DNA Reveals Face of Ancient Human Cousins

Denisovans are an extinct species of archaic humans that lived hundreds of thousands of years ago in Asia.

For a long time, archaeologists know very little about the mysterious species.

But in recent years, they have uncovered some important clues to understanding our ancient relatives.

Once part of the Neanderthals, Denisovans developed into a separate species of humans about 400,000 years ago.

Scientists verified their existence after finding a handful of teeth and bone fragments in a remote cave in Siberia, Russia, in 2008.

They were the first and only physical evidence of Denisovans in the world.

For over 10 years, scientists analyzed the DNA of the remains to learn what they could about Denisovans.

They were able to digitally reconstruct the skeletal features of the species, which went extinct 50,000 years ago.

Then, they compared the features to those of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

Recently, a scientific team from Israel even used the DNA information to extrapolate the facial features of a young Denisovan woman.

In September, they unveiled a portrait and bust that showed how this woman might have looked.

"This method of reconstruction is so exciting,"  said one of the researchers.

"It's a scientific wonderland."

• archaic  ɑːr|keɪɪk   낡은, 폐물이 된  ,  구식인 (=outdated) ,  태곳적의, 고대의

• archaeologist  |ɑːrki│ɑːlədʒɪst  고고학자

• uncover  ʌnˈkʌvə(r)   (비밀 등을) 알아내다[적발하다]  ,   덮개를 벗기다, 뚜껑을 열다

• relative  ˈrelətɪv    (고려∙판단이) 비교상의, 상대적인 ,  친척 (=relation)

• verify  ˈverɪfaɪ  (진실인지·정확한지) 확인하다 ,   입증하다, (진실이라고·정확하다고) 확인해[말해] 주다 (=confirm)

• handful   줌, 움큼 ,  몇 안 되는 수   a handful of  소수의

• fragment  조각, 파편 /  산산이 부수다[부서지다], 해체되다[하다]

• skeletal  ˈskelətl  뼈대[골격/해골]의 ,  해골 같은

• extrapolate  ɪkˈstræpəleɪt   (…을 기반으로) 추론[추정]하다

• facial  ˈfeɪʃl    얼굴의, 안면의

• unveil  ˌʌnˈveɪl    (그림·동상 등을 처음으로 공개하기 위해) 덮개를 벗기다[제막식을 하다] ,   (새로운 계획·상품 등을) 발표하다 (=reveal)

• portrait  |pɔːrtrət  초상화, 인물 사진(특히 어깨 윗부분까지만 나온 것) (→self-portrait) ,   (상세한) 묘사 (=depiction)

• bust  bʌst  흉상, 반신상 ,  상반신, (여성의) 버스트, 가슴, 가슴둘레

• wonderland  |wʌndərlænd  신나는 것이 가득한 곳, 아주 멋진 곳