Old gum reveals the features of a girl who lived 6000 years ago

Shady Abdel Hafez

During excavations on Lolland Island, the fourth largest island in Denmark, a research team from the University of Copenhagen managed to find a very old gum about 6000 years old, on that gum I found traces of chewing and a piece of human DNA preserved in exceptional quality.

With blue eyes

According to the new study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications on December 18, this is the first time that a complete DNA has been extracted from anything other than human bone, which opens the way for a deeper entry into our history before civilization.

The study found that the discovered chewing gum is made of birch tar, a substance derived from the dry distillation of the bark of the birch tree. It was used in the past as an adhesive and had to chew a little before using it to soften.

By examining the DNA stored there, it was found that for a girl with dark skin, dark hair, and blue eyes, it was also found that this girl was genetically linked to groups that practiced collection and capture on the mainland of Europe.

The researchers also managed to find remnants of nuts and ducks in that gum, and this indicates - among other indications - that people who lived in this place six thousand years ago were taking advantage of wild resources extensively in the Neolithic period, the period during which animals were domesticated and agriculture appeared in Southern Scandinavia.

History of the disease

On the other hand, the new study indicates that researchers were able to extract the DNA of a few types of bacteria that lived in human teeth during that period, whether they were benign or pathogenic bacteria, and the researchers also extracted the DNA of the Epstein-Bar virus that causes In Pfeiffer Disease for adults.

This is useful for giving a more detailed picture of the health condition of humans in that period of their history during which they lived in a different environment and had a different lifestyle and diet, therefore it would be useful to understand how this is reflected in the bacteria and pathogens that lived in their bodies.

These results can help a lot in understanding how diseases occur and develop over time and are affected by environmental and social contexts, and this may help - according to the new study - to develop better and more accurate mechanisms to combat these diseases.