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Contents 1 Not exactly alphabetical order. 2 Beheading in the Roman Empire 3 History:Japan 4 Head transplants on monkeys 5 Beheadings in Saudi Arabia 6 Ostrø removed 7 Nil? 8 Gruesome photos displayed?? 9 Iraq War 10 Anecdotal? 11 Word, packer, word 12 Criticism 13 Dickens 14 Picture 15 Iran ? 16 State vs Extremist 17 Internal Decapitation 18 Traditional decapitation methods? 19 "Almost" always fatal? 20 WHO definition 21 redirects 22 More gruesome photos displayed 23 Request for Comments: Graphic image inclusion 24 Sources 25 Fair use rationale for Image:JackHensley.PNG 26 American patent 27 Terrosist Website (BEHEADING WARNING GRAPHIC) 28 Liberation / Occupation 29 Fallbeil 30 Famous people who have been beheaded? 31 Blushing after beheading 32 Merge from Cephalectomy 33 Possible photo 34 "Shogun" 35 Link to the "East London Decapitator"? 36 Russian example 37 Removal of part of a section on decapitation in Iraq 38 Frisia 39 Celts 40 never reverted vandalism 41 US 42 England/Britain! 43 History 44 Santorini

[edit] Not exactly alphabetical order.

Right now Scotland is between Mythology and Modern Era. How about moving Mythology to the top? Ancheta Wis 00:41, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Don't lose your head about it. --The monkeyhate 17:52, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Beheading in the Roman Empire

Thought I might mention that beheading was a form of punishment for citizens in the Roman Empire, whereas provincials and non-citizens were crucified.

[edit] History:Japan

Part of this belongs in the Modern World section. Grassynoel (talk) 13:55, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Head transplants on monkeys

I thought that whereas monkeys have been kept alive for a few days after a head transplant, they have always remained paralysed after the operation. I'm not sure I'd call that a "successful" operation, jguk 14:27, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Beheadings in Saudi Arabia

I feel that although mentioned in the article it deserves more attention that beheadings in fact account for the vast majority of executions in Saudi Arabia, some 50 in 2003 according to Amenesty International, the majority of them being foreign nationals. See also http://web.amnesty.org/report2004/sau-summary-eng

---

Separation of the head from the rest of the body often results in death in humans.

often!? --Il hamster 08:16, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Often, or almost always. However, it is possible to survive an internal decapitation. 169.199.106.20 04:04, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ostrø removed

I removed Hans Christian Ostrø from the list of Iraq decapitation victims. He was beheaded in Kashmir in 1995 by the Al Faran group.

[edit] Nil?

Removed Nil under the Hindu subheading, as it didn't seem to be linking to a person named "Nil" Mako 04:56, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Gruesome photos displayed??

I hit the link on Nicholas Berg, and my computer blocked access because of 'gruesome content'. I hit the link thinking that I would just be taken to the Wikipedia entry for Nicholas Berg, but now I am wondering if it hadn't been blocked, would I have been taken to an actual picture of the decapitation?? I sure hope not. If this is indeed the case, then I definitely think a warning should be placed by that link so that unsuspecting readers can be forewarned and not get one disgusting, gruesome suprise.

[edit] Iraq War

I think we should start considering the necessity of displaying all the decapitation victims from the Iraq War. Although their deaths were gruesome, only a few were actually notable. JHMM13 (T | C) 19:13, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Anecdotal?

I seem to recall a story about a scientist who might have lived some time immediately before or after the French Revolution who, in the process of attempting to determine how long it takes for death to occur to a beheaded human, volunteered himself as a test subject. If memory serves, he told his assistants before heading to the guillotine to count the number of times he blinked his eyes after being beheaded, perhaps using that as a way to indicate the precise moment of death. Anecdotal or based in fact? TKarrde 23:44, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

• You're probably thinking of Lavoisier. the damned fanatics took his head off for being a farmer of taxes in the ancien regime, despite his great services to science.

[edit] Word, packer, word

Way to go. TK and RK. 66.237.179.84 22:01, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Criticism

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/wikiwoo.htm#Decapitation

[edit] Dickens

Isn't there an account by Charles Dickens of his observations on a beheading - the neck contracts into the shoulders etc? It was in a collection of great war-journalism published 10 years ago, I think. The Iraq beheadings don't belong here. Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne has a good story on a political beheading in 16thC Elizabethan Ireland, under the section Missing Head.--shtove 01:04, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

== Indonesia Beheadings I read all about beheadings they are interesting to me especially after all it's about me.

[edit] Picture

The painting heading this article, in my opinion, isn't particularly clear. It's got a crowd, and halos, and a limited colour scheme, which all detract from the actual beheading; I couldn't even see what it was meant to be without zooming in. Perhaps something more baroque is appropriate? This, perhaps? --84.65.156.77 14:34, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Iran ?

In Iran the capital punishment is carried out by hanging so i removed the iran from the list of counties in which the beheading is lawful or being practiced.

