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Researchers studying the remains of a prehistoric woman who lived about 10,500 years ago, which are now in Belgium, created her facial reconstruction using ancient DNA.
A team led by scientists at the University of Ghent found that a woman would have been blue eyes and slightly lighter skin than most other people from the Mesolithic period in Western Europe, which have been analyzed so far, according to a statement on Tuesday.
CNN, a Ghent University archaeologist, Isabelle de Grote, leading the Mesolithic Belgian research project, said the woman came from the same population group as the Cheddar’s husband, who now lived in the UK at about the same time but had lighter skin.
Possible scenes from everyday life in the woman’s community. – Ulco Glimmerveen/Department of Archeology
The results challenge the previous assumptions that European hunters shared the same genetic makeup and show that the skin color of different populations is already very different, said De Grote.
“We could also say that it was 35 to 60,” CNN told De Gloro on Wednesday.
“She also had a nose with a high nose bridge, which is similar to Cheddar Man,” added de Grote. “She also has strong eyebrow ridges, despite being a woman.”
The remains of the woman were found in the Margaux Cave in the city during the archaeological excavation in 1988-1989. Together with the bodies of eight other women, De Grote said.
It was an “unusual discovery” because most mesolithic burial sites are a mixture of men, women and children, she added.
“Many skeletons have been sprinkled with ocher – practice related to ritual or symbolic behavior,” said De Grote.
Many bodies were carefully covered with stone fragments, and one individual cut the marks on the skull that was made after her death, she added.
“It is also interesting that this funeral cave has been used for several hundred years to make it a memory of the places people return, despite their lifestyle of mobile hunters,” said De Grote.
“These conclusions show complex burial customs and raise intriguing questions about the social structure and cultural practice of this early hunters-gate community,” she added.
The reconstruction is depicted during the opening ceremony. – Archeology Department of Ghent University
Philippe Crombé, an archaeologist at the university, which is part of the project team, said the ancient woman’s skin was “a bit surprised”, but there is a limited swimming pool with a comparative comparison with a comparison.
“Everyone has been analyzed by ancient DNA Western Europe so far belonged to the same genetic group,” he said.
“So it is a bit surprising, but on the other hand, it is to be expected that there is some variability in the wide area of Western Europe, as is today.”
When the remains were recovered, there was no way to do ancient DNA studies, Crombé said.
“Technical development after digging,” he said on Wednesday CNN, adding that the interdisciplinary project is “re-analysis of old excavations using state-of-the-art methods”.
Crombé described in detail how the “fairly good quality” DNA was taken from a woman’s skull to create a “very detailed reconstruction”.
Her skin, hair color and eye color are based on ancient DNA, while other elements such as her jewelry and tattoos are based on archaeological data derived from other excavations in the River Meuse pool, which also allowed them to create a picture of their daily lives.
By one excavation – a former campsite on the banks of the river – scientists found stone tools, bones from Wild Game and Fish residues, said Crombé, providing evidence that these people would have been nomads.
“They are still moving because they are completely dependent on natural resources: wild games, wild plants, fish,” he said. “So it forced them to move through the landscape and move their settlements.”
There are many questions about these Mesolithic communities, which were the last hunters-gathers in Western Europe, Crombé said.
The team now analyzes the remains to connect the connections between the buried people, and also plan to investigate the extent to which they would have eaten fish, he added.
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