One of the primary goals of archaeology is to understand past human be
haviour. Although stone tools comprise the vast majority of cultural a
rtefacts for most of the archaeological record, their uses in prehisto
ry are poorly understood. The application of the polymerase chain reac
tion (PCR) to amplify DNA molecules can help establish a physical link
to ancient tool use in processing biological material. Modern experim
ental stone tools and a sample of stone tools and soils from the Middl
e Paleolithic site of La Quina, France, dating between approximately 3
5 and 65 ka, have been examined for the presence of ancient DNA. Extra
ctions from the samples were analysed using PCR with primers amplifyin
g a small region of the vertebrate mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Su
bsequent sequence analysis allowed the identification of some DNAs amp
lified to family or species of origin. DNA sequences were obtained fro
m tools and associated soil samples. DNA from boar/pig (Sus scrofa), a
species represented osteologically at the site, was recovered from on
e of the tools. Other tools yielded artiodactyl, human, and rabbit-lik
e sequences. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.