【#Tech24H】The rock walls of ancient caves have preserved the genetic code of people who touched them thousands of years ago. An international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Germany), Nanjing Normal University (China), together with scientists from Spain and Portugal under the "First Art" project, has confirmed for the first time that ancient human DNA can survive on cave walls for millennia, paving a new way to unravel prehistoric human activities. The team collected samples from 11 caves, including simple carvings, hand stencils, and pigment crumbs that flaked off naturally from the iconic figurative paintings at Altamira Cave. Using state-of-the-art DNA extraction and sequencing technologies, the researchers examined colored and colorless fragments, sediments, animal bones, as well as a rare blowpipe used by ancient people to spray paint. The team admitted that although it is still impossible to directly connect these ancient human DNA traces to the production of the rock art, this is the first conclusive proof that human DNA can remain intact on cave walls for thousands of years.