The report also found evidence of significant tampering with assay samples from the site.

Additionally, all of the assayed samples derive from firepits and fire features with directly associated cultural material of indisputable anthropogenic origins.

It was not possible to assay samples from all participants in all assays because of the volume of serum available; this particularly affected the ghrelin assay, which required the most volume.

A rapid method of assaying samples was essential in order to discover which extracts were giving the best yields, and the sooner a stable crude preparation was obtained which could act as a standard, the better.

RNA isolation and RNase protection assay Samples were prepared as described in the Supplementary material and analyzed in an RNase protection assay according to the manufacturer's instructions (PharMingen, San Diego, CA, USA).