Vampires, Zombies, and Revenants, Oh My!

It’s interesting the stories that the human mind will fabricate to interpret life and death.  These types of ideas have been around for some time, and I found an interesting one evident at an archaeological site.  The news story I encountered while conducting research for my case study was one of “zombie” skeletons found at the Kilteasheen site in Ireland. 



"Zombie" from Kilteasheen site

These two 8^th-century skeletons were found side by side with large stones stuck into their mouths.  This has been interpreted as a method by those burying the deceased to prevent the return of the walking dead.  Interestingly, the two individuals were found to have been buried at different times.  Perhaps this was a specific plot for those the living feared to be revenants?  (Revenants: an animated corpse like your zombies, vampires, etc.)  

The stones in the mouth are explained through the belief that the mouth was the main way through which the soul exited the body, which also allowed opportunity for a different soul to enter it.  The theory of a belief in vampires was ruled out because this folktale did not emerge in Europe until the 1500’s.  These skeletons were therefore interpreted to demonstrate a fear of zombies.

These ideas of the undead have been around for many centuries, and still exist today.  The fascination with zombies and vampires seems to be rising in popularity, even.  Example A: The Walking Dead.  I find it fascinating that these same ideas that can be seen in the archaeological record are still present today in a form more of curiosity than fear.  If you do a little more searching you can find other sites that have found similar methods used to ensure the dead will stay dead.  I will stop myself from going any further though, as this topic is similar to my case study, and I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.



Works cited:
Lorenzi, R.  2011.  Did Zombies Roam Medieval Ireland? Discovery News.
http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/zombie-skeletons-ireland-grave-110916.htm