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Science 10 July 2009:
Vol. 325. no. 5937, p. 148
DOI: 10.1126/science.1167672
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Technical Comments

Response to Comment by Goldberg et al. on "DNA from Pre-Clovis Human Coprolites in Oregon, North America"

Morten Rasmussen,1,* Linda Scott Cummings,2,* M. Thomas P. Gilbert,1 Vaughn Bryant,3 Colin Smith,4 Dennis L. Jenkins,5 Eske Willerslev1,{dagger}

Goldberg et al. use data from micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared analyses to argue that Paisley Cave pre-Clovis coprolite 1374-5/5D-31-2 is of herbivore, rather than human, origin. We argue that the diagnostic capability of the techniques used by Goldberg et al. are limited, and we present new genetic data that support our original claims.

1 Centre for Ancient Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
2 Paleo Research Institute, 2675 Youngfield Street, Golden, CO 80401, USA.
3 Palynology Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University (TAMU 4352) College Station, TX 77843–4352, USA.
4 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
5 Museum of Natural and Cultural History, 1224 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403–1224, USA.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ewillerslev{at}bio.ku.dk

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)