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So far, now, this is what we have:The words "stauros" and "xulon" are both used for references to the device of Christ's murder. Both refer to wooden logs in some manner. Stauros means stake or cross, Xulon means beam, cross, stocks, staff, or tree. In the bible, Christ is referenced as being put on a cross, stake, or tree. At this point though, there is still no proof either way whether Christ was nailed to a simple stake, a living tree, or a cross.
The words used are used for cross, stake and tree throughout the bible, so there's no indication from the language. The conjecture then comes in the way he died (none of his bones were broken, so when the Romans went to break the legs of the robbers, they found Jesus already dead. Victims suffocate once their legs are broken, so Jesus must have already done so.)
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As for the death resulting from being nailed up, the most popular thought is that Christ would die of suffocation/asphyxiation. According to Frederick T. Zugibe, adjunct associate professor of pathology at Colombia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, he performed extensive experiments to test this theory: He took volunteers and crucified them (they weren't actually nailed, they were suspended by belts and straps on a sturdily constructed cross). He conducted variations of crucifixion: with a suppedaneum and without. (Suppedaneum = a block of wood on which the victim's toes would touch, keeping the knees flexed while suspended on the cross/stauros)... These experiments show that a man on a cross would NOT suffocate to death, even when the body was unsupported by anything else. By way of comparison, Hermann Moedder, a doctor of radiology from Austria, carried out an experiment in the 1940's in Cologne, Germany, with medical students. He strapped them with their wrists directly above their heads Within minutes the students grew pale, their lung capacity and blood pressure dropped significantly, and their pulse rates increased. Moedder concluded suffocation would occur in minutes if they were not able to stand and rest. Though we don't have complete information about this experiment, it appears that a suppedaneum wasn't used, neither was a sedile (sedile = block of wood attached to the stauros to support the buttocks slightly). This makes a difference because such devices can act as supports that the victim on the stauros could use for breathing purposes. Now the comparison of the two experiments is interesting, because according to the bible, a crucified man's legs were broken in order to hasten death (John 19:31-32). This would indicate, according to the results of the above mentioned experiments, that Jesus Christ and the two robbers were killed on simple stakes. Breaking their legs would take away the usefulness of the suppedaneum's support, thus hastening their deaths by suffocation. This could not happen on a cross, according to Dr. Zugibe's experiments.
There's also the point that Christ carried the 'cross' to the execution place, and if it were an actual cross, it would likely be too heavy and unweildy to be carried by just one man (Simon takes it to carry on his own during the journey as well). Whereas a stake, although heavy, could more easily be carried.
