Remains of early humans such as Neanderthals and Denisovans have been discovered at just a limited number of sites in Europe and Asia. This has long frustrated archaeologists, who are confident that many more locations were occupied throughout these regions. This year, however, researchers announced a new way of detecting the hominins’ presence—through genetic traces in cave sediments.
A team analyzed sediments from seven sites in France, Belgium, Spain, Croatia, and Russia. They found Neanderthal DNA at three sites, the oldest dating to up to 60,000 years ago, and Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA in Russia’s Denisova Cave, dating to around 100,000 years ago. Amazingly, the new technique worked even with sediment that had been collected many years ago, and was being stored in laboratories.
The researchers hypothesize that the DNA in the sediments comes from body fluids left behind by hominins as well as decomposition of their remains. Bones might wash away, or be buried elsewhere, but the blood, sweat, and tears of the caves’ ancient occupants remained in the soil.
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