Department of Neurosurgery, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA.
J Neurosurg Spine. 2011 Feb;14(2):198-208. doi: 10.3171/2010.10.SPINE09805. Epub 2010 Dec 24.
The execution technique of hanging, introduced by the Angle, Saxon, and Jute Germanic tribes during their invasions of the Roman Empire and Britain in the 5th century, has remained largely unchanged over time. The earliest form of a gallows was a tree on which prisoners were hanged. Despite the introduction of several modifications such as a trap door, the main mechanism of death remained asphyxiation. This created the opportunity for attempted revival after the execution, and indeed several well-known cases of survival following judicial hanging have been reported. It was not until the introduction of the standard drop by Dr. Samuel Haughton in 1866, and the so-called long drop by William Marwood in 1872 that hanging became a standard, humane means to achieve instantaneous death. Hangmen, however, fearing knot slippage, started substituting the subaural knot for the traditional submental knot. Subaural knots were not as effective, and cases of decapitation were recorded. Standardization of the long drop was further propagated by John Berry, an executioner who used mathematical calculations to estimate the correct drop length for each individual to be hanged. A British committee on capital sentences, led by Lord Aberdare, studied the execution method, and advocated for the submental knot. However, it was not until Frederic Wood-Jones published his seminal work in 1913 that cervical fractures were identified as the main mechanism of death following hanging in which the long drop and a submental knot were used. Schneider introduced the term "hangman's fracture" in 1965, and reported on the biomechanics and other similarities of the cervical fractures seen following judicial hangings and those caused by motor vehicle accidents.
绞刑的执行技术由 5 世纪入侵罗马帝国和英国的盎格鲁-撒克逊和尤特日尔曼部落引入，自那时以来基本保持不变。最早的绞刑架形式是一棵树上挂着囚犯。尽管引入了一些修改，如活板门，但主要的致死机制仍然是窒息。这为执行后试图复活创造了机会，事实上，有几个著名的司法绞刑后幸存的案例已经报道。直到 1866 年塞缪尔·霍顿博士引入标准下降，以及 1872 年威廉·马伍德所谓的长下降，绞刑才成为一种标准的、人道的立即致死手段。绞刑吏担心结滑动，开始用耳后结代替传统的颏下结。耳后结效果较差，并记录了斩首的案例。刽子手约翰·贝里进一步推广了长下降的标准化，他使用数学计算来估计每个被绞刑者的正确下降长度。死刑委员会主席奥伯代尔勋爵领导的一个英国死刑委员会研究了处决方法，并主张使用颏下结。然而，直到弗雷德里克·伍德-琼斯在 1913 年发表他的开创性著作，颈椎骨折才被确定为使用长下降和颏下结的绞刑后的主要致死机制。施耐德在 1965 年引入了“绞刑吏骨折”一词，并报告了司法绞刑和机动车事故引起的颈椎骨折的生物力学和其他相似之处。
