Dimensions
163 x 241 x 27mm
A revolution is underway in archaeology. For the first time the molecular record of past life, entombed for millennia in archaeological and geological material, has become widely accessible to science. Miraculous-seeming techniques now allow ancient remains to speak volumes about a past we thought lost.
Working at the cutting edge of genetic and other molecular technologies, researches have been probing the remains of the building blocks of life - DNA, proteins and fats - in sediments, fossilised plants and ancient animal remains, including human skeletons, sacrificial llamas, dinosaur bones and 26 million-year-old insects preserved in amber.
For twenty-five years, Martin Jones's work has involved shifting the emphasis within archaeology from inert material objects to fragments of the living, breathing past. 'The Molecule Hunt' use Jones's perspective at the forefront of bio-archaeology to show how pioneering science in rewriting human history.
