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 favor 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.
