Mitochondrial DNA in Denisova Cave

When given the right conditions, DNA can last a surprisingly long time without breaking down completely. There is a cave in Siberia that yielded information about the mysterious Denisovans, but very little is known about them. Like other people groups, they shared their DNA.

This cave had mitochondrial (mt) DNA from three groups of people, but researchers could not determine if they lived there at the same time. It appears that groups handed off that piece of real estate. There was a buildup of sediments in there as well, but secular dating methods are in disarray.

Evolutionists are determined to force-fit different people groups into their classifications, but if they stripped away their assumptions, they might realize the differences between the groups are within ranges of people that we see even now. It would have been even more interesting if scientists went beyond examining mtDNA and considered nuclear DNA as well. At any rate, what was actually found is in keeping with biblical creation views.

On 23 June 2021 a study published by Zavala et al. reported on the analysis of mitochondrial (mt) DNA from sediment samples collected in Denisova Cave, including 175 samples of ‘ancient hominin’ (Denisovan, Neanderthal, and modern human) mtDNA, said to cover “nearly all layers in all three chambers”. According to the authors, Denisovan mtDNA was found earliest, said to be associated with stone tools of the Middle Palaeolithic, supposedly deposited about 250 to 170 thousand years ago (ka), with Neanderthal mtDNA said to first appear “towards the end of this period.” Denisovans and Neanderthals are alleged to have occupied the site repeatedly, “possibly until, or after, the onset of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic at least 45,000 years ago, when modern human mtDNA is first recorded in the sediments.”

To finish reading, see "Analysis of mtDNA from sediments in Denisova Cave."