Troubles in Tuva: Patterns of perimortem trauma in a nomadic community from Southern Siberia (second to fourth c. CE).

OBJECTIVES: Warfare is assumed to be one of the defining cultural characteristics of steppe nomads in Eastern Eurasia. For the first-centuries CE, a period of political turmoil in Northern China and Southern Siberia, relatively few data are, however, available about the degree and variability of violence in these communities. Here, we provide new data on violence among steppe nomads during the first-centuries CE by analyzing the type, anatomical distribution, and demographic distribution of perimortem trauma at Tunnug1 (Tuva, Southern Siberia-second to fourth c. CE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Perimortem traumas were assessed on 87 individuals representing both sexes and different age classes. The timing of the lesions was assessed based on morphological criteria, including the absence and presence of bone reactive processes and the relative plasticity of the bone at the moment of impact. The distribution by age, sex, and anatomical location of trauma was analyzed by means of logistic models, Fisher's exact tests, and 3D visualizations. RESULTS: A total of 130 perimortem traumas, including chop marks, slice marks, penetrating lesions, and blunt traumas were identified on 22 individuals. Chop marks were mostly at the level of the skull and vertebrae and were likely caused by bladed weapons. Slice marks were found on the cervical vertebrae and cranium and may be the result of throat slitting and scalping by means of smaller bladed implements. Traumas were more frequent in males, and their presence is not correlated with age. DISCUSSION: This study adds new data to the few available regarding violence among steppe nomadic cultures and provides new insights about the effects of political instability on the life of the people inhabiting Eastern Eurasia during the early centuries CE.

Lampião, Lages, Lombroso: the autopsy of the bandit king of the Brazilian backlands.

Lampião, the most infamous Brazilian brigand leader, was killed and decapitated during an ambush in 1938. The Alagoas police coroner, Dr. José Lages Filho, performed an autopsy of his head. Strongly biased toward the anthropologic ideas of the famous Italian psychiatrist and criminalist Cesare Lombroso, the examination found only a few of the so-called criminal inborn traits. The Lombrosian doctrine and a number of related theories strongly influenced medical and political reasoning in the first half of the 20th century. Modern genetic and neuroscientific studies are still looking for the potential biological roots of misbehavior and criminality.

Lampião, Lages, Lombroso: the autopsy of the bandit king of the Brazilian backlands / Lampião, Lages, Lombroso: a autópsia do Rei do Cangaço

ABSTRACT Lampião, the most infamous Brazilian brigand leader, was killed and decapitated during an ambush in 1938. The Alagoas police coroner, Dr. José Lages Filho, performed an autopsy of his head. Strongly biased toward the anthropologic ideas of the famous Italian psychiatrist and criminalist Cesare Lombroso, the examination found only a few of the so-called criminal inborn traits. The Lombrosian doctrine and a number of related theories strongly influenced medical and political reasoning in the first half of the 20th century. Modern genetic and neuroscientific studies are still looking for the potential biological roots of misbehavior and criminality.

RESUMO Lampião foi o líder cangaceiro mais famoso do Brasil. Foi morto e decapitado após emboscada em 1938. O Dr. José Lages Filho, perito médico-legal da polícia de Alagoas, realizou a autópsia parcial, restrita à cabeça. O exame focalizou essencialmente a busca de traços físicos característicos do chamado criminoso nato, de acordo com a teoria antropológica criminal desenvolvida pelo psiquiatra italiano Cesare Lombroso. A doutrina de Lombroso e outras com ela relacionadas influenciaram fortemente o raciocínio médico e político na primeira metade do século 20. Seus ecos são ainda hoje perceptíveis em estudos genéticos e neurocientíficos contemporâneos, que seguem procurando as raízes biológicas dos desvios comportamentais e da criminalidade.

Four cases of beheading from 14th-17th century Lithuania.

ABSTRACT: Skeletal evidence of beheading in early modern Lithuania has been scarce, despite historical documentation indicating it as a popular practice. This study presents the first bioarchaeological cases of decapitation in early modern Lithuania, with four adult male individuals from the 14th-17th centuries A.D. that reveal evidence of perimortem lesions in the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. The osteological and radiological study of the affected bones suggests that the individuals might have been victims of episodes of interpersonal violence, rather than subjected to capital punishment.

The Oldest Case of Decapitation in the New World (Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil).

We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World (Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human occupation dating as far back as 11.7-12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1-9.4 cal kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium, mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead. Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26's isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo's inhabitants seemed to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death.

[Skull cult. Trophy heads and tzantzas in pre-Columbian America]. / El culto a los craneos. Cabezas trofeo y tzantzas en la America precolombina.

