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German researchers set right the story of a 9,000-year-old shaman's grave

When a 9,000 year-old grave of a shaman was discovered in Nazi Germany, the discovery was quickly politicized to support Nazi propaganda. But new analysis shows that initial narrative was all wrong.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin, where he covers the human stories of a vast region reckoning with its past while it tries to guide the world toward a brighter future. From his base in the heart of Europe, Schmitz has covered Germany's levelheaded management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of right-wing nationalist politics in Poland and creeping Chinese government influence inside the Czech Republic.