Ancient human DNA was extracted from a 20,000-year-old deer tooth pendant

A new technique provides a nondestructive way to study the lives of Stone Age people

An overhead image of a small deer tooth pendant with a hole drilled into it

Scientists recovered a Stone Age female’s DNA from this pierced deer tooth, which may have been worn as a pendant, using a new technique that doesn’t harm the artifact.

© Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

A new, nondestructive way to recover ancient DNA has shown its potential for illuminating Stone Age people’s lives.