Unearthing Secrets: What a 5,700-Year-Old Chewing Gum Reveals About Our Ancient Ancestors
Ever wonder if your chewing gum could spill your secrets—like who you are, what you eat, or even where you come from? Well, turns out, a 5,700-year-old piece of birch bark chewing gum found in Denmark did just that. Archaeologists didn’t just find some sticky prehistoric residue; they uncovered a time capsule of DNA so pristine that scientists pieced together the entire genome of the Stone Age gal who chomped it. Yep, from this ancient gum, researchers could tell her gender, lifestyle, even what she probably looked like—dark skin, blue eyes, and a knack for snacking on hazelnuts and duck. If DNA tells tales, this gum tells an epic saga of survival, culture, and maybe a bit of ancient dental hygiene. Who knew chewing over a sticky bit of bark could leave behind such a juicy story?
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Researchers determined what the chewer looked like, their gender, their diet, and their lifestyle — all from this piece of multi-millennia-old gum that was found in Denmark.
Theis JensenThis ancient gum is made out of the bark of the birch tree and was found at the archaeological dig site of Syltholm, on the Danish island of Lolland.
Archaeologists in Lolland, Denmark unearthed a piece of 5,700-year-old chewing gum made of birch bark and found to their great surprise that the ancient artifact contained DNA. The DNA was so well-preserved that scientists could reconstruct the entire human genome of the Stone Age person who had chewed the gum.
According to The Smithsonian, experts were even able to identify the microbes that lived in this ancient human’s mouth and determine their dietary habits — all from a piece of multi-millennia-old gum.
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