/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/83/bc/83bc5a1f-6b42-4869-aa42-850634eb445a/staked.jpg "Unearthed ancient Vampire Grave in Bulgaria containing a skeleton pierced by a stake in its heart")
In Bulgaria, archeologists have unearthed a 13th-century “vampire” burial at Perperikon, an ancient Thracian site located in the southern part of the country, as documented in an Archaeology report. The discovered remains are speculated to belong to a man around his 40s. As a precautionary measure against the dead disturbing the living, an iron rod had been driven through the chest of the corpse, the report by Archaeology further reveals. Additionally, the deceased’s left leg had been detached and positioned next to the body.
Unquestionably, the man’s neighbors lacked the faith that his remains would stay intact. Nikolai Ovcharov, the lead archeologist of the excavation, shared with the Telegraph, “We are certain that we’re witnessing another instance of an anti-vampire ritual.” During the man’s era, vampires were considered a genuine menace in multiple Eastern European societies. According to the Telegraph, individuals who met unique demises, such as suicide, were occasionally staked to hinder their return from death.
According to the Los Angeles Times, such beliefs were still prevalent among some people in the Balkans as late as a hundred years ago. Thus, it’s plausible to expect the discovery of many more impaled corpses.
Vampire Hysteria
The 19th Century saw a time of fear and widespread hysteria known as the “Vampire Hysteria” in New England, United States. Triggered by an epidemic of consumption, which is currently referred to as Tuberculosis (TB), the mass panic was fueled by the superstition that vampires were real and inflicting the disease on the population.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease brought about by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. It typically affects the lungs leading to persistent coughing, accompanied by blood-filled mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss.
The states most significantly impacted by the TB epidemic were Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The disease was so rampant within these areas that between 1786 and 1800, around 2% of the region’s populace succumbed to it—families and households too were not spared as the disease spread indiscriminately.
As explained by Heritage Daily, it was previously believed that when a person contracted TB and subsequently passed away, their death would somehow lead to their surviving relatives also becoming affected by TB. This belief reinforced the idea that the deceased person had consumed the life force of their living relatives. In an attempt to safeguard the living and mitigate the symptoms of tuberculosis, the deceased individuals’ bodies were often unsealed and inspected for signs of vampirism.
The idea of a demon or spirit that feeds off human blood has been a common theme in the myths and stories of nearly all civilisations throughout history. This vampiric notion can be traced back to some of the earliest written records like cuneiform texts created by the Akkadians, Samarians, Assyrians and Babylonians. They documented the existence of demonic entities such as the Lilu and Lilitu.
The belief in vampires, as we commonly conceptualize them now, did not really take hold until the late 17th to 18th century. Folklore concerning these creatures began to circulate amongst numerous European ethnic communities during this period. Vampires were portrayed as reanimated bodies of wicked entities, individuals who took their own lives, witches, bodies usurped by an evil spirit, or the unfortunate victims of a vampire attack, leading to their transformation into a vampire.
The height of alleged vampire sightings in Eastern Europe occurred in the 18th century, ushering a frenzy of grave exhumations and the ritual of impaling corpses to eradicate potential undead. This time is often referred to as the “18th-Century Vampire Controversy”.
[sourcelink link=”http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/06/vampire-bulgaria-tourists-dracula-transylvania.html”]
[sourcelink link=”https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/05/the-new-england-vampire-panic/143567″]
