A Decapitated Human Skull from Medieval Kamakura

Abstract

The present study reports on the examination of a decapitated human male skull with four upper cervical vertebrae and the hyoid bone, dating to the early Muromachi period (late 14th century), from Kamakura. The decapitation may have been the result of a sharp cut from the right rear. The cut runs horizontally into the second cervical vertebra and stops in the bone, after having severed both the spinal cord and the right vertebral artery. Superficial injuries to the skull were probably not the primary cause of death. The head was separated from the body post mortem, probably as a result of an additional cut noted in the fourth cervical vertebra. It is suggested that the traditional Japanese method of decapitation in former times may be characterized by a cut halfway through the neck, and this method of decapitation can be traced back to the early Muromachi period.