she was a vampire.
"The sickle was not laid flat but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up most likely the head would have been cut off or injured."
Meanwhile, the padlocked big toe on the left foot further convinced experts that her killers believed her to be a vampire as it likely symbolised "the impossibility of returning".
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Now, the so-called vampire has been given a face by experts who have revealed new information about the teenager including an artist's impression of what she may have looked like.
Scans of the skeleton have concluded that there is an abnormality of the breast bone meaning Zosia likely had a painful and physical deformity.
Dr Heather Edgar, the medical investigator at the University of New Mexico who discovered the abnormality told how the deformity could have "marked this person [to others] in a negative way."
Her skull has also revealed that she had a protruding tooth which may have contributed to fears of her being a blood-sucker.
This along with her deformity may have largely contributed to the belief that she was supernatural leading to her death and unusual burial.
Meanwhile, facial reconstruction expert Oscar Nilsson created an impression of the teenager which depicts a fair-looking woman with blue eyes and mousey-brown, cropped hair.
The illustration was created using digital scans of her skull along with a 3D printer and clay to mould the muscles of her face.
She also appears in rather fine clothes as a silk cap was found with her remains, highlighting that she likely had high social status.
Experts also believe that she may have come from Scandinavia and could have been seen as an "unwanted outsider" as her death occurred during a period of conflict between Poland and Sweden.
Zosia was just one of around 100 skeletons located in the field outside of Pien.
Such discoveries led to the area being called the "Field of Vampires."
However, she was the only one at the burial site with a sickle around her neck, though 30 others appeared to have been restrained in some way.
Among the other remains found at the burial site were a pregnant woman, a woman who had long suffered from syphilis, and a man with a child buried at his feet.
Some were placed face-down in their graves and weighed down with stones while others had coins placed in their mouths.
All of these people were "excluded from the community," Professor Polinski said with all of the graves being unmarked and the deaths unrecorded.
However, with Zosia being buried with a sickle around her neck, Polinski believes that she was the most feared by locals.
The recent findings about Zosia are set to feature in a new two-part documentary on Sky History called Field of Vampires.
The first part with air at 9 pm on October 29.
Earlier this year, a similar set of remains was uncovered beneath a church in northern Poland.
The remains of a 50-year-old male were found under the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Pączewo and he too had a sickle placed around his neck after death.
Archaeologists at the site say it is the first vampire tomb of its kind to have been found inside a church.
The remains of two "vampire children" were also uncovered in Poland this year with similar protections to prevent them from rising from the dead.
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They were found in a medieval graveyard in Koszalin, with one having been decapitated and the other laid faced-down with stones on its back.
Such superstitions date back to as early as the 11th century in Eastern Europe.
