New DNA tests on ancient Denisovan people

New DNA tests on ancient Denisovan people 'shows them occupying Altai cave 170,000 years ago'


Prehistoric Siberians lived in Denisova Cave earlier than scientists realised - new claim based on state-of-the-art technology. It has been called the cave that holds the key to man's origins, and it keeps producing more surprises. It was here in the Deinsova Cave in 2008 that Siberian scientists discovered a finger bone fragment of 'X woman', a juvenile female believed to have lived around 41,000 years ago. Analysis showed she was genetically distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans.

In 2010 analysis on an upper molar from a young adult, found in the cave ten years previously, was also from a Denisovan. As we reported previously: 'Traces in the 'cultural layer' of the Denisova Cave show the human habitat reaching back 282,000 years.' The richness of the cave's prehistoric contents means scientists from around the world are co-operating in seeking to solve its riddles.

Now a new report by the news site of journal Science states that analysis on the Denisovan finger bone and molars as well as cave material shows these little-known ancient people 'occupied the cave surprisingly early and came back repeatedly'.

The young female 'lived at least 50,000 years ago and that two other Denisovan individuals died in the cave at least 110,000 years ago and perhaps as early as 170,000 years ago'.

The report cites scientific talks given to a meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution. It cautions about a wide margin or error in the estimates over dates, but quotes paleoanthropologist Fred Spoor of University College London the findings provide 'really convincing evidence of multiple occupations of the cave', and that the Denisovans should be seen as a 'valid species'.

http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/n0407-new-dna-tests-on-ancient-denisovan-people-shows-them-occupying-altai-cave-170000-years-ago/