A 400-year-old grave unearthed in northern Poland containing the skeletal remains of a young woman pinned down by a sickle and a padlock has become the subject of the first systematic scientific study using ancient DNA. Archaeologists excavated the remains, nicknamed Zosia, from an unmarked burial site near the village of Pień in 2022, revealing extreme community fears about the deceased returning from the dead.
Excavation and Historical Context of the Pień Cemetery
Excavations at the rural field near Dąbrowa Chełmińska began in 2005 under the direction of Dariusz Poliński, a professor at the Institute of Archaeology at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. According to Poliński, the field served as a cemetery for roughly four generations during the 17th century, yielding a total of 101 graves.
The burial ground lacked devotional items such as crosses and medals typically found in Catholic burials of the era. Study authors noted that Protestant groups from Germany and the Netherlands, primarily Lutherans and Mennonites, lived alongside the Catholic Polish population in the region at that time. Researchers identified the site as a potential burial ground for individuals rejected by society.
“Such burial places were generally omitted from written sources, which explains the absence of source data concerning them,” the research team wrote, noting that the mode of burial applied to suicides, heretics, outsiders without municipal citizenship, vagrants, and the tragically deceased.
Anti-Vampiric Burials and Physical Precautions
Several dozen graves at the Pień site featured atypical body arrangements or objects described by the study as deviant. These included a child buried face down, a skeleton positioned in a crucifixion stance, and graves featuring stones placed around the skull to prevent movement or biting.
Zosia’s burial stood out due to the simultaneous use of two distinct protective measures. A triangular-shaped padlock was fastened to her big toe at the time of initial burial, though it was found unlocked. Additionally, a rusted sickle with a handle made from birch, alder, or maple was placed directly across her neck.
“It was unusual that there were two precautions, two methods of showing that this skeleton should be kept in the grave — so the fear of the body coming back to life was greater,” Poliński said regarding the findings published on July 30 in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
John Blair, a University of Oxford professor emeritus of medieval history and archaeology who was not involved in the study, noted that such measures reflected contemporary anxieties. “They were undoubtedly perceived as potentially dangerous corpses, that might harm the living if not disabled in this way,” Blair said. He added that while corpse-killing measures appear in various forms globally, the specific practice involving sickles across the throat is distinctive to early modern Poland.
Scientific Analysis of Zosia’s Remains
Following international headlines generated by the discovery and a 2024 documentary titled Field of Vampires, researchers applied ancient DNA analysis and other cutting-edge techniques to understand Zosia’s identity, cause of death, and background. Archaeologists deduced that the sickle was placed over her neck before the body fully decomposed, as no skeletal joints were detached or displaced.
The current research phase represents an ongoing effort by scientists to move beyond the macabre symbolism of the grave goods and reconstruct the biological and social profile of an individual marked as an outcast in 17th-century Europe.