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Agence France-Presse

Danish scientists have managed to extract a complete human DNA sample from a piece of birch pitch more than 5,000 years old, used as a kind of chewing gum, a study revealed on Tuesday.
The Stone Age sample yielded enough information to determine the source’s sex, what she had last eaten and the germs in her mouth. It also told them she probably had dark hair, dark skin and blue eyes.
And genetically, she was more closely related to hunter-gatherers from the mainland Europe than to those living in central Scandinavia at the time, they concluded.
“It is the first time that an entire ancient human genome has been extracted from anything other than human bones,” said Hannes Schroeder of the University of Copenhagen.

Lola, a young girl who lived in Denmark 5,700 years ago, had blue eyes, dark skin and dark hair. Her last meal included hazelnuts and mallard duck but no milk -- she couldn't stomach dairy. https://t.co/jb6uomOxa4
— CNN International (@cnni) December 17, 2019

Schroeder is co-author of the study, which was published in the review Nature Communications.
They found the sample during an archaeological dig at Syltholm, in southern Denmark, said Tehis Jensen, one of the other authors.
“Syltholm is completely unique,” he said.
“Almost everything is sealed in mud, which means that the preservation of organic remains is absolutely phenomenal.”
Meet the 18,000-year-old puppy found frozen in Russia’s permafrost
The researchers also recovered traces of plant and animal DNA – hazelnut and duck – confirming what archaeologists already know about the people who lived there at the time.
But they were not sure why their subject chose to chew the bark: whether to turn it into a kind of glue, to clean her teeth, to stave off hunger – or simply as chewing gum.


Scientists extract human DNA from 5,700-year-old ‘chewing gum’

A 5,700-year-old type of “chewing gum” made from birch pitch was found during archaeological excavations at Syltholm, southern Denmark. Photo: University of Copenhagen via AFP

This Indonesian cave painting has been identified as the world’s oldest figurative art, dated 40,000 years ago

The Indonesian cave painting. Photo: AP

This composite image from the book "Borneo, Memory of the Caves" shows the world's oldest figurative artwork dated to a minimum of 40,000 years, in a limestone cave in the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Scientists say the red silhouette of a bull-like beast, upper left, is the oldest known example of animal art. (Luc-Henri Fage/kalimanthrope.com via AP)

New species of ancient human that lived 50,000 years ago has been found in this cave in the Philippines

A view of Callao Cave on Luzon Island, in the Philippines, from the rear of the first chamber of the cave, where the fossils of Homo luzonensis were discovered in the direction of the second chamber. Photo: Handout via Reuters

A foot bone of Homo luzonensis in side view, showing the longitudinal curvature of the bone, is seen in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters April 10, 2019. Callao Cave Archaeology Project/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

A handout image made available by Florent Detroit and taken on August 6, 2011, shows a view of Luzon Island, in the northern Philippines, where an international multidisciplinary team discovered a new hominin species, Homo Luzonensis, during the excavation in the Callao Cave. - An international multidisciplinary team, co-led by a MNHN senior lecturer of the H & E department, Florent Détroit, discovered a new hominin species, Homo Luzonensis, during the excavation of Callao Cave, situated on Luzon island, Northern Philippines. Published in the journal Nature, the study of the fossils dated to 50 to 67 000 years highlights a singular mosaic of morphological characteristics that differentiates Homo luzonensis from other species of the genus Homo and underlines the major role played by Island Southeast Asia in the evolutionary history of hominines. (Photo by Florent DETROIT / Florent DETROIT / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Florent DETROIT / Florent DETR

A handout image made available by Florent Detroit and taken on August 9, 2011 shows a view of the excavation in the Callao Cave in the north of Luzon Island, in the Philippines, where an international multidisciplinary team discovered a new hominin species, Homo Luzonensis. - An international multidisciplinary team, co-led by a MNHN senior lecturer of the H & E department, Florent Détroit, discovered a new hominin species, Homo Luzonensis, during the excavation of Callao Cave, situated on Luzon island, Northern Philippines. Published in the journal Nature, the study of the fossils dated to 50 to 67 000 years highlights a singular mosaic of morphological characteristics that differentiates Homo luzonensis from other species of the genus Homo and underlines the major role played by Island Southeast Asia in the evolutionary history of hominines. (Photo by Armand SALVADORE NUJARES / Florent DETROIT / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Florent DETROIT / Arman

A handout image made available by Florent Detroit and taken on March 15, 2019 compares the fossil teeth of the newly discovered species Homo Luzonesis and that of Errectus Sapiensa unearthed during the excavation in the Callao Cave in the north of Luzon Island, in northern Philippines, where an international multidisciplinary team discovered a new hominin species, Homo Luzonensis. - An international multidisciplinary team, co-led by a MNHN senior lecturer of the H & E department, Florent Détroit, discovered a new hominin species, Homo Luzonensis, during the excavation of Callao Cave, situated on Luzon island, Northern Philippines. Published in the journal Nature, the study of the fossils dated to 50 to 67 000 years highlights a singular mosaic of morphological characteristics that differentiates Homo luzonensis from other species of the genus Homo and underlines the major role played by Island Southeast Asia in the evolutionary history of hominines. (Photo by Florent DETROIT / Florent

Right upper teeth of an individual of the newly identified species Homo luzonensis, found in Callao Cave on Luzon Island, the Philippines, are seen in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters April 10, 2019. Callao Cave Archaeology Project/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

Chewing gum is better than drugs for easing nausea after surgery, Australian study suggests

About one in three people suffer nausea and vomiting after surgery. Photo: Glenn Hunt/Fairfax

The scientists used peppermint gum in their study. There's no data on the efficacy of spearmint flavour. Photo: Andrey Rudakov/Fairfax

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Stone Age girl living in what is now Denmark probably had dark hair, dark skin and blue eyes, birch pitch sample reveals
Researchers say this is first time entire ancient human genome has been extracted from anything other than bones



Stone Age girl living in what is now Denmark probably had dark hair, dark skin and blue eyes, birch pitch sample reveals.


Archaeology and palaeontology