Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Art & Artifacts

Ancient proteins tell tales of our ancestors

With the help of mass spec, archaeologists are turning to proteins, which degrade less quickly than DNA, to learn about the past

by Celia Henry Arnaud
May 20, 2019 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 97, Issue 20
Photo of an approximately 160,000-year-old mandible found in a cave on the Tibetan Plateau.

Credit: Dongju Zhang/Lanzhou University | Scientists used ancient proteins to identify this mandible, found in the Baishya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau, as coming from a Denisovan.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient: