Posted on 12/18/2019 4:54:33 AM PST by zeestephen
It is the first time that an entire ancient human genome has been extracted from anything other than human bones..."What is more, we also retrieved DNA from oral microbes and several important human pathogens, which makes this a very valuable source of ancient DNA, especially for time periods where we have no human remains...Syltholm, Denmark, is completely unique. Almost everything is sealed in mud, which means that the preservation of organic remains is absolutely phenomenal..."
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
"Ancient chewing gum reveals Scandinavia's [Sweden] oldest human DNA"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3749792/posts
This reminds me of when we used to chew Sassafras leaves as kids, and call it gum.
Re: chew Sassafras leaves
I put another link about ancient gum in Comment #1.
Apparently, this tree pitch was used to glue basic tool parts together and also as a sealant.
So, it’s not completely clear if people chewed it for pleasure, or just for utility.
Maybe “Birch Tree Breath” guys got the most beautiful women?
Assuming, of course, that the ladies did not object to kissing a mouth full of black teeth!
” Almost everything is sealed in mud, which means that the preservation of organic remains is absolutely phenomenal...”
Shoot, I’ll send them some muddy gum from the sidewalk and they’ll be in hog heaven.
Was it found stuck under an ancient school desk?
Oooooh, Johnny and Mary kissing in a tree. K I S S I N G. First came love, then came mono. Moral is don’t kiss in trees.
This gum is the pitch from birch bark, but birch sap is quite sweet, so the pitch is probably a little sweet, too.
Birch beer is hard to find, but its pretty good
I hope they brought enough for everybody.
Birch pitch was the Gorilla Glue of the Neolithic. It was traded over a very wide range, well beyond the range of birch trees. Everything from hand axes to arrowheads needed to be glued to their wooden shaft. Birch pitch was used for the same sort of purposes that we use for our many kinds of glue. This article supports the common notion that gluing stuff was women’s work since the DNA from the birch pitch was female. Of course, it could have been a common task for everyone when they were sitting around the hearth.
I order mine from a local Connecticut soda company, Hosmer Mountain. Great sodas...glass bottles...
*ping*
Thanks fieldmarshaldj.
Does your chewing gun lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?
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