33. Many medieval graves in Western Europe suggest a fear of the dead rising again
Away from the Slavic nations, fear of the dead rising again is clear from numerous medieval burials. Numerous excavations have uncovered skeletons with implements stuck in them. The one above, for example, from 8th-century Ireland, contains a metal rod once shoved through the person’s heart. Others have skeletons weighed down with big rocks and slabs or with bricks lodged in their mouths. Archaeologists believe these are measures to stop the cadavers from rising up to harm the living. Though not of vampires specifically, these graves show how widely medieval people believed in the evil walking dead.
