The ancient Greeks believed the dead body could live up to the grave

Scientists believe that ancient Greeks believed dead bodies could raise graves to live and harm living people, based on the incredible burial in the grave excavations in Italy.

Ancient Greeks feared dead bodies

The graveyard called Passo Marinaro , located near a town in southeastern Sicily, was used between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. The cemetery has nearly 3,000 graves, about half containing things like earthenware, figurines and coins. There are two tombs that make archaeologists pay special attention.

A grave excavated at the graveyard Passo Marinaro.The body is lying on its side with the knees bent.(Photo: Live Science)

The first tomb marked number 653 contains the body of an unidentified person, showing signs of serious illness or malnutrition.

" The unusual thing about grave 653 is that both the head and the legs of the corpse are completely covered in large fragments of the mound , " said Carrie Sulosky Weaver, archaeologist at Pittburgh University, USA. . Two straps are large ceramic pots with two handles often used to contain alcohol and olive oil.

"The heavy debris in tomb 653 seems to aim to pin the body to the grave, preventing the corpse from seeing and rising, " Weaver said.

The drawing depicts unusual burial in the tomb No. 653. (Photo: Live Science)

The second tomb, number 693 , burial of a child is also unclear, about 8-13 years old. No signs of illness were found, but the body of the child was placed on top of 5 large stones. These stones are more likely to be used as a way to secure the body to the grave, Weaver said.

Archaeologists are still unclear what causes the bodies to be pinned down to the grave, but they argue that the unusual way of burial shows the fear of the rising corpses of the people of this period. Archaeologist Weaver added that the fear of the dead or Necrophobia is a concept that has appeared in Roman culture from the Neolithic period to the present day.

In the graveyard, archaeologists also discovered many Katadesmoi plates , stone tablets carved with magic spells. This shows that some of the Kamarina residents of this time used curses and mantras to call the corpses to rise.

" The Katadesmoi table contains prayers sent to the hell gods, the god has the wrong power to make the souls of the dead, in response to the prayers of the prayers, " Weaver said.

She also stressed that the evidence is a testament to the desire to dominate and to request death.

' Although these actions are contradictory, they provide strong evidence of how to recognize the death of the ancient Greeks, ' said Weaver.

The drawing depicts one of the Katadesmoi panels found in the graveyard Paso Marinaro.(Photo: Live Science)