This year, just meters away, the same team discovered the remains of a child, five to seven-years-old, buried face-down and, again, with a padlock on the foot. The two were, the archaeologists say, buried as “vampires.”

Associate Professor Dariusz Poliński, the lead archaeologist on the dig in the small village of Pień, says that while the term “vampire” is a modern one, In medieval Central Europe, it was widely believed that the dead could return as creatures known as “upior” (evil ghost) or “striga.”

Victims of disease, unbaptized children, and those who died under tragic circumstances were especially feared, Poliński says.

The woman, Poliński explains, was likely sick and may have suffered symptoms that caused her community to fear she could come back from the dead.

“I am thinking of the grave of a young woman who was buried with a sickle and a padlock. This grave had been disturbed. There was probably a great fear of this person, and these artefacts - a sickle around the neck and a padlock on the left foot - were intended to protect the living from this person,” said the lead archaeologist, Associate Professor Dariusz Poliński.

“It is difficult to say, based on the beliefs of the time, what was really feared. Maybe this woman was just different. Maybe she suffered from a disease. We know from anthropological tests that she really was sick, so perhaps this disease caused such symptoms that after death it was believed that she might come back as a demon or, let's say, harm the dead, so that's why she was secured,” he continued.

As for the child, Poliński’s team thinks they must have been a source of greater fear, as archaeologists found that the body had been exhumed after burial and the torso and head had been removed.

The bodies are just two of dozens of graves Poliński’s team found at the site, about one third of which contain “unusual” practices such as burying the dead with iron objects - believed to magically keep the dead dead - and stones, which were often placed on the arms or neck.

Despite being in use for hundreds of years, Polinski says the cemetery was quickly forgotten in the 18th century, left unmarked on maps with no markers or headstones.

The size of the cemetery remains unknown. The team is planning further studies at the site using non-invasive ground-penetrating radar.