Archaeologists Find Bulgarian ‘Vampires’ From Middle Ages

If you believed vampires had been simply the stuff of myth and legend – and possibly the odd teen horror film – think once again.

Archaeologists in Bulgaria have unearthed two skeletons from the Middle Ages pierced through the chest with iron rods to hold them from turning into the undead.

They are the newest in a succession of finds across western and central Europe which shed new light on just how seriously individuals took the threat of vampires and how those beliefs transformed into the modern day myth.

Bulgaria’s national history museum chief Bozhidar Dimitrov mentioned: ‘These two skeletons stabbed with rods illustrate a practice which was common in some Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th century.’

According to pagan beliefs, men and women who had been regarded as bad during their lifetimes may possibly turn into vampires after death unless stabbed in the chest with an iron or wooden rod just before being buried.

Individuals believed the rod would also pin them down in their graves to prevent them from leaving at midnight and terrorising the living, the historian explained.

According to Mr Dimitrov over 100 buried men and women whose corpses were stabbed to prevent them from becoming vampires have been discovered across Bulgaria over the years.

He added: ‘I do not know why an ordinary discovery like that became so well-known. Perhaps due to the fact of the mysteriousness of the word “vampire”.

‘These individuals had been believed to be evil although they were alive, and it was believed that they would turn into vampires as soon as they are dead, continuing to torment folks.