IDENTIFYING ANCIENT DNA IN MUD. This article by Michael Le Page on the New Scientist website offers hope for a new archaeological tool. Scientists have had some success in looking for the DNA of early humans in ancient sediments in places such as caves. Le Page says: “Just about any sample of soil or water is full of DNA from all kinds of organisms.”
The implication would be that even if DNA cannot be extracted from the bones or hair of a fossil, DNA found at a location can provide some evidence about people who have visited a site. For example, it could provide evidence of how our ancestors moved around.
There are plans to look for DNA at the many sites where stone tools but no fossils have been found.