INTRODUCTION: The skull cult is a cultural tradition that dates back to at least Neolithic times. Its main manifestations are trophy heads, skull masks, moulded skulls and shrunken heads. The article reviews the skull cult in both pre-Columbian America and the ethnographic present from a neuro-anthropological perspective. DEVELOPMENT: The tradition of shaping and painting the skulls of ancestors goes back to the Indo-European Neolithic period (Natufian culture and Gobekli Tepe). In Mesoamerica, post-mortem decapitation was the first step of a mortuary treatment that resulted in a trophy head, a skull for the tzompantli or a skull mask. The lithic technology utilised by the Mesoamerican cultures meant that disarticulation had to be performed in several stages. Tzompantli is a term that refers both to a construction where the heads of victims were kept and to the actual skulls themselves. Skull masks are skulls that have been artificially modified in order to separate and decorate the facial part; they have been found in the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. The existence of trophy heads is well documented by means of iconographic representations on ceramic ware and textiles belonging to the Paraca, Nazca and Huari cultures of Peru. The Mundurucu Indians of Brazil and the Shuar or Jivaroan peoples of Amazonian Ecuador have maintained this custom down to the present day. The Shuar also shrink heads (tzantzas) in a ritual process. Spanish chroniclers such as Fray Toribio de Benavente 'Motolinia' and Gaspar de Carvajal spoke of these practices. CONCLUSIONS: In pre-Columbian America, the tradition of decapitating warriors in order to obtain trophy heads was a wide-spread and highly developed practice.

Shrunken head (tsantsa): a complete forensic analysis procedure.

Based on the analysis of shrunken heads referred to our forensic laboratory for anthropological expertise, and data from both anthropological and medical literature, we propose a complete forensic procedure for the analysis of such pieces. A list of 14 original morphological criteria has been developed, based on the global aspect, color, physical deformation, anatomical details, and eventual associated material (wood, vegetal fibers, sand, charcoals, etc.). Such criteria have been tested on a control sample of 20 tsantsa (i.e. shrunken heads from the Jivaro or Shuar tribes of South America). Further complementary analyses are described such as CT-scan and microscopic examination. Such expertise is more and more asked to forensic anthropologists and practitioners in a context of global repatriation of human artifacts to native communities.

El reinado del terror: observaciones neurológicas durante la decapitación / The reign of terror: neurologic observations during decapitation

El período comprendido entre junio de 1793 y julio de 1794 fue conocido en Francia como ¨El reinado del terror¨ o simplemente ¨El Terror¨. El levantamiento que ocurrió con el destronamiento de la monarquía, la preocupación de una invasión por parte de poderes monarquistas foráneos y el temor de una contrarrevolución por parte de los partidos pro monárquicos, todos combinados, condujeron a la nación al caos y al gobierno a un frenesí de locura. La mayoría de las reformas democráticas introducidas por la revolución fueron suspendidas y ejecuciones al mayor fueron llevadas a cabo mediante la guillotina, instrumento introducido por el Dr. Joseph Guillotin para proveer de una muerte efectiva y rápida. El tribunal revolucionario sentenció entre quince y cuarenta mil personas incluyendo a nobles, ciudadanos de a pie, intelectuales, políticos y prostitutas sin o con pocos motivos. La sospecha de ¨crímenes contra la libertad¨ fue suficiente para ganarse una cita con ¨Madame Guillotine¨. Algunos arguyeron que el instrumento lejos de ser rápido e indoloro, producía la más profunda y horrible tortura: el saber que se sería guillotinado y algunos estaban convencidos que existía una ventana de unos 25 segundos durante los cuales la cabeza decapitada respondía parpadeando o moviendo los ojos al llamado y retenía el reflejo corneal hasta por dos minutos

The period from June 1793 to July 1794 in France was known as the ¨Reign of Terror¨ or simply ¨the Terror¨. The upheaval following the overthrow of the monarchy, fear of invasion by foreign monarchist powers and the fear of counterrevolution from pro-monarchy parties within France all combined to throw the nation into chaos and the government into frenzied paranoia. Most of the democratic reforms of the revolution were suspended and wholesale executions by guillotine, the instrument introduced by Dr. Joseph Guillotine to provide a swift a death. The Revolutionary Tribunal sentenced between 15 000 and 40 000 of nobles, commoners, intellectuals, politicians and prostitutes on little or no grounds. Suspicion of ¨crimes against liberty¨ was enough to earn one an appointment with ¨Madame Guillotine¨. Some felt the guillotine, far from being quick and painless, was an instrument of the most profound and horrible torture: to be aware of having been beheaded, and some felt that there was window of awareness of some of twenty five seconds in which the decapitated head blink and move the eyes on command, and retain corneal reflex a two minutes span

A case of decapitation in Canosa, South Italy (5th-6th century A.D.).

The authors present the case of an adult male (20-25 years) with a stature of 175 cm and a body mass of 68 kg, showing many wounds caused by both stabbing and cutting weapons. The subject was found in a tomb in the archeological area on the hill of San Pietro (Canosa, Bari), where there is a Paleo-Christian site dating back to the 6th-7th century a.d. The skeleton shows clear signs of decapitation, due not to an execution but to a fight during a battle.