Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! Now that we are in October, it's time to talk about some graves the media has termed "vampire burials." Did the Greco-Romans have vampires?
What do these graves tell us about their communities, superstitions, and magical practices? And... should we call them deviant burials instead?
We're also talking about the restless dead: who they were, why they were restless, and who led them! Yes, we will chat briefly about Hekate herself!
Grab some nails, an iron sword, an offering, and crack open your books for this one!
- Stay curious.
Travel with me, my socials, and more!
https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn
For more on the Sagalassos finds and the Polish "anti-vampire" burial, see:
Claeys J, Van de Vijver K, Marinova E, Cleymans S, Degryse P, Poblome J. Magical practices? A non-normative Roman imperial cremation at Sagalassos. Antiquity. 2023;97(391):158-175. doi:10.15184/aqy.2022.171
Poliński, D., Zagrodzka, M., Grzybowski, T., Borrini, M., Lynch, P. A., Cybulska, M., … Czyżewski, Ł. (2026). A unique, non-normative burial of a young adult female from a 17th-century cemetery in Pień, north-central Poland. A multidisciplinary approach. Journal of Archaeological Science, Reports, 74(105967), 105967. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105967
