Vampire Panic in New England: Using Medical Anthropology & Archaeology to Understand a Cultural Phenomenon

Excerpt from the Boston Daily Globe in a report on the New England Vampire Panic

 

Beginning in 1784 New England communities found themselves in the grip of a terrible epidemic of tuberculosis, which led to what historians now refer to as the New England Vampire Panic.  Anthropologists have weighed in on what happened, drawing upon medical anthropological, ethnohistorical, and archaeological evidence to explain how and why the New England Vampire Panic occurred.  Today’s blog post will delve into the anthropological interpretations and summarize them.

 

Throughout the 1700s and 1800s tuberculosis epidemics rapidly spread throughout New England.  At this time medicine as a scientific discipline did not yet exist, and medical doctors had little to no training.  They often fell back on folk cures and superstitions to diagnose and treat illness.  It was popular belief among many that individuals got sick if they participated in sinful or immoral behavior, leading many to turn to religion as a means of controlling and understanding the harsh and unpredictable realities of their health.  Religious communities hit by tuberculosis epidemics turned to either Satan or God as the explanation for the deaths of so many, but throughout the southern portions of New England, specifically Rhode Island and Vermont, there were large populations of non-religious people who turned to a supernatural explanation for the tuberculosis epidemic: vampires.

 

Tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial infection that affects many people globally every year.  It is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which can exist in a dormant state in the human body without ever causing harm.  The disease is easily transmitted through the air, meaning exposure is likely if and when individuals carry the bacteria in their body.  In individuals who become or are immunocompromised, tuberculosis becomes active and can very quickly and severely affect an individual’s health and if untreated lead to death.  The symptoms of an active tuberculosis infection had previously been associated with vampirism, specifically in these individuals exhibit paleness, which later turns into emaciation, and dry coughs that eventually develop into coughing up blood (due to ulcers in the lungs).  These symptoms are worse at night, which among those unfamiliar with tuberculosis was viewed as additional support for the link to vampirism.  

 

These populations reached this conclusion based on the superstitions they brought with them from Europe.  As previously discussed here and above, the tuberculosis and vampirism connection previously existed, and without a more sound, medical/scientific explanation for how and why so many people were dying, particularly within family groups, the vampire explanation was as good as any.  From a medical anthropological perspective this conclusion makes sense.  People had their preconceived ideas about vampires and how to recognize them, which was present in the symptoms of those dying from tuberculosis, and therefore that was the conclusion they reached. 

 

It also explains the strange mortuary behaviors that followed suit.  Unlike their European counterparts wherein suspected vampires were immediately dispatched upon burial, American immigrants, who were several generations removed from their European ancestors, practiced their own unique mortuary traditions, which have been identified through both historical and archaeological evidence.  A family member would accuse a deceased family member of causing harm to the living family, and the family members and neighbors would exhume the body to test it for evidence of vampirism.  They would specifically remove organs, such as the heart, liver, and lungs, and search for “fresh blood” in those organs.  Without fully understanding the stages of decomposition testers would mistake coagulated blood as “fresh blood”, thereby verifying the existence of a vampire.  The vital organs would then be burned and the ashes consumed by the latest victim in order to remove the vampire’s curse (which typically did not work).  These tests would often by accompanied by other protective measures, such as the removal the legs (so the vampire could not leave their tomb to harm the living), reburial in a separate portion of the cemetery, painting a red X or red symbol on the coffin, or, in a couple of cases, the repositioning of the skeletal remains into a skull and cross bone pattern.

 

The New England Vampire Panic disappeared as the field of medicine advanced and germ theory was discovered, leading individuals to recognize the true causes of tuberculosis and identify effective measures to prevent exposure and the infliction of the disease.  The New England Vampire Panic of the 1700 and 1800s does provide some great insights into the power of belief in how individuals seek out treatment for their health and how they dispose of the dead.  Ultimately, this case is an excellent example of how anthropology can be used to understand cultural phenomenon, particularly in relation to health, and it stands as a lesson for those of us facing down our current medical crisis related to the Covid-19 Pandemic.  Let us not make the same mistakes as past people.

 

References

Bell, M. E. (2006). Vampires and Death in New England, 1784 to 1892. Anthropology and Humanism, 31(2), 124-140.

Lauer, S. A. (2017). The Social Impact of the Misconceptions Surrounding Tuberculosis. Iowa Historical Review, 7(1), 55-78.

Ponti, C. (2019, October 28). When New Englanders Blamed Vampires for Tuberculosis Deaths. Retrieved from History: https://www.history.com/news/vampires-tuberculosis-consumption-new-england

Tucker, A. (2012, October). The Great New England Vampire Panic. Smithsonian Magazine.

The True Story of the “Penny Dreadful”

 

Example of a Penny Dreadful serial.

If you are a horror fan then you may well be aware of the television series, Penny Dreadful, which was recently rebooted.  The shows (the original and reboot) chronicle the misadventures of young women who face off against and along side criminal and supernatural entities, all while engaging in deviant acts (e.g. premarital sex, gambling, drug use, etc.) in order to save the day.  What you may not be familiar with is the origins of the term “penny dreadful” and the original stories that inspired the show.  This blog post will explore the true story of the “penny dreadful” serials, a popular genre of Victorian literature that affected 19^th century English culture and society.

 

Beginning in the 1830s and as a direct result of state mandated education for all levels of society publishing houses began mass producing cheap serials that sold at around a penny a piece.  Coined the “penny dreadfuls” due to their content and cost, these serials showcased horrific tales of the macabre, providing readers a glimpse into the criminal underworld and the supernatural realms.  The tales portrayed the fantastic adventures of working-class characters who indulged in dark fantasies of revenge, sex, murder, and more.  The readers, many of whom were working class themselves, saw themselves in the characters and took to reading the serials as a means of escaping the harsh realities they were living in.  Additionally, the relatively low cost of the serials also made them attractive to the working class as they could not afford other literature options since they were priced outside of their purchasing power. 

