Samurai Sword Cut Marks on Bone: Do We Know Enough?

Abstract

A samurai sword is made to cut, slice and stab, has been used to decapitate, used in war since the rise of the samurai in the twelfth century, during WWII and now used in modern day crime. It is not intended to be used to hack or chop an opponent, though may be used as such by inexperienced perpetrators. The use of different weapons in war crimes, genocide and contemporary crime has led to the imperative need of positive identification of cut marks on bone made by specific weapons and to develop standard investigation processes that may assist in the identification of a specific weapon used in such crimes, especially in the absence of eyewitness accounts. The limited numbers of studies to date have not investigated the affects of different perpetrators' experience in wielding a samurai sword, the various sharpening methods and their manifestation in the cut mark itself and the effects of weapons becoming blunt through use. Additionally, assumptions have been made that some bone types will not exhibit specific weapon traits. This paper provides a summary of research undertaken to identify cut marks on bone made by samurai swords confirming the need for further research.