In the fall of 1990, a large sand and gravel mining operation was underway in Jewett City. On Friday afternoon, the work site shut down for the weekend. On Saturday, it rained. On Sunday, several boys playing in a sandpile slid down a slope and found two skulls tumbling down with them.

The police were summoned and, after it was determined to be an archaeological find rather than a crime scene, the site was turned over to the Office of the State Archaeologist.

What they found will be the subject of a discussion on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Meigs Point Nature Center, Hammonasset Beach State Park, 1288 Boston Post Road, Madison by Emeritus Connecticut State Archaeologist Nicholas F. Bellantoni.

He says their find was a graveyard that dated back to 1757. A respectful removal process and forensic work revealed most of the graves set out in a standard Christian pattern. And then investigators ran across a coffin lid with “JB 55” spelled out in brass tacks. They opened the grave to find that JB’s skeleton had been decapitated. His thigh bones had been removed and crossed over his chest, and his ribs, broken.

Further investigation showed he died when he was 55, and that the bone breaking happened about five years after he died.

The Undead

“He got a good Christian burial, and then five years later, somebody or somebodies go into the grave, and they rearranged him,” Bellantoni says.

Further investigation, and consultations with a folklorist from Rhode Island, allowed them to come up with the primary hypothesis that his relatives and neighbors likely thought he was not dead but, rather, undead.

“And that all had to do with death and disease. Tuberculosis in the mid- and late-18th century was epidemic. This was before the discovery of germ theory and how these diseases were transmitted,” he says. “The tuberculosis victims might be sitting at the table and coughing and bringing up blood, not covering their mouths. They were sleeping in crowded bedrooms in farming compounds. So people were dying. And the doctors couldn’t help them. And the churches couldn’t help them. So they relied upon folklore brought over from eastern Europe and Germany. They were told by the doctors, the way to stop the deaths was to go into the graves and see which of the ancestors remained undead. For them, this was a public health issue and maybe, just maybe, this was the answer.”

No Evil in their Hearts

Bellantoni says one of the remarkable things about belief in the undead and vampires is how resilient these beliefs were, across cultures, and over time.

“Even ancient Egyptians believed in them,” he says. “In New England, the main belief was to burn the heart.”

Bone breaking was another option, one designed to prevent the undead from clambering out of the grave.

Bellantoni agrees it’s a sensational topic, and adds it’s also one that can provide some lessons.

“These people were in fear. They did what they did out of fear and love. They were trying to stop the dying and they were trying to protect their loved ones,” he says. “They were willing to go back into the grave to do this. There was no evil in their hearts.”

The talk will start with some sensational stories, and then incorporate science, DNA techniques, history, and folklore. “We have fun with it, but we also try to teach the science,” he says. “It also teaches us how hard the conditions were back then. The life stress pathologies on the bones show us how difficult life was and gives us an appreciation of what they went through so we could be here today.”

Registration for Rankin Adult Lecture Series: Vampires of Jewett City is required at programs@meigspointnaturecenter.org. Include name, cell number, and number of tickets requested (maximum 4). The event is free. Designed for adults and children 10 or older. For info, contact programs@meigspointnaturecenter.org.