Lola
I am fascinated by late Palaeolithic and Neolithic humans. Discovering ‘stuff’ about Ötzi the murdered iceman of Tyrol, for example, has captivated me for ages. Now we have Lola, the ‘Dane’ whose DNA was preserved when she spat out the birch tree gum she was chewing on the southern coast of Denmark. Scientists have managed, from this, to map her entire genome.

Lola was alive about 6000 years ago. She had brown skin, dark hair and blue eyes. Her last meal had been duck and hazel-nuts. She was also lactose intolerant and may been suffering from glandular fever.
Phenotypically as far as I understand most ‘humans’ on the planet were still sporting dark hues on their dermis at this point in time. (one of the reasons racism is so utterly stupid, your ancestors were ALL dark skinned). We became lighter skinned because we desperately needed more vitamin D from the sun as humans migrated north from Botswana. Go back far enough and not only are we all dark skinned, we are all African.
Anyways, this is awesome.
erroneouschoices
atIt is awesome 🙂
Thankyouverymuch for putting Barry manilow in my brain also
Jo
atEvery day should be a Barry Manilow day. At the Copa (the copa cabana) 😀
saynotoclowns
athaha I just read this on my email and came on here to write the same thing…It is awesome!
ugh I agree about the racism thing…good grief…do they not teach even basic genetics in school anymore…but anyway…
I am also intrigued by ancient wisdom, the incredible expertise that has been lost…I read somewhere in some book at some time about this guy that recreated the “Shoes” Ötzi was wearing, and it was far superior to anything modern he had used for mountain climbing etc. So fascinating.
saynotoclowns
atPS I have Danish blood…I am lactose intolerant and had glandular fever. Clearly it’s her fault. Plus I love eating duck. Wow, so many mysteries solved. 🤡
Jo
atThe best part about history is finding the right person to blame!
Ha ha.
saynotoclowns
atLOL.
Jo
atYeah Ötzi was… eh… is fascinating! Like you said his shoes were amazing. And he had this bronze ax. Plus the variety of food he had eaten recently. It was all amazing. PLUS (possibly most amazing) his ancestors were still living in the nearby town!!
saynotoclowns
atBahaha his ancestors. That’s awesome. And miraculous.