An archeological site in Germany dated to about 50,000 years ago that contains the first documented case of homicide. Murder undoubtedly took place before this, but due to the inability to determine how exactly bones that old have been broken and whether or not they have been broken post-mortem, specimens that might have been murdered are indistinguishable from those that might have died from natural causes. After 50,000 years ago, man had invented projectile weaponry, such as arrows and spears. These weapons often leave points imbedded in bone, and can show when foul play had taken place.
We are able to determine from the archeological record that Talhelm was a small village that was suddenly attacked by either a band of raiders, or possibly people from another village nearby. The town was burned and most of the adult bodies have multiple arrows imbedded in them. The bodies of the children are lined in a row, each with one arrowhead imbedded in their neck. This probably indicates that the children were lined up and executed. The amount of skeletons belonging to young women is surprisingly low for a village of this size, many paleontologists speculate that these young women were captured and taken alive by the raiders.