Bulgarian archaeologists say they have unearthed centuries-old skeletons pinned down through their chests with iron rods - a practice believed to stop the dead from becoming vampires .
According to Bozhidar Dimitrov , head of the National History Museum in the Bulgarian capital , Sofia , two skeletons from the Middle Ages were found in such a state last weekend near the Black Sea town of Sozopol .
He said Tuesday that corpses were regularly treated in this way before buried in some parts of Bulgaria , even until the beginning of the last century .
Widespread superstition led to iron rods hammered through the chest bones and hearts of those who did evil during their lifetimes for fear they return after death to feast on the blood of the living .
According to Dimitrov , stabbed more than 100 corpses to prevent them from becoming vampires Who discovered across Bulgaria in recent years .
" I do not know why an ordinary discovery like that [ has ] become so popular . Probably due to the mysteriousness of the word " vampire , " he said .