Nuclear DNA From 22,000-Year-Old Humans Recovered From El Mirón Cave Sediment in Spain, With No Bones, in Science Advances Study
A study published in Science Advances reports that a team led by Pere Gelabert of the University of Vienna recovered nuclear human DNA directly from the sediment of El Mirón Cave in Cantabria, northern Spain, from people who lived about 22,000 years ago, without any skeletal remains at all.
The DNA came from layers dating to the coldest part of the last Ice Age, around the Last Glacial Maximum. The team said the sediment preserved genetic information from people who used the cave, opening sites without bones to ancient DNA research.
El Mirón Cave, near Ramales de la Victoria, is a major Paleolithic site in Iberia and has previously yielded artifacts including bone pieces engraved with the silhouette of a hind's head.
Source: Science Advances
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：El Mirón 洞穴发掘出土的刻有雌鹿头部轮廓的肩胛骨，该洞穴位于西班牙 Cantabria，本次沉积物 DNA 即取自此洞。来源：Jesús Munguía / Gobierno de Cantabria，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 3.0。 / Photo: A scapula engraved with the outline of a hind head, excavated at El Mirón Cave in Cantabria, Spain, where the sediment DNA was recovered. Source: Jesús Munguía / Gobierno de Cantabria, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
