Recent studies have demonstrated the potential to recover ancient human mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA from cave sediments. However, the source of such sedimentary ancient DNA is still under discussion. Here we report the case of a Bronze Age human skeleton, found in a limestone cave, which was covered with layers of calcite stone deposits. By analyzing samples representing bones and stone deposits from this cave, we were able to: i) reconstruct the full human mitochondrial genome from the bones and the stones (same haplotype); ii) determine the sex of the individual; iii) reconstruct six ancient bacterial and archaeal genomes; and finally iv) demonstrate better ancient DNA preservation in the stones than in the bones. Thereby, we demonstrate the direct diffusion of human DNA from bones into the surrounding environment and show the potential to reconstruct ancient microbial genomes from such cave deposits, which represent an additional paleoarcheological archive resource.

最近的研究表明，从洞穴沉积物中回收古人类线粒体 DNA 和核 DNA 的潜力。然而，这种沉积古DNA的来源仍在讨论中。在这里，我们报告了在石灰岩洞穴中发现的青铜时代人类骨骼的案例，该洞穴覆盖着层层方解石沉积物。通过分析代表来自该洞穴的骨骼和石头沉积物的样本，我们能够：i）从骨骼和石头（相同的单倍型）重建完整的人类线粒体基因组；ii) 确定个人的性别；iii) 重建六种古老的细菌和古细菌基因组；最后 iv) 证明石头中的古代 DNA 保存比骨头中更好。从而，