The DNA of extinct humans can be retrieved from sediments in caves - even in the absence of skeletal remains.
Researchers found the genetic fabric in sediment samples collected from seven archaeological sites,BBC News reports.
The remains of ancient humans are often scarce, so the current findings could help scientists learn the identity of inhabitants at sites where only artefacts hold been found.
The results are described in Science.
Antonio Rosas, and a scientist at Spain's Natural Science Museum in Madrid,said: "This work represents an enormous scientific breakthrough.
"We can now expose which species of hominid occupied a cave and on which particular stratigraphic level, even when no bone or skeletal remains are present.""We know that several components of sediments can bind DNA, or " said lead researcher Matthias Meyer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig,Germany.
Source: tert.am