Five thousand years ago, the Sumerians were recording some of the world's earliest written texts, the first phase of Stonehenge was being constructed (not the famous stone circles we see today), and much of Europe was still in the late Neolithic period. Around this time, researchers believe story types related to Jack and the Beanstalk may already have been circulating.

Let's make this very, very clear, the the nursery rhymes you sang as a child and are now singing to your children off by heart are considerably older and considerably darker than they sound. Here are my top 5...