An Archaeological Study of Human Decapitation Burials

This is an in depth yet accessible study of human decapitation burials in Roman Britain. Dr Katie Tucker studied this subject for her doctorate and so is a leading expert in the area. Her findings go against conventional views of human decapitation burials of this period, which traditionally favour the view of a post-mortem removal of the head. Instead, Katie found the majority of the evidence did not support this theory and so concluded that most decapitations were likely to have been performed prior to death, potentially as a result of execution or human sacrifice. 

In order to gain a full insight into the ways in which these burials were formed and the reasoning behind these practices, Katie compares the decapitation burials to the burials of the wider Romano-British cemetery population. In doing this, Katie is able to better understand the differences between decapitated individuals and the rest of the population in terms of burial practice, demographics and ante-mortem health status.

Decapitation burials are not only confined to the Roman period and so Katie also discusses the context of them in the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Early Medieval, Medieval and Post Medieval periods in order to assess whether there is continuity between periods.

---

Some books that may interest you

Walking the Western Front By: Ed Skelding	North Sea Battleground By: Bryan Perrett	Helping Stop Hitler's Luftwaffe By: Air Marshal Sir Arthur McDonald KCB, AFC, FRAeS, DL
Cockleshell Raid By: Paul Oldfield	Oppy Wood By: David Bilton	The Trafalgar Chronicle By: Peter Hore
Into Battle With Napoleon 1812 Edited and Annotated By: Bob Carruthers	Dunkirk and the Fall of France By: Geoffrey Stewart	MESSERSCHMITT Bf 109 By: Chris Goss