#vampire skeleton

Details of one of the few "vampire" burials in Britain have emerged as a new archaeological report details the long forgotten discovery of a skeleton found buried with metal spikes through shoulders, heart area and ankles.

Dating from 550-700 A.D., the skeleton was unearthed in 1959 in the minster town of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, during excavations in preparation for a new school. The dig also turned up Roman remains.

Archaeologist Charles Daniels immediately recognized the skeletal remains as being out of the ordinary, but no further investigation was carried out at that time.

"Daniels did jokingly comment he had 'checked the eye teeth,' clearly associating the skeleton with the vampire being," Matthew Beresford, of Southwell Archaeology told Discovery News.

Bulgarian Archaeologists Identify 'Vampire' as Pirate, Evil Mayor of Sozopol

The "vampire" skeleton that was recently discovered by archaeologists in a grave in Bulgaria's Black Sea town of Sozopol has been identified as a pirate and mayor.

According to Bulgarian archaeologists and historians, the skeleton, which was said to be a vampire because it was found buried with an iron spike thrust into his chest,most likely belonged to a noble named Krivich who lived in the 14th century.

"The vampire from Sozopol most likely was called Krivich, and was a pirate. And he certainly wasn't a vampire when he was alive. It is just that the people were afraid that he might become one after his death," explained Thursday Prof. Bozhidar Dimitrov, head of the Bulgarian National History Museum.

It is at the initiative of Dimitrov (himself a native of Sozopol) that the skeleton "treated posthumously against vampirism" has been transferred to Sofia, and will become part of the National History Museum's permanent display as a testimony to folklore in the Middle Ages.

"He must have been a bad man. A very bad man. So according to the beliefs in theMiddle Ages his soul couldn't go to heaven. It was to remain in the body, suffer, and sometimes would rise from the grave to drink blood from animals or humans. That is why the soul had to be killed symbolically with a sharp spike but not a weapon," Dimitrov explained.

Toothless "Vampire" Skeleton