Remains of a 13th century ‘Vampire’ discovered, with a stake driven through his chest

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Archaeologists in Bulgaria have discovered what appears to be the tomb of a “vampire” dating between the 13th and 14th centuries.

Professor Nikolai Ovcharov was in charge of leading an excavation at the archaeological site of Perperikon, an ancient Thracian city near the border between Bulgaria and Greece. During the excavation work, they came across a skeleton that had a metal stake driven through its chest, right where its heart would have been. Archaeologists also noted that part of the left leg, below the knee, had also been removed and placed next to the skeleton.

According to vampire experts and scholars, the reason the leg was reattached to the skeleton was to prevent the corpse from rising from the dead and tormenting the living. In fact Professor Ovcharov mentions:

We have no doubt that, once again, we are dealing with a ritual against vampires. Often this type of ritual was applied to people considered evil and who died in unusual circumstances, as well as anyone who committed suicide.

After further study of the skeleton, it was determined to be about 700 years old and belonged to a man between 40 and 50 years old. Meanwhile, the stake was nothing more than a 1kg iron plow that was driven into the chest of the aforementioned man. Due to the great media attention that the discovery of this skeleton received, the authorities decided to transfer it to the Museum of Natural History in Sofia, where it is exhibited to the curiosity and amazement of visitors.

DID VAMPIRES REALLY EXIST, OR IS IT MERE SUPERSTITION?

Until a century ago, the belief in the existence of vampires was popular among the people of the Balkans. That is why Orthodox Christians during the Middle Ages used iron and wooden stakes to pierce the hearts of the suspicious dead, and subsequently bind their limbs to prevent them from becoming vampires. In fact, at that time, superstition led Bulgarian medievalists to believe that people with physical anomalies were vampires.

It is worth mentioning that this type of discovery is not the only one of its kind. A similar find in the small town of Sozopol, on the shores of the Black Sea, revealed the remains of a man who lived in the 8th or 9th century and had a piece of iron nailed to his heart, which caused quite a stir in the Balkan country. In fact, the remains of a total of 100 “vampires” have been found in the Bulgarian country.

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