A 3,000 Year Old Family Tree
Most genealogist are happy if they can accurately trace their family tree back 150 years, or about 5 generations. Now, thanks to the intrepid work of archaeologists at a nearby university, a man in Goettingen Germany can trace his family back 3,000 years or 120 generations.
As described by the BBC, when archaeologists discovered 40 Bronze Age skeletons in a local cave, they were so well preserved that they were able to extract a sample of DNA. They tested the results against people known to have family that had lived in the area for at least several generations. Much to everyone’s surprise, they found a match. Manfred Huchthausen, a 58-year-old teacher was found to be a direct descendent of the Bronze Age cavemen. Now there’s a family that doesn’t move much.
Categories: [August 2008] [ancient history] [family trees] [genetic testing] [Germany]