In previous centuries, some people were buried with extra precautions in case they may want to climb back out of the ground and cause trouble, in eastern Europe and most often in Poland. Now archaeologists have found a similar grave in Germany, but the entire graveyard tells a chilling tale.
This burial place was at a gallows near Quedlinburg, where prisoners were executed by hanging from the 1660s to the 1800s. They found 16 intact graves so far, most without coffins. These were people who died without confession or absolution, and were found on their sides or face down, as if they were dumped in their graves after execution. There were also two bone pits with mixed-up skeletons that were most likely older and had been moved to make room for newer graves.
One burial was different in that there was a coffin, and the body was laid on its back. Speculation is that this may have been a suicide, so the body was buried there instead of in a church cemetery. Another person was found to have been laid on his back, with large rocks carefully piled on his chest. This is a sign that he might have been suspected of being a revenant or a vampire, and the rocks were there to keep him from rising from the grave. Read more about the discoveries at the gallows cemetery at LiveScience. -via Boing Boing
(Image credit: Jörg Orschiedt/State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt )