An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick between her jaws — evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire.
The skeleton was found amid other corpses buried in a mass grave during an epidemic of plague that hit Venice in 1576.
During epidemics, diggers of mass graves would sometimes find older bodies that were bloated, with blood seeping out of their mouth and with an inexplicable hole in the shroud used to cover their face.
Modern forensic science shows the bloating is caused by a buildup of gases, while fluid seeping from the mouth is pushed up by decomposing organs.
At the time however, "scientific texts" taught that "shroud-eaters" were vampires who fed on the cloth and cast a spell that would spread the plague.
To kill the undead creatures, a stone or brick had to be forced into the vampire's mouth so that it would starve to death.
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