Why was this 17th-century Polish woman buried with a padlock on her toe and an iron sickle across her neck? 300 years later, archaeologists found the answer

More than 300 years after a young woman was buried in what is now Pień, Poland, archaeologists have uncovered new clues about why her community took extraordinary measures to keep her in the grave.

When researchers opened the burial in 2022, they found an unsettling arrangement. An iron sickle had been placed across the woman’s neck, with its sharp blade facing toward her. An iron triangular padlock was attached to her big toe.