In Poland, a "vampire" was found buried with a sickle at his throat to prevent his resurrection

Skeletal remains of a female "vampire" with a sickle around her neck were found in a 17th-century Polish cemetery so that she would not rise from the dead.

Professor Dariusz Polinski from the Nicolaus Copernicus University led the archaeological excavations that led to the discovery of the remains, which were found in a silk cap and with a protruding front tooth, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.

"The sickle was not lying flat, but was placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased tried to get up... the head would have been severed or damaged," Polinsky told the Daily Mail.

According to Smithsonian magazine, in the 11th century, Eastern Europeans were afraid of vampires and began to treat the dead with the help of anti-vampire rituals, believing that "some dead people break out of the grave in the form of blood-sucking monsters that terrorize the living."

By the 17th century, similar burial practices "became common throughout Poland in response to reports of an outbreak of vampirism."

"Other ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down so that he bites into the ground, burning and smashing with a stone," Polinsky said.

Although other common methods of burial against vampires included a metal rod driven into the skeleton, remains in Poland were found with a sickle through the neck and a padlock on the leg to hold it.

The large lock attached to the skeleton's left leg, as Polinsky said, probably symbolizes "the impossibility of returning."