For the military strategy, see Decapitation strike. For decapitation in the context of voting, see decapitation strategy.
"Decapitated" redirects here. For the band, see Decapitated (band).
Medical condition
Decapitation
The Beheading of Saint Paul. Painting by Enrique Simonet in 1887, Málaga Cathedral
Causes
Deliberate (executions, murder or homicide, suicide); unintended (accidents)
Prognosis
Invariably fatal
Beheadings in an illumination from Froissart's Chronicles from the beginning of the 15th century – the execution of Guillaume Sans and his secretary in Bordeaux on the orders of Thomas FeltonPerseus using the severed head of Medusa to turn King Polydectes to stoneDepiction of an Ethiopian emperor executing people, 18th century
Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is inevitably fatal to humans and most animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the involuntary functions that are needed for the body to function.
The term beheading refers to the act of deliberately decapitating a person, either as a means of murder or as an execution; it may be performed with an axe, sword, or knife, or by mechanical means such as a guillotine. An executioner who carries out executions by beheading is sometimes called a headsman.[1] Accidental decapitation can be the result of an explosion,[2] a car or industrial accident, improperly administered execution by hanging or other violent injury. The national laws of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Qatar permit beheading; however, in practice, Saudi Arabia is the only country that continues to behead its offenders regularly as a punishment for capital crimes.[3] Cases of decapitation by suicidal hanging,[4] suicide by train decapitation[5][6] and by guillotine[7] are known.
Less commonly, decapitation can also refer to the removal of the head from a body that is already dead. This might be done to take the head as a trophy, for public display, to make the deceased more difficult to identify, for cryonics, or for other, more esoteric reasons.[8][9]
^"Definition of HEADSMAN". Retrieved 25 February 2017.
^"Blows Head Off with Dynamite?". The Rhinelander Daily News. 2 April 1937. p. 7. Retrieved 29 September 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
^Weinberg, Jon (Winter 2008). "Sword of Justice? Beheadings Rise in Saudi Arabia". Harvard International Review. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
^Tracqui, A.; Fonmartin, K.; Géraut, A.; Pennera, D.; Doray, S.; Ludes, B. (1 December 1998). "Suicidal hanging resulting in complete decapitation: a case report". International Journal of Legal Medicine. 112 (1): 55–57. doi:10.1007/s004140050199. ISSN 1437-1596. PMID 9932744. S2CID 7854416.
^Dinkel, Andreas; Baumert, Jens; Erazo, Natalia; Ladwig, Karl-Heinz (January 2011). "Jumping, lying, wandering: Analysis of suicidal behaviour patterns in 1,004 suicidal acts on the German railway net". Journal of Psychiatric Research. 45 (1): 121–125. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.05.005. PMID 20541771.
^De Giorgio, Fabio; Polacco, Matteo; Pascali, Vincenzo L.; Oliva, Antonio (October 2006). "Death Due to Railway-Related Suicidal Decapitation". Medicine, Science and the Law. 46 (4): 347–348. doi:10.1258/rsmmsl.46.4.347. ISSN 0025-8024. PMID 17191639. S2CID 41916384.
^"Guillotine death was suicide". BBC News. 24 April 2003. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
^Francis Larson. Severed: a history of heads lost and heads found Liveright, 2014.
^Fabian, Ann (1 December 2014). "Losing our Heads (review of Larson's "Severed" Chronicle of Higher Education". Retrieved 1 December 2014.
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the tracks includes suicide by train decapitation as well as hara kiri by train. In suicide by train decapitation, victims lie on the tracks in front of...
and such a sacrifice involved the decapitation of the captive ruler in a ritual reenactment of the decapitation of the Maya maize god by the Maya death...
Beheading of John the Baptist, Matthaeus Merrian the Elder, 1625–30 Decapitation of St. John, Unknown British, 17th century, Tate Gallery Salome Dancing...
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"Cattle Decapitation Celebrate Controversial "Forced Gender Reassignment" Video With New T-Shirt". Retrieved March 5, 2014. "CATTLE DECAPITATION: 'Your...
beheaded, arranged alphabetically by country or region and with date of decapitation. Special sections on "Religious figures" and "Fictional characters" are...
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Decapitation: New Album Details Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. October 31, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2008. "Cattle Decapitation –...
common forms of execution in the Tang dynasty were strangulation and decapitation, which were the prescribed methods of execution for 144 and 89 offences...
December 2018). "Family urges public not to watch Scandinavian tourist decapitation video". news.com.au. Retrieved 24 April 2019. "Morocco links Daesh to...
had been decapitated went viral. While a massacre of civilians did occur, a few of the most lurid claims, including the baby decapitations, were later...
in Kyiv in February 2022 with orders to kill Zelenskiy as part of a "decapitation strategy". "Ukraine: More Wagner Group mercenaries in country to attempt...
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