Research report 2022 - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Human history from cave sediments
Authors
Vernot, Benjamin
Departments
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie, Leipzig
Max-Planck-Forschungsgruppe für Prähistorische Umweltgenomik
Max-Planck-Forschungsgruppe für Prähistorische Umweltgenomik
Summary
Humans and other species are constantly shedding DNA into their environments. Researchers at the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig developed new methods to extract this human DNA directly from archaeological sediments. We used these methods to fill in the gaps of human history, and discover unknown Neandertal populations.