Swedish Researchers Extract Ancient Scandinavians' DNA From a 10,000-Year-Old 'Chewing Gum'
Advanced technology has finally allowed experts to analyze DNA from a chewed-up birch bark in Sweden, uncovered in the early 1990s. At that time, the equipment was incapable of examining DNA from such objects, according to All That's Interesting. However, the bark always remained in the heads of scientists, as it could contain ancient human DNA from Scandinavia, that are very hard to come by. Researchers believe it could hold DNA, as past studies revealed that ancient humans in Scandinavia used bark as a chewing item. After years when the technology was adequate, a team of experts extracted and analyzed DNA from the bits of bark and published their results in the journal Communications Biology.
Significance of Birch Bark
Preliminary examinations on the birch bark found from Huseby Klev on the west coast revealed that the object was around 10,000 years old. The potential human DNA on the bark was crucial for experts, as human bones from the Stone Age are scarce in the area. Even the bones that have been located in the area do not contain well-preserved human DNA. Hence, most of the assertions about ancient humans from Scandinavia could not be validated by DNA investigation. "Much of our history is visible in the DNA we carry with us, so we try to look for DNA wherever we believe we can find it," Anders Götherström, who works in the Archaeological Research Laboratory at Stockholm University, said, per a press release of the university. The Birch Bark could now finally supply this legacy.
Results of the Analysis
Researchers found human DNA in the bark and believe it belongs to the first set of humans who settled in Scandinavia over 10,000 years ago, according to Phys. It is the oldest human DNA ever sequenced from Sweden. The study claimed that the human DNA belonged to two females and one male. Further investigation showed that these individuals had genetic similarities with other ancient hunter-gatherer groups in Sweden and Mesolithic people from Ice Age Europe.
The tools found at the site appeared to be from people of the East European Plain in modern-day Russia. These findings align with the claims by other studies that Scandinavia experienced genetic and cultural influx from the East European Plain (modern-day Russia) and Ice Age Europe. Emrah Kirdök at Stockholm University, who conducted the computational analyses of the DNA, further added that the three individuals were genetically closer to western hunter-gatherer populations than the eastern hunter-gatherer populations.
Scope of the Discovery
Per Persson at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo believes that further analysis on the extracted DNA could reveal more details about the ancient human population in Sweden. The DNA could provide a clue about the people's origins as well as how or why they moved from one place to another. It could also shed light on the social relationships of individuals back then, the food they ate, and the diseases they suffered from. Natalija Kashuba of the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo appreciated the care the archaeologists put in while examining the fragile material, as the organization was initially hesitant to let such a precious object undergo investigation.