UpbeatA 60,000-year-old smear of ochre kept its secret in protein, not DNA
At the Kilpdrift complex in southern Africa, people ground red ochre 60,000 years ago — and left something invisible behind. Using paleoproteomics, the study of ancient proteins, researchers led by Zahra Haghighi recovered antelope collagen from archived sediment samples, the first proof that proteins can be read from archaeological sediments even where ancient DNA almost never survives. Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the technique opens a new window on early human life: the biological traces people left in tools, pigments and places can now testify long after bones and DNA are gone.
The upbeat factora new way to hear from humans who lived 60,000 years ago — in places where every other record has rotted away.
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