Neandertal and Denisovan DNA from Pleistocene sediments
- Slon, V.
- Hopfe, C.
- Weiß, C. L.
- Mafessoni, F.
- De La Rasilla, M.
- Lalueza-Fox, C.
- Rosas, A.
- Soressi, M.
- Knul, M. V.
- Miller, Rebecca
- Stewart, J. R.
- Derevianko, A. P.
- Jacobs, Z.
- Li, B.
- Roberts, R. G.
- Shunkov, M. V.
- De Lumley, H.
- Perrenoud, C.
- Gušić, I.
- Kućan, Z.
- Rudan, P.
- Aximu-Petri, A.
- Essel, E.
- Nagel, S.
- Nickel, B.
- Schmidt, A.
- Prüfer, K.
- Kelso, J.
- Burbano, H. A.
- Pääbo, S.
- Meyer, M.
DOIAbstract
peer reviewedAlthough a rich record of Pleistocene human-associated archaeological assemblages exists, the scarcity of hominin fossils often impedes the understanding of which hominins occupied a site. Using targeted enrichment of mitochondrial DNA, we show that cave sediments represent a rich source of ancient mammalian DNA that often includes traces of hominin DNA, even at sites and in layers where no hominin remains have been discovered. By automation-assisted screening of numerous sediment samples, we detected Neandertal DNA in eight archaeological layers from four caves in Eurasia. In Denisova Cave, we retrieved Denisovan DNA in a Middle Pleistocene layer near the bottom of the stratigraphy. Our work opens the possibility of detecting ...
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