Archaeologists in Poland have discovered the remains of a 17th-century child who was sealed in a coffin to prevent her from rising from the dead as an undead, reports Reuters.

The bones of the child, who was 6 or 7 years old at the time of her death, are the latest to be found in a cemetery in Piena, a village in northern Poland, from a time when undead, ghosts and other supernatural creatures were considered real and not just Halloween costume options.

“This is a cemetery for rejected people who certainly caused fear after death, and maybe even during life (…) being suspected of being in contact with evil forces, people who behaved differently in a certain way,” says Dariusz Polinski, an expert on medieval burial practices from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

According to the researcher, the child was buried face down with a triangular iron lock under her foot, probably in an attempt to prevent her from standing up and leaving the grave to terrorize the living.

“If it was done on purpose, it was people who were feared because they could bite and drink blood,” Polinski adds.

The child’s grave was desecrated at some point after her burial, removing all the bones except the legs.

Over the years, Polish archaeologists have discovered other strange methods to stop the supposed undead from rising from the grave.

“There were a large number of tombs with stones (…) that were also supposed to protect the deceased, they were placed in various places, for example, on the elbow, larynx or neck,” says Polinsky.