Fairytales much older than previously thought, say researchers

I find this kind of research fascinating in that it proves the existence of an original culture of Humanity that predates the creation of "languages" just as the Bible stays...

Fairytales much older than previously thought, say researchers

Study of fairy story origins traces some back thousands of years, with one tale dating back as far as bronze age

Illustration of Beauty and the Beast, one of the fairytales believed to date from thousands of years ago. Photograph: Durham University/PA

Alison Flood and agencies

Wednesday 20 January 2016 08.35 ESTLast modified on Wednesday 20 January 201611.40 EST

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Fairy stories such as Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin can be traced back thousands of years to prehistoric times, with one tale originating from the bronze age, academics have revealed. Using techniques normally employed by biologists, they studied common links between 275 Indo-European fairy tales from around the wo…