Archaeological Study of Human Decapitation Burials

“Its origin, as a PhD thesis, is evident; in other words it is a thorough and somewhat dry read. The author’s style is that of a post-mortem report - there is no ‘sexing’ up the evidence here. However, given the frequency of the phenomenon in Britain, from the Neolithic until the early medieval period, this detailed study will be of considerable help both to field archaeologists and to the osteologists attempting crime scene investigations.”– “Minerva Magazine”“Of the many different burial practices, decapitation burials are one of the most intriguing. These unusual cases - with the skull placed elsewhere in the grave, removed from the grave entirely, or where cut-marks clearly indicate its separation from the body - are widely believed to be some form of burial ritual after death. Not so, Tucker argues. Drawing on her doctoral research, she re-examines the evidence and, focusing on skeletal trauma, comes to a different conclusion - that the majority of these decapitations were performed prior to death. The subject of decapitation is approached chronologically from prehistory to the medieval period with a particular focus on the decapitation elsewhere within the Roman Empire, and also its presence in ancient European art and literature, broadens the scope. The technical language used will most benefit those familiar with skeletal anatomy, but the inclusion of color photographs of a number of examples, as well as some unusual reconstruction drawings, certainly aids understanding.”– “Current Archaeology”

Katie Tucker is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Human Bioarchaeology at the University of Winchester and a freelance osteologist, currently living and working in Berlin. She has many years of experience in the excavation and analysis of human remains from all periods and site types. Katie’s current projects include a detailed study of the skeletal remains from the leprosy hospital of St Mary Magdalen, The Archaeology of the Dead in Ethiopia in collaboration with SOAS, cemetery excavations in Romania for Transylvanian Bioarchaeology, and the analysis of commingled human remains from Neolithic sites in Jordan in collaboration with the German Archaeological Institute.