Lola Chewed Gum 5000 Years Ago

Archeologists say that people chewed gum as far back as 5,700 years ago. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have not only found an ancient chewing gum but have also managed to get a hitherto untapped source of DNA. The gum, which was found at the archeological site Syltholm in Denmark, was made of birch pitch and the chewer was a woman. She was genetically more closely related to hunter-gatherers from the mainland Europe than to those in central Scandinavia at the time. They also found that she probably had dark skin, dark hair and blue eyes. The team have named her Lola and done an artistic reconstruction of how she looked. They have also identified traces of plant and animal DNA in the pitch. Looks like Lola liked having hazelnuts and duck.

Visit University of Copenhagen website at https://healthsciences.ku.dk/

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