This apparently decapitated skeleton, of a man who died in his 20s, was recently found at the Bandurria archaeological site in Peru, scientists announced in May 2008.

Alejandro Chu, a Peruvian archaeologist, said the victim's head has not been found. Chu suspects the man was the victim of ritualized violence. A U.S. bone expert is slated to study cut marks on the neck vertebrae.

One needs to prove by cut marks or other physical evidence that a body was dismembered [before death], said Tulane University anthropologist John Verano, who was not involved in the new discovery.

Even then, theoretically, one could be dealing with sacrifice, execution, murder, or any of a number of human behaviors.

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