Personal tree age

CarlHultenberg

My tree backs back to 5BC. How is that possible and reliable?

Carl Hultenberg

sc woz

@CarlHultenberg

Historical record-keeping for common individuals did not exist in the BC era. Most European and American lineages can only be reliably traced back to the 1500s or 1600s using surviving church and civil records. Some users may have verified an ancestor with possible ties to medieval royalty. However, even these typically only reach back to approximately 500–800 AD, these royal lines tried very hard with unverified facts to attach their lines to biblical characters, and use those genealogies to establish further claims to having been called by a higher power.

CarlHultenberg

Thank you

Jack Hern

@sc woz There used to be a good Knowledge Article 4-8 years ago that detailed this out. Can't find it any more, but used it many times back when serving as FS Consulting missionary.
Title something like: Researching Names Prior to 1500.

N Tychonievich

I think this is the knowledge article you are looking for @Jack Hern : https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/is-it-possible-to-trace-my-lineage-back-to-adam-and-eve

Jack Hern

That's the one @N Tychonievich . Thank you for finding.