What to Do with Your Dead Vampire

[Hum]

A ?vampire? skeleton has been unearthed in England. The skeleton, which is estimated to be as much as 1,500 years old, was discovered bound in irons, with metal spikes through its shoulders, heart and ankles, according to a new report from Southwell Archaeology.

The skeleton was originally discovered by archaeologist Charles Daniels back in 1959, while hunting for Roman ruins in the ancient town of Southwell, Nottinghamshire in England. What he found was a skeleton who was given the full anti-vampire treatment ? suggesting that the person who belonged to the skeleton was dangerous when alive, according to the Daily Mail. John Lock, chairman of Southwell Archaeology, told The Telegraph, that the body was one of a handful of such burials to be found in the UK.

New details of the burial were published in the journal Southwell Archaeology. As reported in the Daily Mail, the remains are believed to be the result of a ?deviant burial?, an ancient rite reserved for those considered to be the ?dangerous dead?, which, according to the report?s author Matthew Beresford, were those people who were suspected of being vampires.

But as the Telegraph notes, there are vampires and then there?s vampires. As Beresford says in his report: ?The classic portrayal of the dangerous dead (more commonly known today as a vampire) is an undead corpse arising from the grave? ? not quite the image of pallid yet oddly charismatic undead we?re used to. And as Beresford continues, the body was probably not even that of a suspected vampire but of someone accused of more terrestrial crimes. ?Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period the punishment of being buried in water-logged ground, face down, decapitated, staked or otherwise was reserved for thieves, murderers or traitors or later for those deviants who did not conform to societies rules: adulterers, disrupters of the peace, the unpious or oath breaker. Which of these the Southwell deviant was we will never know.?

source

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

Well..as long as it doesn't sparkle I'm fine what ever they do, if it does indeed sparkle burry it again.

[Colin McGregor]

Considering the timeframe it could just be someone that had misshapen teeth. Back then you were burned as a witch for knowing 1 + 1 so I'm guessing he wasn't at all dangerous.

On a side note see how civilized people are treated when a town / city / country is run by religion

?Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period the punishment of being buried in water-logged ground, face down, decapitated, staked or otherwise was reserved for thieves, murderers or traitors or later for those deviants who did not conform to societies rules: adulterers, disrupters of the peace, the unpious or oath breaker."

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

Considering the timeframe it could just be someone that had misshapen teeth. Back then you were burned as a witch for knowing 1 + 1 so I'm guessing he wasn't at all dangerous.

On a side note see how civilized people are treated when a town / city / country is run by religion

?Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period the punishment of being buried in water-logged ground, face down, decapitated, staked or otherwise was reserved for thieves, murderers or traitors or later for those deviants who did not conform to societies rules: adulterers, disrupters of the peace, the unpious or oath breaker."

This doesn't make any sense. Vampire is more logical.

[McKay]

Clearly it was somebodies Mother-in-law and he was just being careful.

[Hum]

Dracula's grandpa

[Arachno 1D]

OK take the word Vampire out of the story the use of which is pure spin and what you have is less of a speculation.So we are talking the Celtic period of history who have just invaded the UK [600BC-50AD] with their Druid priests and many sacrifice rituals especialy enemy leaders and such.They were noted to cut off enemy heads and wear them as trophys on their belts or hanging from door posts outside their wooden huts.

[Hum]

^ Vampires were once considered 'real' and great pains were taken to safely bury them.

[Arachno 1D]

I can see no direct link between Druids and Vampires on a quick google search maybe you thinking of the 18th century and Ann Rices Vampire Chronicles?

[Tuishimi]

I hope the archeologists were careful to not nick themselves while working with it... and if they did... did their blood flow TOWARD the skeleton or just down?

[Growled Member]

Bash all you want but it apparently worked. :p

[Hum]

When I find a dead vampire, I pull the stake out of its ribs, then sprinkle a little murdered human blood on it. :p

[redvamp128]

What I find is strange is that I tried to do a Google Search on -- Charles Daniels 1959 England... and All I keep getting is Charlie Daniels the singer.

But after removing Singer Country Charlie Find this article from 2009 about the same site.

http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Half-a-century-of-digging-for-clues

Then again I have read other accounts that some feared that people who died from the Black Death early on that people thought they would come back to life so they were even given this treatment.

The other question is if this were a "Vampire" thought individual then why not the Face down burial that was persistent in the treatment of individuals thought to have it?

[exotoxic]

People that died suddenly or committed suicide had this sort of thing done to them.

[redfish]

Considering the timeframe it could just be someone that had misshapen teeth. Back then you were burned as a witch for knowing 1 + 1 so I'm guessing he wasn't at all dangerous.

On a side note see how civilized people are treated when a town / city / country is run by religion.

It has nothing to do with religion. In fact, the church in the Middle Ages was the biggest force in trying to dispel superstition.

The general desire of the Catholic Church's clergy to check fanaticism about witchcraft and necromancy is shown in the decrees of the Council of Paderborn which in 785 explicitly outlawed condemning people as witches, and condemned to death anyone who burnt a witch. Emperor Charlemagne later confirmed the law. The Council of Frankfurt in 794, called by Charlemagne, was also very explicit in condemning "the persecution of alleged witches and wizards", calling the belief in witchcraft "superstitious", and ordering the death penalty for those who presumed to burn witches

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt#Middle_Ages

The early Christians' largest complaint about pagan religion was that the priests were trying to fool the public into thinking they could do magic, they tried to expose pagan priests as frauds.

People are mistaken about the history on this issue.

Anyway superstition always exists, religion or not. That's why you have atheists who believe in ancient aliens, psychic powers, and other paranormal activity.

My first thought about this article was wondering how they knew the people were thought vampires while alive. I read a large part of the belief of vampires was due to the fact that people found buried corpses to be bleeding from the mouth, so its not impossible that the corpses were bound and handled this way after being dug up.