Parents sacrificed their own children as an offering to Gods hundreds of years ago, Oxford researchers have found.

The Oxford University research proves parents of the ancient civilisation Carthage killed young children as sacrifices. Most of the children were just a few weeks old.

Dr Josephine Quinn of the university’s Classics department said: “It’s becoming increasingly clear that the stories about Carthaginian child sacrifice are true.”

Carthage was in what is now Tunisia.