December 28, 2021
Scientists have recovered DNA from the skin cells on the scalp and clothes of 2,000 year old mummies from Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. Female lice deposit eggs in the hair of the mummies and the mummy skin cells become incased in the cement produced by the female lice. The skin cells can also elicit information about how people lived and died 2,000 years ago run South America.
These nit samples are as concentrated as DNA samples from teeth, double that of human bones, and four times as much as blood.
Their health and even cause of death can be indicated by the interpretation of the biology of the nits.
The University of Reading did the initial research.
The story is reported in Heritage Daily;
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/12/nits-on-ancient-mummies-shed-light-on-south-american-ancestry/142375
MIKE RUGGERI'S ANCIENT AMERICAS NEWS 