[edit] State vs Extremist

Shouldn't there be a distinction between state-sponsored decapitations and those executed by an extremist / terrorist group? This would be under "Decapitation in the modern world" -brain

I agree, a distinction should be made between capital punishment and beheadings carried out by individuals with no judicial process. -sean

I disagree-where is the difference ? Ghandhi —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.139.21.154 (talk) 04:41, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Internal Decapitation

This article does not mention a rare, but related, injury called internal decapitation. Nor is there an article on the subject.

• More info, please.--Shtove 07:28, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

It's where the spine is severed inside the neck, but no outward damage is observed.

the "spine" is not severed - the atlanto-occipital joint suffers a dislocation with resultant tearing of ligaments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanto-occipital_joint damage to the spinal cord is dependent on the severity of the dislocation - cases range from nearly full recovery to death.

[edit] Traditional decapitation methods?

Under the heading "Decapitation in the modern world" I think the phrase "Traditional decapitation methods, both ancient and modern,..." is both wordy and implies that decapitation is a tradition. I propose that phrase be changed to "Historically, most methods of beheading..."

[edit] "Almost" always fatal?

"Decapitation is almost always fatal, as brain death usually occurs within seconds to minutes without the support of the organism's body."

When is it not fatal? --Ihope127 12:46, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

There's a scene in Severance (film) in which survival after decapitation is discussed, and then illustrated in true gory horror detail. Anyway, you should stick this quote on the Bad Jokes page.--Shtove 15:59, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

How about nonmammals? How about Mike? Frencheigh 13:16, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WHO definition

The WHO defines decapitation as a malady with a mortality rate close to 100%, which was a pandemic in Europe at the end of the seventeenth century, but nowadays is all but erradicated in developed countries.

This sounds to me like a joke, but if it's not it needs a source.

[edit] redirects

the link decapitated goes to a metal band. Within the larger scope of wikipedia, I think it would make more sense to redirect to decapitation, as it is much more likely for internall linking to take place with term in mind rather than the band. If no one objects, I'll fiddle with the redirect in a few days. --Detruncate 03:34, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sources

Very few sources are properly cited for this article, yet there is a lot of very specific historical information given. While I don't have the knowledge to contradict them, and I believe that most of them are in fact true, they still need to be cited well. I don't have the time to go through and do it now, but maybe whoever inserted these facts can easily find where they got them from?Raffles116 13:20, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

See it's over. I don't get this. There is no need for a REAL image. An illustration is just fine. Just like in any medical book or subject. I agree the inclusion will offend some, its exclusion will offend none. - Jeeny ^Talk 04:55, 15 May 2007 (UTC) Nevermind. Always late, and a dollar short. - Jeeny ^Talk 04:59, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:JackHensley.PNG

Image:JackHensley.PNG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 21:47, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

I think that the image is actually public domain and cannot be legally copyrighted by anyone in any country. The image is one frame of a video, so it's display is governed by the rules that apply to the original video according to US Code Title 17 sec. 101. I think we all can agree that the original video was created by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died without copyrighting this video. I think we can agree that this video was released into the public domain by al-Zarqawi with the goal of being seen by as many people as possible. Also, this video was created during the commission of a murder and an act of international terrorism specifically to spread fear as part of the terrorist act. Receiving royalties from this video would be deemed profits from an act of international terrorism, which is a much more serious crime, and so the question is moot. Even if it can be copyrighted, no reasonable person would. Therefore, it is public domain.--Bodybagger 05:01, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] American patent

The article says: "There is no way to provide life support for a severed head with current medical techniques, although, in 1987, an American patent was granted for a device designed to provide "physical and biochemical support for an animal's head which has been "discorporated" (i.e., severed from its body).""

Well, I work with patents and I can assure you that this is not relevant. The patent offices of the world do not test machines to see if they work. Why should they? A patent of a non-working machine is worthless so if some fool wishes to waste money this way, it is his problem. Sometimes they do require further explanation if an invention seems to contradict the basic laws of science such as perpettum mobile machines. So the fact that US patent office has granted this patent is not a valid argument that it works. There are actually plenty of non-working patents out there. I'm removing this text. It is misleading in its current form. -Sensemaker

The American patent office has refused to consider perpetual motion machines for a long time. Unfree (talk) 18:30, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Terrosist Website (BEHEADING WARNING GRAPHIC)

I'm just bored and I just want to know if we are going to keep the terrorist website up or just take it down due to the contents? (Pleasantview 07:52, 4 September 2007 (UTC))

[edit] Liberation / Occupation

68.97.189.144 has twice now replaced "occupation" with "liberation" in the section for Sharia law. In my view, "occupation" is the more neutral term, in that it describes the situation as it is - the country is under a military occupation - while "liberation" implies a value judgement on that occupation. --Black Butterfly 08:26, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fallbeil

According to the article on the fallbeil the Nazis executed prisoners facing upwards with their eyes propped open by matchsticks. In Plotzensee prison the fallbeil was masked from view by a curtain in front of which stood the person to be executed. No tipping board or bascule was used and the victim was manhandled onto the board and placed under the blade. If a struggle was thought likely then the victim was placed facing away from the execution apparatus with the curtain behind. The victim was then pushed backwards and face upwards. This was for the sake of expedition. Executions could be carried out quickly at intervals of three minutes. I have never seen a reference to the use of matchsticks -seems very unlikely as it would have interferred with efficiency! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Probably Heisenberg (talk • contribs) 18:34, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Famous people who have been beheaded?

