VENICE — In 2009, the discovery of a 16th-century female skeleton with a brick lodged in its mouth in a Venetian mass grave made global headlines. Dubbed the “Vampire of Venice,” the unusual burial sparked theories about ancient vampire folklore and plague-era superstitions. Now, a new study by Brazilian forensic expert and 3D designer Cicero Moraes and his colleagues has reignited interest in the case, while also drawing criticism from the forensic archaeologist who performed the original facial reconstruction.
When the “Venice Vampire” skeleton (designated “ID6”) was first unearthed, Dr. Matteo Borrini, a forensic anthropologist, was commissioned by National Geographic to reconstruct the woman’s face. Through a painstaking process of analyzing the skull, creating a 3D replica, and applying established tissue depth markers, Dr. Borrini created the plasticine model of the woman’s likeness (seen below), which was later 3D printed and exhibited.
Further studies revealed that the skull belonged to a woman of European ancestry, who died around the age of 61. An analysis of her diet shows she mainly ate grains and vegetables, suggesting she was from Europe’s lower class at the time.
The question of how the brick ended up in the skeleton’s mouth, however, remained a subject of debate. Some archaeologists suggested it may have been placed intentionally as part of a superstitious burial ritual to prevent a suspected “vampire” from rising from the dead. Researchers also theorized that a gravedigger may have wedged a rock between the corpse’s teeth to prevent the alleged vampire from chewing through her shroud and infecting others with the plague. Others argued the brick could have ended up there by chance, and that more evidence was needed to support claims of intentional placement.
Enter Moraes and his team, who set out to test whether it was physically possible to insert a brick into a corpse’s mouth without damaging the teeth or jaw. To investigate this, they employed a multi-pronged approach combining digital modeling, practical experimentation, and data from the original archaeological reports.
First, Moraes created a 3D digital model of the ID6 skull using measurements and images from Dr. Borrini’s published work and online sources. While not having direct access to the original remains, the team aimed to create a reasonably accurate digital replica to serve as a basis for their experiments. Next, they simulated the insertion of a virtual brick into the digital skull’s mouth, carefully noting any potential points of contact or resistance. This allowed them to assess the feasibility of placing a brick postmortem without causing osteological damage.
To validate their digital findings, Moraes and his team also conducted practical experiments using a real human skull. They created a physical brick with dimensions matching those reported for the ID6 skeleton and attempted to place it in the skull’s mouth, documenting the process and any resulting interactions with the teeth and jaw.
“A test was performed with the specimen, inserting it into the oral cavity and analyzing the structural deformation of the skin, as well as the rotation of the mandible,” Moraes and the team explain in their report in the journal OrtogOnline.
Source: https://studyfinds.org/face-16th-century-vampire/