Cave Sediment Reveals Ancient Human DNA in Spain
Researchers recovered nuclear DNA from a few grains of sediment at El Mirón Cave, pointing to continuous human presence in southwest Europe.
Updated on Oct. 31, 2026 in Life Sciences
Researchers at the University of Vienna in Austria recovered nuclear ancient human DNA from sediment in El Mirón Cave, Spain, sequencing the sample 100 times to yield usable data. The findings, published in Science Advances, indicate that human populations in southwest Europe remained genetically continuous between 30,000 and 20,000 years ago.
Why it matters
The study shows that human genetic material can be recovered from sediment alone, even without skeletal remains, opening a new route for reconstructing past populations. It also suggests that the cave's inhabitants belonged to a western ancestry group that persisted across this period.
The analysis relied on sediment sequencing rather than skeletal remains, with the sample sifted through more than a billion DNA fragments and modern contamination accounted for. Researchers have not yet determined the physical appearance or individual identities of the people whose DNA was recovered.
The players
University of Vienna
A public research university in Austria that led the study recovering ancient DNA from El Mirón Cave's sediment.
The details
The sediment sample weighed no more than a few grains of rice, and researchers compared the El Mirón nuclear DNA with ancient remains from France and northern Spain. The DNA is from individuals who lived roughly 22,000 years ago, and the team controlled for modern contamination in its analysis.
Timeline
Individuals whose DNA was recovered lived roughly 22,000 years ago.
Animal and human mitochondrial DNA dated 46,000 to 21,000 years ago was identified in El Mirón dirt samples in 2025.
Southwest Europe's population remained relatively continuous between 30,000 and 20,000 years ago.
The study was published in Science Advances this week.
Big Picture
Sediment ancient DNA analysis is an emerging method, and the authors expect its application to a wide range of archaeological sites to increase rapidly over the next few years. The El Mirón findings add to that growing body of work by showing that sediment alone can yield human genetic evidence spanning tens of thousands of years.
Sediment-based DNA recovery could eventually let scientists study past human populations at sites where no skeletal remains survive. Such methods may reshape how archaeologists reconstruct migration and population history in the future.
The takeaway
Human genetic history can be recovered from the most unlikely material, including a few grains of cave sediment. Methods like this are likely to expand the record of past populations across many more sites.
Further reading
Explore more discoveries in our Life Sciences coverage.
