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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Exposure of the Pig CNS for Histological Analysis: A Manual for Decapitation, Skull Opening, and Brain Removal
Published on: April 13, 2017
A case of decapitation in Canosa, South Italy (5th-6th century A.D.)
Sandro Sublimi Saponetti1, Vito Scattarella, Cosimo Di Nunno
1Dipartimento di Zoologia, Sezione di Antropologia, Università degli Studi di Bari, via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy.
Abstract:
The authors present the case of an adult male (20-25 years) with a stature of 175 cm and a body mass of 68 kg, showing many wounds caused by both stabbing and cutting weapons. The subject was found in a tomb in the archeological area on the hill of San Pietro (Canosa, Bari), where there is a Paleo-Christian site dating back to the 6th-7th century a.d. The skeleton shows clear signs of decapitation, due not to an execution but to a fight during a battle.

