Scientists have shown the face of 18-year-old "vampire" Zosia, who lived in Poland 350 years ago: her skeleton was found with a sickle around her neck and a lock on her leg

Two years ago, in Poland, behind the small village of Piń, south of the city of Toruń, archaeologists made a horrific discovery: they found about 100 skeletons, including one with a sickle around its neck and a giant lock on its leg. This was the burial place of an 18-year-old woman whom the researchers named "vampire" Zosia.

Polish locals attached this form of "double protection" to the corpse so that she would not rise from the grave. Now, experts have revealed new information about the woman, as well as illustrations by an artist showing what she might have looked like, MailOnline writes.

At the time of her death, the "vampire" Zosia was 18 years old. It happened about 350 years ago in the middle of the seventeenth century. Since she died around the time of the Swedish-Polish wars, researchers suggest that she might have been Swedish and therefore considered an "unwanted outsider." According to scientists, the girl had fair skin, blue eyes, short hair and angular teeth.

A bone scan revealed an abnormality in Zosia's breastbone, suggesting that she may have had a physical deformity that caused severe pain. It may have been because of this deformity that she was particularly feared as a vampire before she was brutally sacrificed and buried.

The excavation was carried out in 2022 by Professor Dariusz Polinski and his partner Magda Zagrodzka, near the village of Piń, south of Toruń, Poland. It was already dark outside when Prof. Polinski's trowel hit what looked like metal. After carefully brushing the ground away, the researchers found Zosia, the only skeleton in the field with a sickle around her neck.

An agricultural implement with a sharp, curved blade was installed to ensure that she would decapitate herself if she tried to rise from the dead.

"We can assume that those who buried the woman were somehow afraid that she would rise from the grave. Perhaps they were afraid that she was a vampire. Because the sickle was placed around her neck in such a way that if the deceased tried to get up, her head would most likely be cut off or injured," Professor Polinsky commented.

Polinsky and Zagrodska worked with facial reconstruction expert Oscar Nilsson, who took a digital scan of her skull and a copy using a 3D printer. He sculpted new "muscles" for her face with clay and used silicon to give her new skin.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!