What is decapitation?
Q: What is decapitation?
A: Decapitation is the act of cutting off the head from the rest of the body of a living thing.
Q: How is beheading usually done?
A: Beheading usually means that the removal of the head is deliberate and it is generally done during an execution with an axe, sword, or guillotine.
Q: What happens when someone is decapitated?
A: When someone is decapitated, it always results in death because all other organs stop receiving nervous signals from the brain that are needed to function, while the supply of blood, and therefore oxygen, to the brain itself is also cut off.
Q: Is decapitation ever used as a form of execution?
A: Yes, some countries still use beheading as a means of execution. In Saudi Arabia for example, convicts are beheaded with a sword.
Q: Who performs beheadings?
A: The person who performs beheadings is called a headsman.
Q: When was beheading used as a form of death penalty in Scandinavian countries?
A: Beheading was used as a form of death penalty in Scandinavian countries in past centuries. Noblemen were typically beheaded with swords and commoners with axes.
Q: When was the last time someone was guillotined for murder in Europe?
A: The last time someone was guillotined for murder in Europe occurred 1977 when Tunisian murderer Hamida Djandoubi was executed in France.
