Excavating ancient DNA from teeth, an international group of scientists peered into the lives of a once thriving medieval Ashkenazi Jewish community in Erfurt, Germany. The findings, shared today in the JournalCell, show that the Erfurt Jewish community was more genetically diverse than modern day Ashkenazi Jews. Co-authored by Professor Shai Carmi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the study suggests that there were at least two genetically distinct groups in medieval Erfurt.