While most of us know where our recent ancestors came from, our ancestors from the distant past remain a mystery. This is an especially intriguing mystery to anyone interested in archeology and ancient history. Today, you can order an ancient ancestry report based on your DNA, to get a glimpse of your ancient ancestors.
For example, you probably know if you are mostly of Western European descent; however, you may not know that the original Western European hunter-gatherers were displaced during the Late Neolithic. Western steppe herders from the Black Sea migrated to Western Europe, as did farmers from the Near East.
These migrations happened tens of thousands of years ago, and the various populations eventually blended. Among modern-day Western European populations, Western hunter-gatherer DNA is relatively rare. But, wouldn’t it be interesting to know if you were one of the rare individuals of European descent, with Western hunter-gatherer DNA? These were the people who painted the spectacular Lascaux Caves in Southern France and made their living hunting Wooly Mammoths. They are also the direct descendants of the legendary and mysterious CroMagnon people.
An ancient ancestry report uses thousands of samples of DNA from both ancient and modern humans to reveal your individual genetic make-up. This includes Western hunter-gatherers, Neolithic farmers, Steppe pastoralists, Native Americans, and the nomads of North Africa. All of these populations crossed paths and intermarried, and yet, left their distinct genetic markers on you.
