The pits, which date back about 6,000 years, show the horrific reality of ancient warfare.

Archaeologists analyzing human remains from Stone Age sites in northeastern France have uncovered evidence of large-scale, ritualized violence dating back more than 6,000 years.

Using advanced isotope analyses, researchers traced the life histories of dozens of individuals whose bodies — or body parts — were deposited in pits at the Achenheim and Bergheim sites between 4300 and 4150 B.C.E. Their findings suggest these people were not victims of random massacres, but outsiders and enemies who had been captured, mutilated, and perhaps displayed in some of the earliest martial victory celebrations in Europe.

Shockingly, some of the remains showed signs of “unhealed trauma” and “overkill,” researchers

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