© 2018 E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 70176 Stuttgart, Germany www.schweizerbart.de DOI: 10.1127/anthranz/2018/0864 0003-5548/2018/0864 $ 1.75 Anthropol. Anz. 75/3 (2018), 243–249 Article J. Biol. Clin. Anthropol. Published online 11 June 2018, published in print August 2018 Four cases of beheading from 14 th –17 th century Lithuania Justina Kozakaitė 1,3 , Rokas Girčius 2 , Jūratė Dementavičienė 2 , Rimantas Jankauskas 3 , Dario Piombino-Mascali 3, * 1 Faculty of History, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania 2 Vilnius University Hospital, Vilnius, Lithuania 3 Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M.K. Čiurlionis street 21, 03101 Vilnius, Lithuania * Corresponding author: dario.piombino@mf.vu.lt With 4 igures Abstract: Skeletal evidence of beheading in early modern Lithuania has been scarce, despite historical documentation indicating it as a popular practice. This study presents the irst bioarchaeological cases of decapitation in early modern Lithuania, with four adult male individuals from the 14 th –17 th centuries A.D. that reveal evidence of perimortem lesions in the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. The osteological and radiological study of the afected bones suggests that the individu- als might have been victims of episodes of interpersonal violence, rather than subjected to capital punishment. Keywords: bioarchaeology; anthropology; paleopathology; violence; beheading Introduction Archaeological human remains present an essential key to understanding the dynamic changes a person or community experienced in the past. In this sense, skeletal evidence of violent encounters is crucial in capturing the vulnerabilities of certain age groups (Djurić et al. 2006; Fibiger et al. 2013; Gowland 2016), sex (Bengston & O’Gorman 2017; Redfern et al. 2017), status (Sullivan 2004) or risk to violence within (Torres-Rouf & Junqueira 2005) and between communities (Scott & Buckley 2010). In this article, we report bioarchae- ological evidence of interpersonal violence from two difer- ent Lithuanian assemblages. In 1986 and 1987, a large rural burial ground was discov- ered in the town of Alytus, containing 1152 intact graves, as well as approximately 300 disturbed graves (Svetikas 2003). Grave goods and the positions of the burials indi- cated a 14 th –17 th century Catholic community who buried their dead on the outskirts of the settlement. The archaeo- logical investigation distinguished several types of burial practices: (1) a typical placement of the corpse in a supine position, with extended legs and arms arranged in a variety of ways; (2) group burials consisting of two or more indi- vidual remains; and (3) remains lying in an atypical position, such as lateral or prone, or subjects with no associated skulls. The latter burials were described as deviant, with the exclu- sive term “ghost burials” used to categorize these graves (Svetikas 2003). The author noted a total number of six graves with unusual skull position, e.g. upside-down or dis- lodged from its original anatomical location, and 20 graves with no associated skulls. It was speculated that this was an unusual post-mortem manipulation carried out by the living as an attempt to ight of the uprising evil dead. This tradition was remarkably popular and widespread during outbreaks of infectious diseases (Svetikas 2003: 155). Within the site, one of the graves (No. 636) held an individual who appeared to have been beheaded, although this was not obvious at the time of discovery. The second site that was incorporated in this study is located in the city of Vilnius, in Subačius street 41: 690.2 m 2 were excavated and 138 interments were found, yield- ing archaeological indings that dated the burial ground to the 16 th –17 th century. There is insuicient historical infor- mation about this site, and maps note it as an uninhabited area outside the city walls. The lack of information led to speculations that either outcasts or victims of a mass trag- edy found their inal rest in this place. Several mass burials (graves No. 4, 8, 9, 52, and 78) or double graves (graves No. 75, 109, and 111) seem to suggest a period of turmoil (Stankevičiūtė 2015). This is not surprising as during the 17 th century Vilnius witnessed Swedish and Russian inva- sions and occupations, famine, and several epidemics that