 The conventional picture of a Latin cross ("crux immissa") has been challenged over the centuries as some scholars and even Christian communities have argued instead that Christ died on a T-shaped cross ("crux comissa") or even upon a simple stake ("crux simplex").’

In his book "Crucifixion in Antiquity", Gunnar Samuelsson declares that, while the New Testament terminology is in itself not conclusive one way or another for the meaning of the word, "[t]here is a good possibility that σταυρός, when used by the evangelists, already had been charged with a distinct denotation − from Calvary.When, e.g., Mark used the noun it could have meant 'cross' in the sense in which the Church later perceived it.[...]