Manfred Huchthausen, a resident of the German village of Förste, has always known that his family is one of the oldest inhabitants of the area. However, when scientists revealed the truth to him, he was stunned. According to the German Bild, it has been discovered that his ancestors lived here three thousand years ago, just two kilometers away. This means that they have lived in the area continuously for at least 120 generations.
The story began in 1980, when archaeologists discovered about 4,200 bones of 60 people in a cave in Liechtenstein. They belonged to young children to the elderly, buried about a thousand years before Christ. Along with the bones, they found bronze jewelry, ceramic vessels, animal bones, and remnants of clothing.
Brigitte Moritz, director of the Bad Gründe Museum, explained that the dead were first buried elsewhere and then moved to the cave as a secondary burial. This was considered a journey to the other world. Traces of fire in the cave indicate that burial rituals were performed here.
In 2007, scientists from the University of Göttingen deciphered ancient DNA and offered residents of a nearby village the opportunity to provide saliva samples. Huchthausen was one of 120 volunteers. Nine months later, he received a letter confirming that he was a descendant of the natives.
“You are one of the people from the cave,” the letter said, which left him confused.
The bones of these people showed no signs of hard labor or violence. They were probably salt traders, obtaining salt from brine by distilling it with vinegar in clay pots. The mountains in question were ideal for this work. DNA analysis also revealed that their appearance, including height, eye color, and hair color, was similar to that of modern inhabitants of the region.
Huchthausen has two sons, one of whom stayed in the village, like hundreds of his ancestors before him.
“It’s so beautiful here, you could live forever,” he said.
