Rare skeleton of 'vampire' discovered in Britain with spikes through shoulders, heart and anklesk

Long dismissed as myth and legend, the vampire is associated with spooky stories or - for many teenagers - a Twilight heartthrob.

But for those who lived in the Middle Ages, it was a deadly serious business - and they took extreme measures against anyone suspected of being able to haunt them in the afterlife.

Now, details of one of the few 'vampire' burials in Britain have emerged.

A new archaeology report tells of the discovery of a skeleton, dating from 550-700AD, buried in the ancient minster town of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, with metal spikes through its shoulders, heart and ankles.

These remains are from a third grave unearthed in central Bulgaria linked to the ritual, which was also apparently practised in Southwell, Nottinghamshire

It is believed to be a 'deviant burial', where people considered the 'dangerous dead', such as vampires, were interred to prevent them rising from their graves to plague the living.

Only a handful of such burials have been unearthed in the UK.

The discovery is detailed in a new report by Matthew Beresford, of Southwell Archaeology.

The skeleton was found by archaeologist Charles Daniels during the original investigation of the site in Church Street in the town 1959, which revealed Roman remains.

Mr Beresford said when Mr Daniels found the skeleton he jokingly checked for fangs.

'In the 1950s the Hammer Horror films were popular and so people had seen Christopher Lee's Dracula so it would have been quite relevant,' said Mr Beresford.

A new archaeology report tells of the discovery of a skeleton, dating from 550-700AD, buried in the ancient minster town of Southwell (above) with metal spikes through its shoulders, heart and ankles

In his report, Mr Beresford says: 'The classic portrayal of the dangerous dead (more commonly known today as a vampire) is an undead corpse arising from the grave and all the accounts from this period reflect this.

'Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period the punishment of being buried in water-logged ground, face down, decapitated, staked or otherwise was reserved for thieves, murderers or traitors or later for those deviants who did not conform to societies rules: adulterers, disrupters of the peace, the unpious or oath breaker.

'Which of these the Southwell deviant was we will never know.'

'Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period the punishment of being buried in water-logged ground, face down, decapitated, staked or otherwise was reserved for thieves, murderers or traitors'

Matthew Beresford

Mr Beresford believes the remains may still be buried on the site where they originally lay because Mr Daniels was unable to remove the body from the ground.

He said: 'If you look at it in a spooky way you still have the potential for it to rise at some point.'

Mr Beresford added: 'Obviously this skeleton comes from a time in Southwell's history that we don't know much about.'

John Lock, chairman of Southwell Archaeology, said the body was one of a handful of such burials to be found in the UK.

He said: 'A lot of people are interested in it but quite where it takes us I don't know because this was found in the 1950s and now we don't know where the remains are.

Mr Lock said no one could be sure why the body was staked in the way it was.

He said: 'People would have a very strong view that this was somebody who, for whatever reason, they had a reason to fear and needed to ensure that this person did not come back.'

The discovery comes five months after archaeologists found remains from a third grave in central Bulgaria linked to the practise.

The skeleton was tied to the ground with four iron clamps, while burning ambers were placed on top of his grave.

The bones of a man in his thirties were believed to be at least several centuries old, and experts believed he had been subjected to a superstition-driven ritual to prevent him from becoming one after his death.

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Outrage as diver, 20, drags LIVE octopus from ocean and takes it home for dinner

A rising tide of outrage is forming after pictures emerged of a 20-year-old diver who dragged a giant Pacific octopus from 

its watery home and then killed and ate it for his friends art project.

Angry fellow divers from the shore of Seattle took photographs of Dylan Mayer proudly standing with the large octopus and then watched in disbelief as he and his friend tossed the still live 30 pound female onto the bed of his truck before driving off.

Their shock turned to horror as a grinning Mayer posted images of himself measuring the now dead octopus onto his Facebook account and now is in the position of having to justify to the diving community why he hunted the gentle and intelligent animal.

'As they were coming in you could tell the octopus was alive. It was writhing around and they were wrestling with it,' said Bob Bailey who witnessed Mayer bring the octopus to shore.

'It's just not done. It's bad form. Even if you can do it, you shouldn't do it.'

Local activists photographed Mr Mayer's catch and posted the photos on their website and urged outraged residents to sign a petition banning the harvesting of giant Pacific octopuses.  

Admired by marine experts for their agile intelligence and ability to change colour to match their surroundings, the giant Pacific octopus is not protected but is not usually hunted for food.

However, Mayer defended his decision to catch the cephalopod, claiming that his friend needed his help.

'I eat it for meat. It's no different than fishing. It's just a different animal,' said Mayer to Komo News.

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Fresh catch: Mr Mayer loaded the live cephalopod into the back of his pickup truck

Food? Mr Mayer said he planned to eat to octopus and that catching it was no different than catching an eating a fish

HOW SMART IS AN OCTOPUS?

• In the wild and captivity octopuses have been observed expressing examples of spatial learning, navigational abilities and even observational learning.
  
• While their exact level of intelligence is the cause of massive debate among marine biologists - some estimate that octopuses are as intelligent if not more so than dogs
• In experiments, octopuses can be trained to distinguish between shapes and patterns and have indulged in play - which is a hall mark of intelligent creatures
• In some instances, octopuses have been noted to have escaped from their tanks in aquariums and eaten fish from others tanks in the same room before returning to their original tank as if nothing has happened

'He wanted me to get something from nature, so I got an octopus. I caught it, and then these divers came up and started yelling at me. I ignored them and ended up driving away.'

Thousands of scuba divers from across the world visit Puget Sound off the coast of Seattle in the hope of seeing the giant Pacific octopus.

