Ancient 'vampire burial' of child with malaria discovered

Scientists have discovered an ancient grave of a 10-year-old who was buried with rituals intended to prevent the child -- possibly infected with malaria -- from rising from the dead and spreading disease to the living.

The discovery of this unusual, so-called "vampire burial" was made in the Italian region of Umbria.

The skeletal remains, uncovered by archaeologists from the University of Arizona and Stanford University in the US, along with archaeologists from Italy, included a skull with a rock intentionally inserted into the mouth.

Researchers believe the stone may have been placed there as part of a funeral ritual designed to contain disease -- and the body itself.

"I've never seen anything like it. It's extremely eerie and weird," said David Soren, an archaeologist who has overseen archaeological excavations a the site since 1987.

The discovery was made at La Necropoli dei Bambini, or the Cemetery of the Babies, which dates to the mid-fifth century when a deadly malaria outbreak swept the area, killing many vulnerable babies and small children.

The bodies of the young victims were buried at the site of an abandoned Roman villa that was originally constructed at the end of the first century BC.

Until now, archaeologists believed the cemetery was designated specifically for infants, toddlers and unborn fetuses; in previous excavations of more than 50 burials, a three-year-old girl was the oldest child found.

The discovery of the 10-year-old, whose age was determined based on dental development but whose sex is unknown, suggests that the cemetery may have been used for older children as well, said Jordan Wilson, a doctoral student at University of Arizona, who analysed the skeletal remains in Italy.

"There are still sections of the cemetery that we haven't excavated yet, so we don't know if we'll find other older kids," Wilson said.

The discovery has the potential to tell researchers much more about the devastating malaria epidemic that hit Umbria nearly 1,500 years ago, as well as the community's response to it, said David Pickel, a doctoral student at Stanford.

"Given the age of this child and its unique deposition, with the stone placed within his or her mouth, it represents, at the moment, an anomaly within an already abnormal cemetery," Pickel said.

In previous excavations at the Cemetery of the Babies, archaeologists found infant and toddler bones alongside items like raven talons, toad bones, bronze cauldrons filled with ash and the remains of puppies that appear to have been sacrificed -- all objects commonly associated with witchcraft and magic.

In addition, the body of the three-year-old girl had stones weighing down her hands and feet -- a practice used by different cultures throughout history to keep the deceased in their graves.

"We know that the Romans were very much concerned with this and would even go to the extent of employing witchcraft to keep the evil -- whatever is contaminating the body -- from coming out," Soren said.

The "evil," in the case of the babies and toddlers uncovered in Lugnano, was malaria, Soren believed. DNA testing of several of the excavated bones supported his theory.

Although the 10-year-old's remains have not yet undergone DNA testing, the child had an abscessed tooth -- a side effect of malaria -- that suggests he or she may also have fallen victim to the disease, Wilson said.