We should gene-sequence cave paintings to find out more about who made them

Technology Review ^ | February 14, 2019 | Emerging Technology from the arXiv

[SunkenCiv]

Hugo Soria | Wikipedia

[SunkenCiv]

Shaving the article down a little got rid of some of the gee-whiz vibe.

[blueplum]

if they can pull DNA from ‘cow butter’ wouldn’t they also be able to potentially isolate human dna from scraping the skin of fingers on the rock as they painted with the butter?

[SunkenCiv]

That would be nice, but since the cow butter may not exist in large enough quantity, it's unlikely human DNA would remain in sufficient quantity (and quality). The cow butter wasn't ID'd at all, but is guessed to have been present because "a wide range of proteins in the pigment, including bovine albumin and casein" is present.

[Deaf Smith]

"how the pigmentation has been preserved for so long..."

It's all about the primer.

[blueunicorn6]

A five legged elk?

My guess is that this painting comes from Drunken Og during his Elk Period.

[SunkenCiv]

Three-legged peasant...

Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Peasant Wedding

[blueunicorn6]

Oh.....my.....word!

It’s a warning!

“Animal farts will kill you!”

Look at the artist’s bold depiction of elk flatulence.

It’s like you can smell it today!

Wait a minute......filthy dogs! Smells like they ate a skunk.

[morphing libertarian]

WE always make the animals sleep outside the cave. Just saying.,

[blueunicorn6]

I thought that was going to be a hunting painting with like a dog pointing a pheasant.

Imagine my surprise to find a painting of my family reunion.

Cousin Mike does have three legs, but nobody can run with the bread like him!

[SunkenCiv]

Alas, I muffed the image URL.

[blueunicorn6]

Yeah, but you probably have obedient dogs.

My dogs are gassy, obedience school dropouts.

[blueunicorn6]

No.

That’s OK.

It’s not like you forgot which basket was yours and scored the winning basket for your crosstown rival, Central School Of Art and Ditch Digging.

I’ll never live that one down.

They even put me in their yearbook as a member of their basketball team.

[SunkenCiv]

Those bastards.

[blueunicorn6]

Hold on a minute.

You live in a cave?

Does it have marble countertops in the kitchen?

If so, it’ll be on the market 25 days less than the average cave.

At least in this area.

[morphing libertarian]

mancave

[blueunicorn6]

Oh, you’ve met my family.

[blueunicorn6]

Oh.

You mean one of those rooms in the basement where a husband can have a bar and sports stuff and a big screen tv.

Yeah.

I don’t have one of those.

The closest thing I’ve got to that is a Man Closet.

Well, half a closet.

Ok, it’s like four shirts and my good pants, but it’s mine.

[morphing libertarian]

I can refer you to either a RE broker or an attorney

[blueunicorn6]

NO.....THANK.....YOU.....

My experience with Realtors and Lawyers has not been good.

They got their hands in my pockets faster than my wife.

And at least it’s kind of fun with her.