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.Key Words Decapitation, Cut injury, Cervical vertebrae, Medieval Muromachi period.Japanese tradition MaterialThe decapitated skull reported here (no.1043) was excavated from location D-197 of the Yuigahama Medieval Cemetery, Kamakura, in 1991, under the supervision of Mr. Hiroshi HA.Two additional decapitated human, male, skulls from another site in Kamakura have been previously reported by MORIMOTO (1987).This site dates to the early Muromachi, or Namboku-cho period (late 14th century).The skull with four upper cervical vertebrae and the hyoid bone, were the only bones recovered from this individual.The cervical vertebrae are not present in most decapitation specimens discovered.The skull with the injured vertebrae, presented in this report, are interesting and valuable discoveries.They may be useful in contributing to an explanation of the origin of the traditional Japanese method of decapitation. ObservationsThe excavated bones were in good condition with a well preserved internal architecture.There was no closure of the coronal, lambdoid or sagittal sutures on both external and internal surfaces of the cranial vault, although upper and lower third molars, with slight wear, could be seen on both sides.Therefore the male of this skull would have been in his early twenties at the time of death.The paleopathological observations concerning the method of decapitation obtained are given in the following description.A dozen injuries, probably resulting from a Article No.

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