The bodies, which researchers believe may have been seen as vampires or monsters, have raised a number of questions. One of the finds is a woman who has been named Zosia. She is buried with a sickle across her neck and a padlock at her feet.
In addition to the head being covered with textiles, which is not common in this area of Poland, there are more signs that she is from another part of Europe.
Analyzed her enamel
The element strontium is found naturally in the earth and varies depending on where in the world you are. When a child’s teeth develop, it is affected by the strontium level where you live. By measuring the element, researchers can get clues about where the person lived their early years.
Researchers in Albuquerque, New Mexico have analyzed the strontium content of the enamel from Zosia’s teeth. Anthropologist Paige Lynch believes that the result indicates that she comes from southern Sweden.
– The person probably comes from the Upper Rhine Valley in what is today Germany, but she could also come from southern Scandinavia or what is today southern Sweden.
At the time of Zosia’s death, Sweden and Poland were at war and Swedish troops invaded Poland. Which could be an explanation for the fact that she, as a Swede, was not very popular and that may have contributed to her getting a vampire-like funeral.
See the entire World of Science: Graveyard of the Vampires on SVT Play or on SVT2 on Monday, October 28 at 8:00 p.m.