DNA From Stone Age Woman Obtained 6,000 Years On
This is the face of a woman who lived 6,000 years ago in Scandinavia.
Thanks to the tooth marks she left in ancient “chewing gum”, scientists were able to obtain DNA, which they used to decipher her genetic code.
This is the first time an entire ancient human genome has been extracted from anything other than human bone, said the researchers.
She likely had dark skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes.
Dr Hannes Schroeder from the University of Copenhagen said the “chewing gum” – actually tar from a tree – is a very valuable source of ancient DNA, especially for time periods where we have no human remains.
“It is amazing to have gotten a complete ancient human genome from anything other than bone,” he said.
What do we know about her?
The woman’s entire genetic code, or genome, was decoded and used to work out what she might have looked like. She was genetically more closely related to hunter-gatherers from mainland Europe than to those who lived in central Scandinavia at the time, and, like them, had dark skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes.
She was likely descended from a population of settlers that moved up from western Europe after the glaciers retreated.
How did she live?
Other traces of DNA gave clues to life at Syltholm on Lolland, an island of Denmark in the Baltic Sea. The DNA signatures of hazelnut and mallard duck were identified, showing these were part of the diet at the time.
“It is the biggest Stone Age site in Denmark and the archaeological finds suggest that the people who occupied the site were heavily exploiting wild resources well into the Neolithic, which is the period when farming and domesticated animals were first introduced into southern Scandinavia,” said Theis Jensen from the University of Copenhagen.
The researchers also extracted DNA from microbes trapped in the “chewing gum”. They found pathogens that cause glandular fever and pneumonia, as well as many other viruses and bacteria that are naturally present in the mouth, but don’t cause disease.
Where did the DNA come from?
The DNA was stuck in a black-brown lump of birch pitch, produced by heating birch bark, which was used at that time to glue together stone tools.
The presences of tooth marks suggest the substance was chewed, perhaps to make it more malleable, or possibly to relieve toothache or other ailments.
What’s The Best Colour Lighting For Sleep
What does the information tell us?
The researchers said the information preserved in this way offers a snapshot of people’s lives, providing information on ancestry, livelihood and health.
DNA extracted from the chewing gum also gives an insight into how human pathogens have evolved over the years.
“To be able to recover these types of ancient pathogen genomes from material like this is quite exciting because we can study how they evolved and how they are different to strains that are present nowadays,” Dr Schroeder told the BBC. “And that tells us something about how they have spread and how they evolved.”
The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.
DNA From Stone Age Woman Obtained 6,000 Years On
There are certainly a great deal of details like that to think about. That is a fantastic point to raise. I supply the ideas over as basic inspiration but plainly there are concerns like the one you raise where one of the most essential thing will be operating in truthful good faith. I don?t understand if ideal techniques have actually arised around points like that, but I make sure that your work is clearly determined as a fair game. Both children and also women feel the effect of simply a moment?s satisfaction, for the remainder of their lives.
I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Great work!
Simply wanna remark that you have a very nice website , I the style it actually stands out.
A fascinating conversation deserves remark. I assume that you ought to write more on this topic, it could not be a frowned on subject however typically individuals are insufficient to talk on such subjects. To the next. Cheers
Super-Duper website! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am taking your feeds also
I’ve recently started a website, the info you offer on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work.
Thank you a lot for giving everyone an exceptionally brilliant chance to read articles and blog posts from here. It really is so awesome and as well , jam-packed with a great time for me personally and my office acquaintances to search your web site nearly three times every week to see the new guidance you will have. And definitely, I’m certainly pleased considering the surprising methods you serve. Some 3 points in this posting are in fact the most beneficial we’ve had.
A lot of thanks for your own hard work on this website. Debby really likes setting aside time for research and it’s simple to grasp why. I hear all relating to the compelling method you offer very helpful tactics through your web site and as well strongly encourage response from visitors on that article and our favorite child is certainly discovering so much. Enjoy the remaining portion of the new year. You’re the one carrying out a dazzling job.
hello!,I like your writing so much! share we communicate more about your article on AOL? I require a specialist on this area to solve my problem. May be that’s you! Looking forward to see you.