Some of the people on the list are only famous because they were being beheaded.--Steven X (talk) 07:18, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Blushing after beheading

The guillotine section states 'witnesses say that it blushed as though angry, although, with no blood circulation possible, this evidence is obviously false'. I'm not sure you can say it's obviously false, as circulation isn't necessarily required for skin to redden - I would think that even a head removed from the body could still 'blush' due to breaking of the capillaries when slapped. Obviously seems a bit strong. Randomsoup 00:56, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge from Cephalectomy

The Cephalectomy page has been re-added as a page about a medical term after speedy deletion of a page about a band of that name. The evidence for its use as a medical term is flimsy at best; the band themselves claimed to have made the word up[1]. I can only find one unrelated use of cephalectomy in medical literature[2] (and no mentions in PubMed), as opposed to related terms in regular use - decerebration, encephalectomy, cephalotomy, craniectomy, etc. References in google books [3] are all neologisms as part of a joke. In any case, since there is one reference for this as a medical term, it could be added in here somewhere, but it doesn't appear to rate an article --Bazzargh (talk) 15:48, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

Actually looking closer at that paper, even that might not be using the word. Its a review of mice lacking the hormone TRH. The sentence picked up in the search appears to be a reference to a reviewed paper, and there are several papers on fetal encephalectomy and TRH[4]. So the original paper may say encephalectomy and its just been split by a linebreak, or typo'd --Bazzargh (talk) 16:11, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

After some discussion with the pages author on my talk page, I'm changing this to a proposed deletion --Bazzargh (talk) 22:35, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Possible photo

Is this a good photo to place under this article ?

89.1.72.27 (talk) 19:22, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] "Shogun"

The novel Shogun is a fictional story making it an unreliable source to cite in this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.138.130.48 (talk) 00:42, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Link to the "East London Decapitator"?

In the #External_links section, there's a link to a Flickr profile of someone who calls himself the "East London Decapitator" - how is this link relevant? — Lasse Havelund (p · t · c) 00:39, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

It appears that it is a collection of photographs from someone who defaces/decapitates advertisements in East London. While I can't say for sure if it belongs here it looks interesting and at least somewhat relevant to the article. NailPuppy (talk) 21:00, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Russian example

Under the "notable people" section, there was one I had to remove. I removed: In August 2007 a video surfaced on the Internet of Russian neo-Nazis beheading a one man and shooting one other. One of the men was from Dagestan and the other, from Tajikistan. [5] for two reasons: 1. There is nothing to indicate these two individuals were notable and 2. The source cited makes no reference to this being decapitation. 23skidoo (talk) 19:07, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Removal of part of a section on decapitation in Iraq

I removed the edit because first it was unsourced or improperly sourced: reading thorugh the sources, they did not say what was being affirmed in the paragraph. Second, it contained several errors: the Zabihah is performed with a slicing, not a sawing motion. The execution of the animal is meant to drain it from as much as possible of its blood, granted, but the addition "before the heart stops" is both dubious and unnecessary. And lastly but most importantly, it is done to minimize the pain of the execution (short of stunning) for the animal, which is plain contrary to what the original editor stated in the paragraph.--Ramdrake (talk) 13:34, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Frisia

I added a section on beheadings in Frisia during the Frisian peasants rebellion from 1515 - 1523 in which Pier Gerlofs Donia beheaded muany enemies. Ironically, his successor and co-founder Wijard Jelckama was beheaded himself in 1523, ending the rebellion. I also included an image of a statue of the man himself. Just to inform you people here. -The Bold Guy- (talk) 12:04, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Celts

There's surprisingly little (in fact, nothing at all) about the veneration (and collection) of heads by those in the European Celtic cultures. This was widespread in the British Isles. Lianachan (talk) 12:49, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

[edit] never reverted vandalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Decapitation&diff=252047518&oldid=251858798 shame. --TheFEARgod (Ч) 14:38, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

[edit] US

I think corpses in parts of New England were decapitated for some time for fear they were vampires. Not sure if it should be added.

[edit] England/Britain!

it says very little if anything about decapition in england, which looking at how long the list is compared to other countrys in the List of people who have been beheaded artical, Germany has a section. So in short can we add sections about england/britian and france.

[edit] History

Should we perhaps summarize cases, such as what type of people decapitate, rather than individual cases? Faro0485 (talk) 20:49, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Santorini

The incident in Santorini, Greece, in August, 2008, deserves mention. Unfree (talk) 18:19, 15 October 2009 (UTC)