When a number of Roman graves with decapitated skeletons were discovered near York, the popular explanation was that heads were ritually removed after death to prevent ghosts returning to haunt the living. Katie Tucker, the human remains archaeologist at the site, analysed the burials and found no evidence to support that theory. Her in-depth study of the archaeological and osteological aspects of human decapitation burials, particularly the evidence for trauma in the skeletal remains, argues that decapitation was the cause of death.