You’ve seen the pictures, I’m sure…. archeologists sifting soil with small mesh pans…. (I like to think of them as very mini EZ-Screen plants). What they’re looking for, of course are bits (not the computer type) of evidence of ancient civilizations…a piece of pottery, a fragment of bone, an ancient coin.
Archaeological deposits typically consist of a mix of things and the remains of plants and animals — including the occasional human fossil — all held in a matrix of dirt.
But what if the soil in these sites doesn’t contain the artifacts? Alas, thanks to modern technology, all is not lost!
Now archeologists can find clues to the ancient past in the very dirt that that they dig– by uncovering ancient DNA molecules that can be extracted and used to identify the species that once lived there.
DNA can survive in soil sediments for tens of thousands of years, yet archeologists are challenged about exactly where these DNA molecules originated, and whether they could have been transported by water between archaeological layers.
Layers of dirt and sediment are laid down over many millennia, so if DNA molecules find their way into older or younger layers, then estimates of their age could potentially be out by thousands of years. Not a good thing if you’re an archeologist!
Scientists are working on techniques for pinpointing the origin of DNA in archaeological dirt to help refine this understanding
Fortunately, this is not a problem for EZ-Screen owners…they just want to get the bad stuff out of the dirt…and be left with rich, clean soil. There’s a reason EZ is in our name!
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