The earliest known
archeological evidence for mounting heads on stakes has been identified in
Sweden, at a
Mesolithic site in
Kanaljorden, in the floor of a dried lake, dating to 8,000 years ago. There, archeologists recovered human
crania with the remnants of wooden stakes still in place within the two crania. The crania exhibited evidence of blunt force trauma that looked to have resulted from a violent confrontation. Archeologists interpreted the wooden stakes as evidence that the heads had been mounted for display by members of the Swedish Mesolithic
hunter-gatherer culture. Heads were usually dipped in
tar to slow down the
decomposition process. Criminal punishment was sometimes posthumous, as the body of
Oliver Cromwell was exhumed so that it could be
hanged, drawn, and quartered, and his head was mounted on a spike and displayed for 30 years. == Notable examples ==