DNA Study Reveals Who the 'Vampire of Pień' Really Was

A 17th-century woman's skeleton, found buried with a sickle across her throat and a padlock around her big toe, has long puzzled archaeologists in Poland. A new study led by researchers from the Institute of Archaeology at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń has used DNA and isotope analysis to piece together who she was.

The grave, known as Grave 75, was excavated in 2022 at a cemetery near the village of Pień in north-central Poland. Locals nicknamed its occupant 'Zosia,' and the site became known as the grave of the 'Vampire of Pień.' Along with the skeleton, researchers found a 36-centimeter (14-inch) sickle, a triangular padlock, and remnants of a decorative band called a galloon, woven from gold and silver thread and silk.

The cemetery no longer appears on any map and is not mentioned in historical records. The absence of religious items suggests the people buried there were Protestant, and researchers say the site may have been a burial ground for outcasts — vagrants, heretics, orphans, unbaptized babies and people who died by suicide.

The new analysis found the woman was 17 to 19 years old when she died. She was local to the area but had Scandinavian ancestry. Her galloon, likely once sewn onto a cap or garment, is the only sign of an elevated social class, and her bones show a slightly above-average consumption of animal protein for the period.

The cause of her death remains unclear; researchers found no obvious signs of trauma, though early speculation pointed to a condition that could have caused severe headaches or fainting. Whatever it was, the researchers say the sickle and padlock were meant to be protective, deliberately placed to limit the dead woman's ability to return from the grave. The findings were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.