7. Live burial
According to Tacitus, Ancient Germans used live burial as a punishment for shameful acts, like cowardice in battle. A victim would be tied to a wooden frame and buried alive in mud, face down, thus hiding the shame. In Denmark, live burial, one of the most brutal ways people were sentenced to death, was a punishment for an adulterous wife (adulterous husbands were simply beheaded). Interestingly enough, in Medieval Europe live burial was usually reserved for female criminals, ranging from thieves to murders, especially infanticide. Their male counterparts were usually beheaded or simply hanged.
