Scientists discover evidence of prehistoric massacre

Scientists say they have found evidence of a prehistoric massacre in Europe after discovering a 7,000-year-old mass grave containing skeletal remains bearing terrible wounds.

Archaeologists who examined the bones of about 25 men, women and children buried in the Stone Age grave site at Schoeneck-Kilianstaedten, near Frankfurt, say they found blunt force marks to the head, arrow wounds and deliberate efforts to smash at least half of the victims' shins - either to stop them from running away or as a grim message to survivors.

"It was either torture or mutilation. We can't say for sure whether the victims were still alive," said Christian Meyer, one of the authors of the study published on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.