At an ancient Roman site in Italy, archaeologists have uncovered the skeleton of a child of about ten years old. So far, there’s nothing unusual about it, but the experts found that a piece of rock had been placed in his mouth. At that time, malaria was decimating entire populations, and the child would probably have died of the disease. Having heard of the discovery, the inhabitants of the area named the skeleton “Vampire of Lugnano.”
Many cultures believe in the existence of vampires
It’s not just Italians who believe in the presence of vampires. The Chinese call them “Jiang Shi.” According to their belief, these corpses resurrect and come back to life. They would have sharp fangs that would allow them to bite their victims on the neck. Also, in Russia, ancient and Dark Age villagers did not hesitate to impale the hearts of corpses with wooden sticks to prevent them from turning into these monsters. As for the Romans, they resorted to witchcraft to stop vampires from resurrecting.
“I have never seen anything like it,” David Soren, the director of the excavations, affirmed.
In 2009, archaeologists had also dug up an elderly woman who would have lived in the 16th century. She also had a rock placed in her mouth, which earned her the nickname “Vampire of Venice.”
The “Bambi Necropolis” has not yet revealed all its secrets
The scientists unearthed the vampire child (“Vampire of Lugnano”) in the heart of the Bambi Necropolis or “Cemetery of Babies.” The site was reserved for burying children and infants who had died of malaria. Strangely enough, only the skeleton of the 10-year-old child had a piece of rock placed in his mouth.
The archaeologists plan to return to the site soon to see if there are more vampire graves. Scientists also want to study carefully the malaria epidemic that occurred nearly 1,500 years ago.
