Uncovered: vampire killer cure

Published on Sunday 8 March 2009 20:47

ITALIAN archeologists have uncovered evidence of how superstitious funeral directors dealt with women suspected of being a vampire 500 years ago – by stuffing a brick in their mouths.

The gruesome discovery was made after an ancient graveyard for victims of Black Death was uncovered close to the edge of the Venice lagoon.

During the Black Death period in the Middle Ages the cemetery was the final resting place for more than 1,500 corpses, and dozens of well preserved remains have been found. But the "vampire" discovery is the first of its kind at Lazzaretto Vecchio, the island used to quarantine and bury plague victims.

Dr Matteo Borrini, an anthropological archaeologist of Florence University, said the woman's skull had been impaled through the mouth with a brick – a traditional method of ensuring the "undead" could no longer feed. Dr Borrini said there was a widespread belief that the plague was spread by female vampires.

He explained: "This idea probably originated from the dribble of blood that often came from the mouths of plague victims when they died."