willowfall
Senator
The easiest and fastest way to saw a person in half is as it appears in the drawings above, however, throughout history it seems that it has been applied in a different way by sawing the person lengthwise.
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In some ancient representations it appears how the victim begins to be sawed through the skull but I imagine that this would be difficult for the executioners and would also kill the victim as soon as the saw cut through the brain for the first time. That is why it is more credible that the victim began to be sawed from the crotch and ended at the head, since that would prolong the victim's suffering and fulfill the function of any good exemplary execution: entertain the people and discourage future criminals.
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This representation is also not to be very realistic as it would be very uncomfortable for the executioners.
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The correct form of the saw torture would be to hang the victim upside down and saw him little by little from the crotch with a huge lumberjack saw.
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Even this form with the arms and legs open would be easier for the executors and more cruel for the victim since being upside down the brain would remain blooded and the victim would be conscious until the saw sawed through the entire belly and reached the sternum.
This way of applying the torture would ensure an entertaining and certainly cruel show.
I always found this form of execution fascinating. I'd think, just under the theory that if you are conducting public executions you want them to be a big as a deterrent as possible, that it was much more likely that the victim would be sawn front to back or crotch to head to prolong the agony (thus the screaming).
And having used both two handed logging saws and buck saws I can't imagine how brutal it was as those things rip through the wood very quickly. But also considering the damage and blood lose I think it could be over pretty quickly depending on how fast they sawed.
But let's say there was a draw, and then they counted to 10 or 20 before the next one .........
kisses
willowfall