The Guardian view on ancient DNA: a female shaman exposes our flawed assumptions about the past | Editorial
Thanks to new technology we are are acquiring insights into earlier times, and realising how little we truly know Archaeologists believe the Upton Lovell Shaman, who lived in what is now Wiltshire 4,000 years ago, was an important religious leader and metalworker because of the artefacts and tools buried with the body. Until very recently it was also believed, on considerably slimmer evidence,…
New technology is revealing previously unknown details about our ancient past, highlighting the gaps in our knowledge. The Upton Lovell Shaman, who lived in Wiltshire 4,000 years ago, was once believed to be a male due to the artifacts buried with their body. However, recent ancient DNA analysis at the Francis Crick Institute has proven that the body is actually that of a woman.
This discovery challenges long-held assumptions about the significance of such a burial and the gender of the individual. The findings also echo other significant changes in our understanding of human history, such as the interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals approximately 50,000 years ago, the skin color of the first modern Britons, and the cause of death of key members of the Medici family in the 16th century, which was likely malaria rather than murder.
These examples demonstrate how even slight advancements in our knowledge can expose the falsity of our previously entrenched beliefs.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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