Winner takes all: reconstructing the decapitation of a warrior in Bronze Age China from osteological evidence
- PDF / 9,878,727 Bytes
- 11 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 61 Downloads / 201 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
Winner takes all: reconstructing the decapitation of a warrior in Bronze Age China from osteological evidence Yawei Zhou 1 & Shuang Lin 1 & Rangping Qin 2 & Hui-Yuan Yeh 3 & Qun Zhang 3 Received: 16 January 2020 / Accepted: 11 August 2020 / Published online: 23 August 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Decapitation is an ancient practice in Asia with inadequate research. The present study reports on the osteological examination of a headless skeleton excavated from a high-status tomb in Chu State style dating back to the late Warring States Period (ca. 3th century BC) in Lu’an, Anhui, China. The individual is identified as a victim of decapitation with five peri-mortem sharp force cut marks on the posterior parts of the cervical vertebrae, and another one on the right second metacarpal. Microscopic observation of the kerfs, the historical records and archaeological evidence support the speculation that the individual could be a warrior of Chu State, who is decapitated after being wounded during the war against the Qin State. The hacking implement and the sequences of the cut marks are further discussed to reconstruct the process of execution. This multidisciplinary reconstruction is the first scientific osteological analysis of the decapitation on the human remains from the Chinese Bronze Age. Moreover, it will enrich our knowledge of the decapitation phenomenon in terms of war and execution in ancient China. Keywords Decapitation . Peri-mortem cut mark . Tomahawk . Cervical vertebrae . Warring States Period of China
Introduction Decapitation, in other terms, beheading, is a pervasive worldwide ancient practice which is implemented in different cultural contexts as a cultural phenomenon or social behavior (Aldhouse-Green 2006; Armit 2012; Chacon and Dye 2007; Pearson 2005). Anthropological and historical records have provided several social reasons that may have motivated the ante- or post-mortem head removal in different individual circumstances and cultural contexts (Carty and Gleeson 2013; Harman et al. 1981; Buckberry 2008; Borsje 2007; Boylston et al. 2000; Buckberry and Hadley 2008). By severing the head from the body, decapitation could be a ritual mortuary
* Hui-Yuan Yeh [email protected] * Qun Zhang [email protected] 1
History College, Zhengzhou University, 100 Science Ave, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China
2
Anhui Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, 469 Cuiwei Road, Hefei 230601, Anhui, China
3
School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, 48 Nanyang Ave, Singapore 639818, Singapore
practice in order to destroy the soul; a consequence of armed confrontation to kill the foe; a form of trophy to dishonor the dead; a form of sacrifice and a consequence of judicial executions (Philpott 1991; Carty 2015). In order to distinguish and identify the motivation behind the decapitation, it will be an effective way to combine the osteological evidence with the archaeological and historical contexts in which they occur (Carty 2015). The removal of heads is recognized as ea
Data Loading...
