Oldest Human DNA

[CoBrA-eYeS]

DNA is where our genetic identity is stored, it can tell you what colour a persons hair was, what colour their eyes were and even how tall they were likely to have been. It is like a plan for your body. When scientists or archaeologists find human skeletons or even just a bone, they can use the DNA to tell what that person was like.

Scientists used to believe that the oldest man came from Africa around 100,000 years ago but the discovery of human remains in Australia has questioned these findings. Australian scientists have spent years trying to extract some DNA from the bones and have now found a genetic pattern. The DNA was compared with that of other early Australians whose ages ranged between 8,000 and 15,000 years old and also with European Neanderthals. The DNA didn't match any of the others as it came from ancestry that has died out. That shows that not all of modern mans ancestors came from Africa, there is a strong possibility that he could have come from Australia instead.