Jump directly to main navigation Jump directly to content Jump to sub navigation

DNA from Extinct Humans Discovered in Cave Sediments

Researchers have developed a new method to retrieve hominin DNA from cave sediments – even in the absence of skeletal remains

While there are numerous prehistoric sites in Europe and Asia that contain tools and other human-made artefacts, skeletal remains of ancient humans are scarce. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have therefore looked into new ways to get hold of ancient human DNA. From sediment samples collected at seven archaeological sites, the researchers “fished out” tiny DNA fragments that had once belonged to a variety of mammals, including our extinct human relatives. They retrieved DNA from Neandertals in cave sediments of four archaeological sites, also in layers where no hominin skeletal remains have been discovered. In addition, they found Denisovan DNA in sediments from Denisova Cave in Russia. These new developments now enable researchers to uncover the genetic affiliations of the former inhabitants of many archaeological sites which do not yield human remains.

Images

Videos

01 - Sediment collection at Les Cottés (Excerpt from the video „Disarticulation Sequence“). (Credit/Quelle: Matthew C. Wilson, Creative Commons license)

Download Video here (Right click Save as)

02 - Processing of sediment samples in the ancient DNA laboratory and analysis of the sequencing data generated. (Credit/Quelle: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

Download Video here (Right click Save as)