Table 1.

Sources, age and depositional environments of hairs examined in this study.

hair sources	hair type	age of specimens	depositional environment
woolly mammoth (Jarkov)	coarse	20 380 ± 140 BP	permafrost
woolly mammoth (Yukagir)	coarse	18 560 ± 50 BP	permafrost
woolly mammoth (M25)	coarse	5930 ± 2700	permafrost
woolly rhino (Churapcha)	coarse	19 500 ± 120 BP	permafrost
woolly mammoth (Yuka)	coarse	39 440–38 850 BP	permafrost
human (Saqqaq male)	scalp	4044 ± 31 BP	permafrost
human (Norse Kal male)	scalp	ca fourteenth century	wrapped in cloth and buried in soil
Borum Eshøj ‘young man’	scalp	ca fourteenth century	oak coffin buried in barrow
Aboriginal (male)	scalp	100 years	stored in office drawer
‘Somerton Man’ historic unsolved homicide-unidentified male	chest	60 years	removed from plaster cast of upper torso
historic unsolved homicide-unidentified female	scalp	30 years	remains found in a tropical rainforest
Asian red-cheeked squirrel (D. rufigenis)	base of tail	9 years	curated mammalian collection (M32566)
polar bear (U. maritimus)	flanks, belly	7 years	zoo specimen part of curated mammalian collection (M10983)