'They’re incredibly intelligent, curious, very playful,' said avid diver Drew Collins.

The uproar caused by Mayer has led to the 20-year-old receiving dozens of threatening phone calls and abusive emails.

The wannabe rescue diver has said that he has been demonised by the local scuba community and has had to deny claims that the octopus was sitting on eggs when he captured her.

'That's not true. There were no eggs under it, and we checked,' said Mayer. 

'I even had a game warden come over and look at it, and even they said there was no problem with it.'

In Washington state Octopus hunting is legal with a license and is limited to one a day, however Mayer admitted if he had the chance he would do things differently.

'I probably would have gone at a different time. I probably would have gone to another area of Cove Two,' he said. 

'The bottom line is another octopus will move up into that area and take its place.'

The game warden who inspected the catch also said that that despite doing nothing wrong, Mayer could have acted with more sensitivity.

Legal: Game wardens said the catch was completely legal and that the diver was within his rights to harvest the animal

Dylan Mayer measures out the dead octopus on the floor of his garage in Seattle

'I think the timing, manner and place where the harvest occurred may be the issue. It could have been done at a better time,' said Wendy Willette. 

'It's like deer hunting. You don't kill a deer while kids are viewing it, and I think it's a similar problem here. You need to be sensitive to other drivers and people if you're going to be a sportsman.'

Indeed, Mayer told Komo News that he has now been banned from several diver shops in the Seattle area because of the octopus hunt.

He said that his dream of becoming a rescue-diver is in jeopardy because he has been banned from several diving schools because of his actions.

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U.S. election goes down to the wire: Obama and Romney target key states in last-minute scramble for votes

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney go to the polls neck and neck tomorrow after a final sprint through crucial states where the result – as in the country as a whole – is too close to call.

Poll after poll over the weekend confirmed it would be one of the closest presidential elections in US history, putting the two White House contenders in a dead heat.

The pair were neck and neck in four swing states which are likely to determine the winner of the White House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

How the voting battleground could shape up coast to coast

In one of the biggest prizes of the election, Ohio, Mr Obama has a slight lead over Mr Romney with 48 per cent compared to 44 per cent support among likely voters, the poll showed. On Saturday Mr Obama had been ahead by a point in the same poll.

In Florida, another big prize, Mr Obama was on 48 per cent and Mr Romney on 46 per cent.

Rally: Mitt Romney waves to the Republican faithful in Cleveland, Ohio, as he pushes for votes in the crucial swing state

In Virginia, Mr Obama leads Mr Romney 47 per cent to 46 per cent among likely voters. In Colorado, the candidates were tied.

Nationally, 48 per cent said they would vote for Mr Obama and 47 per cent for Mr Romney. Given the closeness of the race, it means the result is now down to which party can ensure their supporters get to polling stations in the ten or so ‘battleground’ states.

More than 27million people have already voted in 34 states and the District of Columbia. So far, Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio. Republicans have the edge in only one swing state, Colorado, which Mr Obama won in 2008.

Both sides said they were confident of victory as their candidates flitted back and forth across the US trying to fit in as many target states as possible.

But in what Republicans claimed was an illustration of Mr Romney’s growing popularity – and Democrats said was a ‘desperate ploy’ to stave off defeat – the challenger has started targeting states that were previously seen as safely pro-Obama.

Yesterday Mr Romney not only stopped off in swing states Virginia and Ohio, but also in Pennsylvania and Iowa, two states where Democrats have far more registered supporters.

Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, Mr Romney said the President had fallen short of his promises and vowed the country was ‘two days from a new beginning’ and ‘a better future’.

He told supporters: ‘We’re Americans. We can do anything. The only thing that stands between us and some of the best years we can imagine is a lack of leadership – and that’s why we have elections.’

Making use of the presidential plane, Air Force One, Mr Obama was able to spend yesterday stopping off in four battleground states – New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio and Colorado.

He has been joined in these final rallies by Bill Clinton, who has put aside his previous bitterness at the way Mr Obama deprived his wife Hillary of the 2008 party nomination.

Joined by Mr Clinton in front of a roaring crowd in Concord, New Hampshire, Mr Obama once again tried to compare his economic policies with those of the previous Democrat President.

Go-go Mr president: Supporters greet Barack Obama during a rally at McArthur High School in Hollywood, Florida as he criss-crossed America today

He said: ‘We have come too far to turn back now. We have come too far to let our hearts grow faint. It’s time to keep pushing forward.’

On Saturday night in Virginia, Mr Clinton attacked Mr Romney’s habit of shifting positions on key issues, saying: ‘He could be the chief contortionist for Cirque du Soleil.’

Despite the narrow gap separating the candidates in most polls, Mr Obama is clinging to a narrow lead in a majority of swing states. Most pundits suspect this will give him a crucial advantage tomorrow.

Attention remains focused on one battleground state above all others. According to the number crunchers, Mr Romney will find it very difficult to win the 270 votes he needs in the electoral college that decides the victor unless he carries Ohio.

But polls have shown this midwestern state, many of whose voters rely for jobs on a car industry which the President bailed out, remains in favour of Mr Obama by at least three percentage points.

More than eight in ten voters across the globe would keep Mr Obama as President if they had a say in the US elections, a major poll has found.

The MSN survey of more than 570,000 people in 36 countries found that only 19 per cent favoured Mr Romney.

The only country that preferred him was China, giving him 52 per cent of the vote. In Britain, Mr Obama took 85 per cent of the vote.

n  Up to 40,000 people in New York will need to be rehoused in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. State governor Andrew Cuomo said the ‘massive, massive housing problem’ could take months to resolve. Last Monday’s storm left 107 dead in the eastern US

SUMBER

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