Skeletons reveal our ancestors’ fear of the undead

TWO skeletons discovered with stones wedged in their mouths were buried this way around 1,300 years ago to prevent them rising from their graves to haunt the living.

A documentary featuring the work of archaeologists at Institute of Technology, Sligo, to be screened tomorrow, suggests the practice aimed to prevent the corpses becoming “revenants”.

The documentary says such “deviant burials” are associated with vampires and revenants — ghosts who were believed to come back among the living — unless steps were taken to keep them in their graves.