Researchers extract ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick, revealing a time capsule of plant life

The clay brick from the National Museum of Denmark and the five points from which the samples were derived. The team extracted DNA from the samples by adapting a protocol previously used for other porous materials, such as bone. Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen at an archaeological excavation site. Credit: Sophie Lund Rasmussen. The study ‘Revealing the secrets of a 2900‑year‑old clay brick, discovering a time capsule of ancient DNA’ has been published in Nature Scientific Reports.