burial

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Dorchester deviant burial

Posted by ForSaKeN on October 9, 2017
Posted in: Arheological Find. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Deviant burial was a common practice in medieval times and with the expansion of archaeological sites all across the world, we have more and more evidence of deviant burials as means to prevent vampires from leaving their graves and terrorizing villages – in this case, one located in Dorchester!
Back in 2007, research by Wessex Archaeology in Little Keep, Dorchester, revealed the remnants of a roman cemetery. Out of the total of 29 graves found, 5 had evidence of deviant burial.

deviant burial dorchester

Deviant burial in Dorchester

While some corpses had been entered face-down, others had been decapitated – with their head placed between their legs at the ankles. In some of the other graves the legs themselves were crossed, however this can be a normal result of the decomposition process and not of a deviant burial.
As per the coins found in the one of the graves, the deviant burial can be placed in the region of 4th century AD and it is possible that the coins were added in an effort to “help” the souls of the departed on their way – I`m referring here to the pagan belief that one would need to pay the ferryman on the river Strix for passage to the afterlife.

Since no reports are available for Dorchester as to any vampire activity in that time, I`m afraid that the deviant burial is all we have to go on, however it`s safe to say that the villagers were convinced that this drastic action had to be taken in order to prevent unwanted nightly visits.

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Henry Standley

Posted by ForSaKeN on September 15, 2017
Posted in: Documented Reports. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Historical accounts report that in 1822, in the region of Southwell, one Henry Standley was found guilty of the murder of a hawker named John Dale. Arrested, he was later found dead in his cell.
A local newspaper report dated Feb. 15, 1822 reveals that Standley was buried near the crossroads and a stake was driven through his body, suggesting that fear of the dead rising from the grave did exist in British society in the 1820s.
Burial at crossroads is quite common for suspected vampires, the theory being if they were to reanimate they would not know the way back to the village. And within folklore, suicides are at great risk of becoming vampires in death because of the influence exercised by the church.

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The Southwell vampire

Posted by ForSaKeN on September 13, 2017
Posted in: Documented Reports. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

The earliest case of a ritualistic burial in the UK dates from 550-700AD. The person was buried in the ancient minster town of Southwell [Nottinghamshire] with metal spikes through its shoulders, heart and ankles. This was done to specific people, labeled as living vampires, to prevent them rising from their graves to plague the living.
The skeleton was discovered back in 1959 by archeologists that were extending a roman site and sadly no information is given as to what happened to the remains as they apparently couldn`t be fully recovered.

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Signs for recognizing vampires

Posted by ForSaKeN on August 31, 2016
Posted in: Superstitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

If the community was convinced there was a vampire among them or if there had been reports of attacks in the near communities, search parties would be dispensed to the graveyard.
The idea may seam far off to some, but we`re not referring to gatherings similar to those presented in the movies [in “angry torch-carrying mob” scenes].
One cannot fully understand the emotions that drove the peasants back then… grief over loving someone [remember that usually the family members were present during the ritualistic eradication of the so called vampires], fear over losing another family member, confusion and impossibility to go against the majority.
Since it was believed that vampires have the ability to hypnotize the caretakers into protecting them during the day – when the vampire is confined to his coffin, if the gravediggers were protective of several graves, those were scrutinized first.

§ In the case of a careful inspection at the cemetery, the following were considered proof of vampirism:
– holes in the ground
– disarranged dirt on and around the grave
– unusual [dens] fog, especially at nightfall
– scratches on the tomb stones
– fallen and/or dismantled crosses
– tracks on remote or auxiliary exits from the cemetery
– sounds similar to sighs herd from inside the graves during sunset
– strange animal behavior, such as: birds not singing, dogs barking and refusing to enter the cemetery, geese get restless around certain tombs, horses refuse to advance towards certain graves.

§ When opening a coffin, people would look out for:
– eyes and/or mouth open
– unusually pale or reddish face
– teeth or fangs that are larger than normal [not necessarily sharp]
– bloated body [people assumed it was due to the drinking of blood]
– hair longer that at the burial
– long and/or transparent fingernails
– flexible extremities
– lack of decomposition
– blood around the mouth and/or in the coffin
– white liver [when removed]

๑۞๑ Related: ๑۞๑
† Vampire Accounts
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Special burial rituals

Posted by ForSaKeN on August 30, 2016
Posted in: Superstitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

§ Those that died as a result of presumed vampire attacks along with those believed to be “living vampires” were suspected of coming back from beyond the grave so they would benefit of special burial rituals:
– abiding by all the Christian burial customs [it was believed that for 40 days the soul of the departed would remain bound by the family members and the place it once lived in]
– destroy the vampire that caused the death
– all the windows should be open while the body was in the house so that the spirit can freely leave
– keeping certain animals at bay [black cats, ravens etc.]
– keeping the corpse out of the way of shadows and direct hit of moonlight
– covering all mirrors and water surfaces from the household [it was believed that a spirit can remain trapped in it`s own reflexion]
– shutting the eyes of the dead as soon as possible after the death occurred
– putting silver coins on the eyes and/or filling the mouth with garlic
– mutilating the body by piercing it through the heart with a wooden stake
– removing the heart from the body and burying the corpse without it
– putting a crucifix or a book of prayers besides the corpse in the coffin
– [in some regions of Western Europe] positioning the body as follows: hands and legs tied with rope, forcefully shutting the mouth [stuffer with garlic] and securing the head so that it won`t open, wrapping in rugs and nets
– beheading the corpse and placing the head between the legs or in a separate grave
– the body would be burn to ashes

§ After the religious ceremony was over, special arrangements were made at the grave site.
– certain items may be placed on the grave [candles, knives, daggers, wooden stakes] so that if the corpse would try to get out it would encounter obstacles and hurt itself
– an altar was made near the cross, containing: holy water, wild roses, garlic and crucifixes.
– on the paths from around the grave the family would scatter rice, pieces of garlic, wild roses and rocks from the bottom of a river.

๑۞๑ Related: ๑۞๑
† Vampire Accounts
† Legends