'It’s incredible, because there are periods where we don’t have any bones, but birch pitch survives very well. It’s a substitute for bones, and it’s very intimate. You get so much information.' Via theswaddle
Meet “Lola,” a young girl with dark hair, dark skin, and blue eyes from the coast of Denmark, whom scientists have just discovered existed — almost 5,700 years ago. Oh, and she likes gum. recently mapped the genome
of a young Danish girl from the chewing gum she ate almost 6,000 years ago, making it the first time scientists have been able to extract DNA from anything other than human remains. Scientists found “Lola” was, most probably, a member of the hunter-gatherers from the mainlands in Europe who lived in Scandinavia at the time.
On to the chewing gum itself: scientists said it came from birch bark. Called the birch pitch, it’s a blackish substance extracted by heating up the bark of a birch tree. At the time, it was used as glue for attaching handles to stone tools. Archeologists believe the birch pitch might have been chewed to make it moldable for use as glue, to relieve toothaches, to act as toothpaste, or even to suppress hunger.
Jensen told The Guardian, “It’s incredible, because there are periods where we don’t have any bones, but birch pitch survives very well. It’s a substitute for bones, and it’s very intimate. You get so much information.”
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