A 20,000 year old pendant still carries the DNA of the woman who may have worn it

Scientists have recovered ancient human DNA from an object that was made thousands of years before written records existed: a small animal-tooth pendant found in a Siberian cave. The pendant, discovered at Denisova Cave in Russia, is estimated to be between 19,000 and 25,000 years old. Genetic analysis identified DNA from a female individual, giving researchers an unusual clue about the person who may have made or worn the ornament.

The finding was reported in a study, led by Elena Essel and colleagues and published in Nature on May 3, 2023, titled “Ancient human DNA recovered from a Palaeolithic pendant”. The researchers developed a method to recover DNA from ancient bone and tooth objects without substantially altering their surfaces. Reuters also reported the discovery, highlighting how the DNA analysis offered clues about the person who may have worn the pendant.

The discovery does not establish exactly how she was connected to the pendant. But it offers something that archaeologists have rarely been able to obtain from an object of this kind: genetic evidence linked to an individual who may have come into contact with it.


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DNA hidden inside a tiny tooth

The pendant was made from the tooth of a wapiti, a large deer related to the elk. A hole was made through the tooth so it could be attached to a cord. The object was recovered from Denisova Cave, a site in Siberia known for preserving evidence of human activity from different periods of prehistory.

According to the Nature study by Elena Essel and her colleagues, researchers recovered both deer and human genetic material from the artifact. Analysis of the human nuclear DNA indicated that the individual was female. Her genetic profile also showed strong affinities with Ancient North Eurasian individuals who lived around the same period and had previously been identified at sites farther east in Siberia.

This does not mean scientists have identified the woman or reconstructed her life. Instead, the DNA provides evidence that a particular individual may have been connected to an object that survived long after she was gone.

In its report on the discovery, London's Natural History Museum explained that DNA can enter porous bone and tooth material through contact with biological material, including skin cells and other bodily traces. However, researchers cannot establish the exact route through which the DNA entered this particular pendant.

The pendant was not damaged to recover the DNA

Bone and teeth can preserve DNA within their microscopic structure. Human genetic material can enter these materials through prolonged contact with the body, including through skin cells and other biological material.

Researchers used a method involving a sodium phosphate solution and a series of controlled temperatures to release DNA from the tooth. The process was designed to be non-destructive. The pendant could therefore remain intact after the genetic analysis.

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That is important for archaeology because ancient objects often need to be studied more than once. Their shape, manufacturing marks, wear patterns and material can provide information that may not be available through DNA alone.

Scientists cannot say exactly how the woman was connected to it

The DNA establishes a human connection, but it does not provide the complete story. Researchers cannot determine whether the woman was the person who wore the pendant. She may have made it, worn it or handled it during its production. The object could also have been used by more than one person over time.

This uncertainty matters because prehistoric ornaments were not necessarily used in the same way as personal jewellery today. They could be exchanged, passed between people or kept for reasons that cannot be established thousands of years later.

Scientists believe the human DNA may have entered the tooth through prolonged contact with the skin. But they cannot reconstruct the complete journey of the pendant from its manufacture to the moment it was left behind.

Even so, the genetic evidence adds something that traditional archaeological examination cannot. It gives researchers a clue about the person who was physically connected to the object.

The discovery could change how ancient objects are studied

Archaeologists normally examine prehistoric jewellery through its material, shape, decoration, manufacturing technique and archaeological context.

If the same method works on other bone and tooth artefacts, researchers could investigate who may have made or handled particular objects. It could also help them study whether certain types of tools or ornaments were associated more often with men or women.

Modern human DNA is widespread and can easily contaminate archaeological material. During the excavation and handling of the pendant, researchers took precautions including the use of gloves and face masks to reduce the risk of modern DNA being introduced.

That makes contamination control an increasingly important part of archaeological work, especially when scientists are looking for ancient genetic traces that may be present in extremely small quantities.

A small object carrying part of a hidden story

The pendant cannot reveal why it was made, how long it was used or what happened to her after it was made. But the object has preserved something else, a biological trace of a person who lived during the Ice Age.

For archaeologists, that makes the pendant more than a piece of prehistoric jewellery. It shows that an object can sometimes preserve evidence not just of how people lived, but of the people who physically came into contact with it.

The DNA recovered from the pendant offers a rare clue about a woman who may have come into contact with it thousands of years ago. The pendant may never reveal her full story. But it has preserved enough of a trace to show that, thousands of years ago, a real person held it and left something of herself behind.