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my website thus i came to “return the favor”.I’m trying to find things to improve my web site!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
You are my intake , I possess few blogs and sometimes run out from to post .
Some really good content on this web site , thanks for contribution.
I am really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one these days..
There are some fascinating moments in this write-up yet I don?t understand if I see every one of them facility to heart. There is some validity however I will certainly hold point of view till I check out it better. Good article, thanks as well as we want a lot more! Added to FeedBurner as well
You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
I do trust all of the concepts you have introduced to your post. They’re really convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are too quick for beginners. May just you please extend them a bit from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.
above ground storm shelters for sale near me cheap storm shelter above ground storm shelters in ground storm shelters
I’m impressed, I must say. Really hardly ever do I encounter a blog that’s each educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Your thought is outstanding; the issue is one thing that not enough persons are speaking intelligently about. I’m very completely satisfied that I stumbled throughout this in my seek for something regarding this.
I’m really impressed along with your writing skills and also with the structure for your blog. Is that this a paid subject or did you customize it yourself? Anyway stay up the nice quality writing, it is uncommon to look a great weblog like this one these days..
132122 595900Having been basically looking at helpful blog articles with regard to the project research when My partner and i happened to stumble on yours. Thanks for this practical info! 111383
Would you be fascinated with exchanging links?
Throughout the great scheme of things you’ll get a B+ just for hard work. Where exactly you actually confused me ended up being in your facts. You know, people say, the devil is in the details… And that could not be much more correct in this article. Having said that, permit me say to you what exactly did do the job. The text is quite powerful and this is probably the reason why I am making an effort in order to opine. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. Next, although I can notice a jumps in reason you come up with, I am definitely not sure of how you appear to unite your details which inturn make your final result. For now I shall yield to your position but wish in the near future you link your dots better.
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your site by accident, and I’m shocked why this accident didn’t happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
Whats up very cool website!! Guy .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds also…I’m satisfied to search out numerous helpful information here within the publish, we need work out more strategies on this regard, thank you for sharing.
Wow! This can be one particular of the most helpful blogs We have ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Wonderful. I am also an expert in this topic therefore I can understand your hard work.
I’m also commenting to make you understand of the exceptional discovery my cousin’s daughter had browsing yuor web blog. She came to find some details, which include what it is like to possess an ideal giving character to have a number of people without difficulty grasp specified advanced issues. You truly did more than our own desires. Thank you for coming up with such insightful, dependable, educational not to mention fun thoughts on the topic to Lizeth.
Nice post. I used to be checking continuously this blog and I am impressed! Extremely useful info specifically the last phase 🙂 I care for such information much. I used to be seeking this certain information for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.
Excellent blog here! Also your site loads up fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol
It’s appropriate time to make a few plans for the longer term and it is time to be happy. I have read this submit and if I may just I want to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article. I desire to learn more things approximately it!
Just wanna admit that this is invaluable , Thanks for taking your time to write this.
The thing i like about your blog is that you always post direct to the point info.
You were very interesting.. But sadly I didnrrrt accept them much :/ Although I may disagree I still support you as how confident happen to be on your writing lol
I really enjoy examining on this internet site , it has got great posts .
I have not checked in here for a while because I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are good quality so I guess I¡¦ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
You have noted very interesting points! ps decent internet site.
Thank you for this information I had been researching all Google in order to uncover it!
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! However, how can we communicate?
I’m not sure why but this weblog is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
This website is actually a walk-through for all of the information you desired about this as well as didn?t understand that to ask. Glimpse here, and you?ll definitely uncover it.
I will immediately snatch your rss as I can’t find your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me understand so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
Can I just claim what an alleviation to locate somebody who really understands what theyre discussing on the internet. You most definitely recognize just how to bring a concern to light and make it important. More people need to read this as well as comprehend this side of the story. I cant think youre not extra prominent due to the fact that you most definitely have the present.
I have seen a great deal of useful items on your web-site about personal computers. However, I’ve got the thoughts and opinions that laptops are still more or less not powerful sufficiently to be a sensible choice if you frequently do tasks that require loads of power, for example video editing and enhancing. But for world wide web surfing, microsoft word processing, and most other prevalent computer functions they are okay, provided you can’t mind the tiny screen size. Many thanks sharing your opinions.