Two German family historians have discovered links to their 120x great-grandparents.

DNA tests have proved that Manfred Huchthausen, 58, and Uwe Lange, 48, of Söse valleyin Lower Saxony, are directly descended from bones discovered in the same area, from the Bronze Age, some 3,000 years ago.

The results mean that Mr Huchthausen and Mr Lange have officially the oldest family trees in the world.

“I can trace my family back by name to 1550,” claimed Mr Lange. “Now I can go back 120 generations.”

After the bones of 40 people were discovered in the cave in 1993, thousands of people volunteered their DNA to find a possible match.

"We used to play in these caves as kids," addedd Mr Lange. "If I'd known that there were 3,000-year-old relatives buried there I wouldn't have set foot in the place."

Scientists believe that some of the skeletons may have been buried in the cave as a result of human sacrifice.

Now there’s a real skeleton in the cupboard!