 

Eventually the popularity of the serials moved beyond the working poor to the upper classes of Victorian society, resulting in a change in how the term was used.  Penny dreadful referred not only to the serials but anyone who took on a sour or pessimistic attitude.  The term was a pejorative or negative slur meant to discourage individuals from thinking so negatively about the world.

 

As the penny dreadful writers realized the popularity of their works and who their audiences were the tales evolved and began to showcase the deviant characters participating in a variety of actions that were deemed exclusive to the upper class/nobility: heroic acts.  The beloved characters were committing atrocious and criminal acts in the name of justice.  Criminals committed crimes to feed their families, vampires turned loved ones into blood sucking fiends because they could not live without them, and a woman turned murder victims into meat pies in order to run her business (yes, Sweeney Todd started in the penny dreadful serials). 

 

This change in story began a moral panic among conservatives who felt that the serials were inspiring and encouraging real life criminal and immoral acts among the working class, including but not limited to theft, suicide, and even murders.  Instead of addressing the root causes of these issues (e.g. poverty, mental and physical health issues, starvation, etc.) they laid the sole blame for the immoral and criminal behaviors of the working poor on the penny dreadful serials.  Beginning in the 1870s and into the 1890s publishing houses were raided and penny dreadful serials destroyed.  Publishers, in part due to the raids and terrible press, began distancing themselves from the original stories, rebranding the serials.  These eventually gave rise of pulp fiction magazines and true crime genres that remain popular today.  Ultimately, the penny dreadful serials had a profound effect not only on literature but on social views and every day language of the Victoria Period.

 

Bibliography

Anderson, Hephzibah. "The shocking tale of the penny dreadful." BBC 1 May 2016. Electronic.

Casey, Christopher A. "Common Misperceptions: The Press and Victorian Views of Crime." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 1 December 2010: 367–391. Print.

Flanders, Judith. Penny dreadfuls (The British Library). 15 May 2014. Electronic. 15 June 2021.

Summerscale, Kate. "Penny dreadfuls: the Victorian equivalent of video games." The Guardian 30 April 2016. Electronic.

 

Witchy Women: Witch Burials in Archaeological Contexts

A great deal can be learned about the dead through the study of their physical remains and their burials but there are limitations.  In the field of mortuary archaeology it is well known that the study of the dead is less about the dead and more about how the living feel about the dead.  This is reflected in all aspects of the burial, including but not limited to the presence or absence of grave goods, the location and style of burial, and any monuments dedicated to memorializing the deceased.  Today’s blog post will discuss two deviant burials found in northern Italy that provide us a great deal of insight into the cultural values of the period based on the conditions of the deceased as they were unhappily laid to rest.

 

Beginning in the 1300s in northern Italy a series of investigations were beginning, which would have a profound effect on the views of people and burial practices of the guilty and dead.  These investigations grew into larger witch trials, and modern Italian archaeologists excavating at the San Calocero monastery in Albenga (northern Italy) have uncovered evidence of at least two “witches”.  The first was of a 13-year-old girl who was buried sometime between 1400-1500.  She was buried face down, which was odd but also a significant sign of how the undertaker felt about her.  To be buried face down was a sign that she was cast out of society, and they wanted to ensure that her soul, which would exit through her mouth, did not wreak havoc on the living.  Her soul would instead sink down deeper into the earth and not easily or ever return to haunt the living.

 

A year after the announcement of her discovery another gruesome discovery was released.  This time it was a girl aged between 15 and 17 who had been burned, bound, and thrown into a pit, which was eventually covered with thick stone slabs.  The combination of her burnt body and the placement of the slabs over her burial suggested that she, too, was someone the living feared, and they wanted to ensure she did not return to harm the living, be it with her physical body or soul.  It was unclear if she had been burned alive or postmortem, but further analysis of her body showed that she suffered severe malnutrition.  This led the archaeologists to suppose that the related conditions may have been mistaken for bewitching behavior, hence why she was subsequently disposed of in this way.

 

These two burials have subsequently been identified as potential witch burials, meaning these young women, for whatever reason, were accused of witchcraft and their burials reflected that status in their death.  They were by no means the only “deviants” buried in the cemetery.  Additional evidence of individuals accused of vampirism have also been discovered, but these two women are so far the only two published cases of witch burials in Italy.  Their tragic deaths provide us greater insights into what life was really like in Medieval Italy, and it was very heartbreaking for those accused and found guilty of interacting with the supernatural.

 

References

Holloway, A. (2014, October 8). Archaeologists uncover 'witch' burial in Italy. Retrieved from Ancient Origins: https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/archaeologists-uncover-witch-burial-italy-002180

Lorenzi, R. (2015). Skeleton of Burnt 'Witch Girl' Found in Italy. Retrieved from Live Science: https://www.livescience.com/amp/52849-skeleton-of-burnt-witch-girl-found-in-italy.html

Miller, M. (2015, November 21). Archaeologists find medieval teenage witch burial in Italian town. Retrieved from Ancient Origins: https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/archaeologists-find-medieval-teenage-witch-burial-italian-town-004638

Seidel, J. (2015, November 24). Burial of executed ‘witch girl’ uncovered in Italy. Retrieved from News.com.au: https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/burial-of-executed-witch-girl-uncovered-in-italy/news-story/e72fda1ac5ce1d2f43a96f611c0c08ee