Archaeologists discovered last Thursday a "vampire skeleton" with a stake driven through the chest in a medieval grave in Bulgaria, The Telegraph reported.
The 13th century skeleton was found during the excavation of the ancient city of Perperikon, a Thracian civilization located near Bulgaria's southern border with Greece.
Hammered through the male skeleton's chest is a plowshare- an iron rod used as part of a plow. In this case, it was used to stop evil people from rising from their graves and attacking the living.
"The plowshare weighs almost two pounds and is dug into the body into a broken shoulder bone," professor Nikolai Ovcharov, a famed Bulgarian archaeologist who discovered the grave, said according to The Telegraph. "You can clearly see how the collarbone has literally popped out."
The skeleton, believed to be a 40 to 50-year-old man, also had it's left leg torn off below the knee and placed next to the body.
"We have not doubts that once again we're seeing an anti-vampire ritual being carried out," said Ovcharov, who has previously made ground breaking discoveries at ancient sites. "Often they were applied to people who had died in unusual circumstances- such as suicide."
Perperikon was inhabited since 5,000 B.C. but it wasn't until 20 years ago when it was discovered. Archaeologists believe it's the site of the Temple of Dionysius, the Greek God of wine and fertility, the newspaper reported.
At least two other "vampire graves" have been found near the ancient city. In 2012, one was found in a town 200 miles east of Perperikon named Sozopol. Another was found the following year in the same town, leading to the graves being nicknamed "the twin vampires of Sozopol."
