‘The Halved Heads’: Osteological Evidence for Decapitation in Medieval Ireland

Niamh Carty

doi:10.5334/pia.477

Abstract

This paper examines the osteological evidence for decapitation from 30 skeletal assemblages dated to the medieval period (6<sup>th</sup> to 16<sup>th</sup> century) from Ireland. This is the first time that these data have been examined in a comparative manner and across the population of medieval Ireland. Decapitation is traditionally presented and interpreted in the literature on a case study basis with decapitations being attributed to an action that was carried out as a direct result of warfare or as judicial practice. This paper aims to use the osteological data to examine these interpretations in terms of the Irish data and to use these data along with historical and literary sources to try to gain a fuller understanding of decapitation in medieval Ireland.

Highlights

As Tracy and Massey (2012: 1) have pointed out, ‘the final cut, the fatal blow: beheading is one of the most pervasive modes of execution in human history [...] decapitation crosses boundaries of time, culture, and genre while providing [...] affirmations of power and authority’
Distribution of Decapitations in Medieval Ireland The sites are divided into three categories according to date on the distribution map; Early Medieval (6th to the 11th century), Later Medieval (12th to the 16th century) and undated Medieval
The watershed event which separates the Early Medieval from the Later Medieval period is the Anglo-Norman invasion which occurred in the latter half of the 12th century and would have brought major social and political change to the country, along with changes in warfare and weaponry which would have had an impact on the nature of violence in Ireland (Ó Cróinín 1995)

Summary

Introduction

As Tracy and Massey (2012: 1) have pointed out, ‘the final cut, the fatal blow: beheading is one of the most pervasive modes of execution in human history [...] decapitation crosses boundaries of time, culture, and genre while providing [...] affirmations of power and authority’. This paper aims to examine the osteological evidence for decapitation in Medieval Ireland, which forms part of wider Irish Research Council (IRC) funded PhD research looking at osteological evidence of violence in Medieval Ireland. A particular attempt will be made here to understand the mortuary practices surrounding those who were decapitated and to put these decapitations in their historical context. This will entail an examination of the spatial, temporal, and demographic

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