ABC AU 5/18/2019
A 10,000-year-old piece of chewing gum is offering an insight into Scandinavia's first human settlers.
Key points:
DNA belonging to three people was discovered in the tar of a birch bark tree, which ancient settlers chewed
The material was discovered in the early 1990s, but DNA analysis had not been possible until recently
Researchers say the gum provides "enormous potential" for tracing the origin and movement of early humans
Archaeologists have extracted DNA belonging to three people — two women and one man — from the tar of a birch bark tree, which ancient settlers both chewed and used to fix arrowheads onto arrows and blades onto axes.
The material was discovered in Huseby-Klev, an early Mesolithic hunter-fisher site on the Swedish west coast, in the early 1990s, but DNA analysis had not been possible until recently.
According to researchers, it is the oldest human DNA sequenced from the area so far.
More:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-19/archaeologists-find-human-dna-in-ancient-chewing-gum/11127714?section=world
