Archaeologists have discovered a 7,000-year-old mass grave in Slovakia containing 38 skeletons, with all but one decapitated.

The remains were found at the Vrá ble-Vèlke Lehemby site in Slovakia, one of the largest settlements of the European Neolithic period.

Early studies suggest the heads were removed purposefully after death, an author of the study told Insider. Only one skeleton belonging to a child under the age of 6 had its skull intact.

Archaeologists are now trying to understand why the heads were so methodically removed. Was this meant as a warning, a funerary ritual, or a way to honor the dead?

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These headless bodies set themselves apart from traditional burials in the same region, said Katharina Fuchs, an anthropologist at Kiel University, Germany, who worked on the dig.

Read more: yahoo