Ancient Human DNA Found in Stone Age Cave Art For First Time

首次在史前洞穴艺术中发现古代人类DNA

New Scientist Podcasts

2026-06-30

16 分钟
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Episode 380 The DNA of ancient humans has been found preserved in cave art that’s more than 40,000 years old. This discovery could open an entirely new avenue for finding out about the lives of our ancient ancestors. Researchers from the First Art project found these unexpected samples while examining 11 different caves decorated with rock art. Although it’s unclear if the DNA belongs to the original artist, it may soon be possible for researchers to identify the exact person who did the painting - and even uncover traits like their hair and eye colour. Now this has been done once, the potential for more discoveries is massive. We may even be able to figure out if Neanderthals were also making art like this. Rowan Hooper is joined by features editor Alison George and Genevieve von Petzinger at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  • For the first time, ancient human DNA has been found preserved in cave art that was made thousands of years ago.

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  • Loads of the cave art made in the stone age was made by spitting

  • paint onto the walls or putting on with your hands and fingers

  • so the idea that dna of the artist could be preserved on the walls in the artwork

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  • From New Scientist, this is the world, the universe and us.

  • I'm Dr. Rowan Hooper.

  • Alison George has been reporting on this for us.

  • Ali, this story is sending shivers down my spine.