Oldest Scandinavian human DNA found in ancient chewing gum - Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago

The first humans who settled in Scandinavia more than 10,000 years ago left their DNA behind in ancient chewing gum, masticated lumps made from birch bark pitch. This is shown in a new study conducted at Stockholm University and published in Communications Biology. "DNA from these ancient chewing gums have an enormous potential not only for tracing the origin and movement of peoples long time ago, but also for providing insights in their social relations, diseases and food," says Per Persson at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. "Much of our history is visible in the DNA we carry with us, so we try to look for DNA where ever we believe we can find it," says Anders Götherström, at the Archaeological Research Laboratory at Stockholm University, where the work was conducted.

Read: https://phys.org/news/2019-05-oldest-scandinavian-human-dna-ancient.html

Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago, substantially earlier than indicated by most DNA-based estimates, according to new research by a UCL academic. The research, published in Science Advances, analysed dental evolutionary rates across different hominin species, focusing on early Neanderthals. It shows that the teeth of hominins from Sima de los Huesos, Spain—ancestors of the Neanderthals—diverged from the modern human lineage earlier than previously assumed.

Read: https://phys.org/news/2019-05-neanderthals-modern-humans-diverged-years.html