The application of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies to archaeological remains has transformed human evolutionary research. The recent publication of ancient DNA (aDNA) sequences derived from European cave sediments in Science (1) provides firm validation for the feasibility of sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) research. Concurrent with this publication, researchers at the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics (CMEG) extracted and sequenced human and pathogen aDNA from a Late Pleistocene South African archaeological context (2). At 15,000 years old, this sedaDNA data-set, derived from Bushman Rock Shelter (Limpopo Province), comprises the oldest-known examples of DNA recovered from Africa.
