In the cave of El Mirón in northern Spain, intrigue surrounds a woman who was laid to rest there 19,000 years ago. Her bones, coated in an earthy shade of red derived from the natural pigment ochre, led archaeologists to give her the name the "Red Lady of El Mirón;" new research, however, has taken a closer look not at her red-hued bones, but at the soil within the cave.
In a study recently published in Nature Communications, researchers analyzed sedimentary ancient DNA, or sedaDNA, refining their understanding of the Red Lady of El Mirón’s heritage. In addition, they detected genetic evidence showing the consistent presence of several carnivore species that often visited the cave when humans weren’t present.
