DNA preservation in dried tissue

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/11/science/fossil-chromosomes-woolly-mammoth-skin-discovery/index.html
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00642-1?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867424006421%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
The Cell article is open access.
These researchers were able to use the cross-linking short read sequencing technology to assemble long contigs of DNA from 52,000 year old tissue samples.  This technology enables sequencing DNA sequences in close proximity to each other in the 3 dimensional chromatin structure. They were able to determine that even though the DNA had degraded into short fragments that the fragments were still where they would have been in intact chromosomes.  In theory they might be able to reconstruct whole chromosomes if they do enough of the cross-linked DNA sequencing. They were able to identify transcriptionally active and non active compartments in the nuclei, and that some of these compartments differed between Mammoth and extant elephants.  They propose that this indicates differential gene expression.
It sounds like their tissue sample rapidly freeze-dried creating a crystal like solid of the muscle and skin.  Hard and dry the DNA is "frozen" in place.  The sample was dug out of the permafrost, so I do not know how dry it has remained during the time it has been burried.
Ron Okimoto