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decapitation

Largest Headhunting Massacre from Neolithic China Unearthed

Largest Headhunting Massacre from Neolithic China Unearthed

Evidence of the bloodiest decapitation and head-hunting in Neolithic Asian history, has been unearthed from China, from 4,100 years ago. In total, 41 skeletons were recovered, all belonging to women...
The Samurai would collect enemy heads. Source: YouTube Screenshot / Smithsonian Channel.

A Samurai's Collection of Human Heads (Video)

Samurai , driven by the need to prove their loyalty and valor to their shogun masters, often resorted to a gruesome practice – the collection of human heads. The severed heads served as tangible...
Male skull with tabular deformation found amongst Maya burials at the Moral-Reforma Archaeological Project. Source: INAH

Archaeologists Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Maya Burials with Decapitation Marks in Mexico

Archaeologists from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have made an exciting discovery at the Moral-Reforma Archaeological site in Balancán, Tabasco: 13 human burials at...
Klaus Störtebeker was part of the Victual Brothers pirate band that terrorized the Baltic Sea until . . . 		Source: waewkid / Adobe Stock

Klaus Störtebeker: The Bizarre Tale of a North German Pirate

Looking to the past, the annals of history have its fair share of extraordinary and unusual deaths, some more famous than others. It’s well known that Attila the Hun, the marauding Mongolian warlord...
The Nahanni National Park is full of mystery. Source: Thorin Wolfheart / Adobe Stock

Valley of Headless Men: Mysterious Decapitations in Canada’s Nahanni Valley

The Northwestern Territories of Canada are truly one of Earth’s last true wild places. One of its special National Park Reserves, called the Nahanni Valley, is however a little bit wilder than most...
Prehistoric Spanish Massacre Rewrites the History of War in Europe

Prehistoric Spanish Massacre Rewrites the History of War in Europe

A study of victims of a Spanish prehistoric massacre is providing researchers with new insights into the evolution of warfare . Archaeologists have found evidence of a sacked settlement and the...
Ancient Siberian nomadic violence was extreme and interpersonal, which suggests violence was a part of life with or without war.             Source: Liliia / Adobe Stock

High Levels Of Ancient Extreme Siberian Nomadic Violence Discovered

A Swiss-Russian team of archeologists, anthropologists and forensic experts have discovered evidence of extreme Siberian nomadic violence within communities of ancient Siberians . The team’s research...
Wheel of Torture device. Insert, skeleton of young man wh9 was the victim of torture on the wheel.

Deformed Medieval Man Found Broken By the Wheel of Torture

Archaeologists in Milan have uncovered the shattered remains of a young man believed to have been broken on a wheel of torture. In medieval Italy different methods of torture were assigned depending...
Decapitated skeleton excavated at Great Whelnetham, UK

Roman Burial Site Found in England Includes 52 Skeletons With 17 Bizarre After Death Decapitations

Sometimes archaeologists make grim and even shocking discoveries. In England, there has been one such find. Experts have found a cemetery, dating from the Roman era which contained a great many...
Skulls found at Le Cailar archaeological site show signs that the heads were embalmed.

Gallic Warriors Reaped, Embalmed Then Displayed the Heads of Their Slain Enemies

Returning from battle, according to ancient accounts, Gallic warriors displayed the severed heads of their fallen enemies around their horses’ necks for all to see, as they returned victorious to...
The Iron Age skull was deliberately severed from its body.

Iron Age Skull Suggests Sinister Story of Severed Heads Tossed into Wetlands

There is much to consider when a human skull is found. When the authorities reach the scene, they need to find out if it is the mark of a modern death or the remains from a person who lived in the...
Image from ‘Vikings’, a medieval drama series airing on The History Channel.

Vikings Beheaded English King and Patron Saint Edmund, but What Happened to his Body?

It’s a 9th century tale involving Vikings, their beheading of a famous English king, and upheaval that led to the burial and reburial of the king’s remains in an unknown spot. And the story is still...
Relief of a seated poet (Menander) with masks of New Comedy, 1st century B.C. – early 1st century AD.

Decapitation? No Problem. The Magic of Restoration: Ancient Myths and Practices of Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery, not just a modern practice, has always existed and was shrouded in mystery, magic, and eroticism. An Indian physician named Sushruta, who was widely regarded in India as the “father...
Osterby Man Still Has a Great Hairdo Nearly 2,000 Years On!

Osterby Man Still Has a Great Hairdo Nearly 2,000 Years On!

Since at least the 18th century AD, there have been discoveries in northwestern continental Europe and Britain of “bog bodies” - human remains which have been preserved in the anoxic environment of...
One of the skeletons excavated by York Archaeological Trust at Driffield Terrace had his head positioned near his feet.

Animal-bitten, Wounded, and Decapitated—Who were these Roman-era Men Buried near York?

A team of researchers using DNA analysis has determined a group of decapitated, animal-bitten, injured men from Roman-era Britain were mostly of European origin, but one was from the Middle East,...
Relief depicting beheading on one of the panels of the South Ball Court at Tajin, Veracruz, Mexico

Decapitation discovery reveals gruesome practices of the ancient Incas

In the Andes region, in Bolivia, on the shores of Lake Titicaca archaeologists have recently made a distinctly gruesome discovery at a site known as Wata Wata , in the form of three decapitated heads...
At Front - Representation of a warrior holding a trophy head. Background - Nazca fiber "double fish" design displayed at Brooklyn Museum. Source: Front, Public Domain; Background, Public Domain.

The Nazca Head-hunters and their Trophy Heads

The Nazca culture of Peru is perhaps most well-known for the enigmatic Nazca Lines , hundreds of lines and stylized images built into the Peruvian coastal plain. Yet, there is more to this ancient...