Beheads that something is

it Is difficult to make a ride so thrilling for darker side of story. There are head of Lucio Postumio Albino naked by celtic boyos and gold-plated (plan dothraki) for use of glass in drink offerings; of king Ladislaus, fallen in battle of Varna against turks, paraded at end of a pike, still with its crown of silver, by order of sultan Murad II; Mary queen of scots, who both took to separate from body (I three ax!, ¡zas, zas, zas!); Gordon Pacha (“her blue eyes were open and mouth was an expression almost natural,” explained Rudolf Slatin, who saw it) filed with Mahdi after death of lanzazos of general in Khartoum; japanese soldier who adorned herself (with helmet and all) a tank on Guadalcanal, victims of drug cartels and mexicans and colombians, journalists Foley and Sodoff killed by executioner of Daesh, Jihadi John...

have to see what travel offers us professor of Prehistory of University of Barcelona Francisco Gracia Alonso in his book severed Heads and corpses outraged that publishes editorial Awakens Ferro. A journey from our origins to war against Isis, by treatment given to body of enemy, with special attention to beheading, a practice that is as definitive as recurrent in history. One passed 350 pages of book, scholar, detalladísimo, fascinating, very entertaining and inevitably wake up in a morbid, swallowing saliva and trying as much as possible to keep head (!) cold to follow thread of scientific argumentation. How many people have lost testa: Varo, Cicero, Anne Boleyn, marie Antoinette, general Moragues...

Grace Alonso (Barcelona, 1960) is author of over 200 research papers and works as recognized as intellectuals, and franco dictatorship: culture and power in Spain from 1939 to 1975, The war in protohistory, ‘Furor barbari’: celts and germans against Rome, or essential archaeology during first franco, 1939-1956. With its appearance of a wise teacher, Grace Alonso seems to be little to Queen of Hearts from Alice in Country of Wonders ( one who shouted: “off with her head!”). In fact, he himself admits that walking through a me so bloody has left him knackered.

The crowd of revolutionary Paris dipped bread in blood of descabezada princess of Lamballe

Stresses that beheadings and or mutilations, and horrors that try typing a string of horror atavistic in our minds and in our unconscious, which has to do largely with horror before weapon because, “we're used to death by effect of gunpowder, and that physical intimacy of beheading with a sharp blade, degollamiento or stabbing practiced by some terrorists as recent one in Cambrils, we disturbed a lot.”

The beheading we also morbea, which explains success of some of scenes of The Tudor or Game of thrones. “I'm afraid that this is, in some way, we all have something of tricoteuses, women who did point while watching spectacle of guillotine, we all like to look at”.

The scholar continues: "My catalogue, which examines episodes from prehistory to our days, it is not exhaustive, I'm afraid, but I think that in discussing concept of death by beheading, and especially humiliation pre-or post-mortem of body of vanquished, which has been present in all civilizations. The purpose is always enemy of way more bloody than to reduce it in ir own eyes, and to ours”.

The execution of Anna Boleyn in a reconstruction film.

severed Heads and corpses outraged shows ample evidence that worst actions are not restricted to primitives, barbarians or savages, that is to say to all those who have grouped under reassuring name of or. Since people with as good a press as well as Charlemagne and The Cid to us army in Pacific atre in Second World War, in Vietnam or Iraq, not to forget enlightened EIGHTEENTH century in France —that saw, for example, how crowd dipped bread in blood of princess of Lamballe after arrastrala naked through streets of Paris to decapitarla—, “with enemies we have made same animaladas than ors.”

japanese Soldier on point of executing a civilian chinese in Nanjing.

Typically include atrocities of japanese and ir penchant for beheading prisoners and even to eat m, but US downgraded condition of imperial soldiers to that of sub-human, and it was usual to use ir severed heads as trophies and even gifts to bride. For japanese, says Grace Alonso was a trance going deep into jungles of Borneo, where allies paid to dayaks to recapture your ancestral practice of hunting heads.

In all se phenomena, highlights Gracia Alonso, a part vehement, hatred unleashed, when people becomes a mob (about wondering what would have happened had arrested passers-by driver of pickup truck in La Rambla: probably, points out, re would have been a lynching), but also or rational political calculation and use meditated terror. The powers and regimes, remember, have encouraged dehumanization of enemy for his purposes. And body has also been a part of spoils of war.

And what about this emphasis on head? “It is receptacle of individual, which brings toger all senses, focuses discourse, symbols of prestige ( royal crown or of saints). Cut off head, show her, impale her, to humiliate her is to strip head of attributes of what has been and of your status.” In or cases, have been cut also hands, feet, or penises. “In classical Greece cut off finger to prevent prisoners to return to wield spear, or paddle.”

 

The ‘top ten’ in catalogue of atrocities

“Possibly, " assyrians carried palm in a catalog of atrocities,” answered Grace Alonso, when asked for top to be degradation of bodies. “They came to dig up corpses and drag m with ir cars until y melted down turned into dust of bones.

neverless, he points out, in England of Middle Ages we also find dreadful things as execution of famous William Wallace, hanged, but not all, emasculated (that's not out in movie, Braveheart, anyone sterilizes Mel Gibson!), gutted, and burned ir entreñas before ir eyes, beheaded and finally, drawn and quartered. Nor was left behind Vlad Draculea, that in an expedition empaló to nearly 24,000 people.

But worst, worst, considered to be scholar, horrific lynching of brors Witt in The Hague in 1672. After you ask all m ripped out heart, hanged and eaten in part. “The Golden Horde mongol't understand that y were beasts, in change Nerlands of Rembrandt...”.