Why No Ancient DNA Exists

The question of why no ancient DNA was tested on the Buhl burial requires explanation, because in an era when ancient genomics has transformed the study of human prehistory, the absence of genetic data from such an important early burial is notable.

The reasons are straightforward: the remains were repatriated and reburied before ancient DNA analysis of ancient human remains had developed into the routine scientific practice it became in the late 1990s and especially the 2000s and beyond.

Ancient DNA analysis of human remains from the distant past was, in 1991 and 1992 when the Buhl repatriation was proceeding, an emerging and technically demanding research area.