14 DAY TRIAL // Archaeologists carrying out excavations at a site in northern Italy claim to have unearthed the remains of a 13-year-old girl that was believed to be a witch by people living in the Middle Ages.
Thus, the researchers who came across the girl's skeleton while exploring the complex of San Calocero in Albenga on the Liguarian Riviera say that, when buried, the teenager was laid to rest with her face down.
This odd position is argued to be an indicator that the 13-year-old girl was not well liked by the community. On the contrary, she was most likely believed to be a witch and, therefore, feared even when dead.
Why bury someone with their face down?
According to researcher Stefano Roascio, chances are that this 13-year-old was buried with her face down either in an attempt to humiliate her and punish her for the harm she supposedly caused her community, or because people wanted to make sure that she would not rise from the dead.
The way anthropologist Elena Dellù sees things, it is also possible that the girl was laid to rest in this position because members of the community she lived in wanted to make sure that her soul would not leave the grave and haunt the living.
“These rare burials are explained as an act of punishment. What the dead had done was not accepted by the community. The face-down treatment aimed to humiliate the dead and impede the individual from rising from the grave,” Stefano Roascio said in a statement, as cited by International Business Times.
“In particular, the prone burial was linked to the belief that the soul left the body through the mouth. Burying the dead facedown was a way to prevent the impure soul threatening the living,” added Elena Dellù.
Interestingly enough, the girl's remains were found buried not far from a church erected sometime in the 5th or the 6th century. Why it was that this alleged witch was buried close to a place of worship remains a mystery.
What was really wrong with the girl?
Needless to say, this 13-year-old was not actually a witch. As explained by the specialists who have had the chance to examine her remains, evidence indicates that she was suffering from severe anemia.
Consequently, she stood merely 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and was likely very pale. What's more, it is believed that she very often fainted and that she developed hematomas on a regular basis. These symptoms might have caused people to believe that she was a witch.
Archaeologists plan to continue examining the girl's remains and her burial site, and hope that will soon gain a better understanding of the circumstances in which this 13-year-old lost her life and was laid to rest.