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A review by elcilor
Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past by David Reich
Who We Are and How We Got Here describes what we do and do not know about the origins of different world populations. There were many surprising and interesting facts.
An example of this is a tribe in Brazil that shows more genetic affinity with Andaman Islanders from India than with other American populations.
The fact that Europeans and Indians descend from the peoples of the Pontic-Caspian Steppes is something I had read about before. However, what was new to me was that this can make up to 70% of the genetic material of Europeans, especially from a relatively small group of men who left many descendants in different waves.
It was very interesting to read about sex bias, the uneven ethnic distribution of male and female ancestors in different populations. Especially during the Bronze Age, when significant power disparities emerged among men and different ethnic groups, this left deep traces.
This has been relatively recent in the case of several minorities in America, who have far more male European ancestors at a certain point in the family tree than female European ancestors.
Additionally, it was remarkable to read that thousands of years ago, peoples were already quite mixed, and based on recent DNA alone, you cannot determine someone's original ancestry: migration was widespread even thousands of years ago.
Who would have thought that a standard European population had dark skin and dark hair but blue eyes? Facts like these make the book definitely worth reading, as well as the author's refined personal views on Ancient DNA research.
Although it is regrettable that there is less available or researched data on prehistoric DNA from Native Americans, Chinese, and Africans, and this book would undoubtedly be much more extensive in 20 years, it was definitely worth reading.
An example of this is a tribe in Brazil that shows more genetic affinity with Andaman Islanders from India than with other American populations.
The fact that Europeans and Indians descend from the peoples of the Pontic-Caspian Steppes is something I had read about before. However, what was new to me was that this can make up to 70% of the genetic material of Europeans, especially from a relatively small group of men who left many descendants in different waves.
It was very interesting to read about sex bias, the uneven ethnic distribution of male and female ancestors in different populations. Especially during the Bronze Age, when significant power disparities emerged among men and different ethnic groups, this left deep traces.
This has been relatively recent in the case of several minorities in America, who have far more male European ancestors at a certain point in the family tree than female European ancestors.
Additionally, it was remarkable to read that thousands of years ago, peoples were already quite mixed, and based on recent DNA alone, you cannot determine someone's original ancestry: migration was widespread even thousands of years ago.
Who would have thought that a standard European population had dark skin and dark hair but blue eyes? Facts like these make the book definitely worth reading, as well as the author's refined personal views on Ancient DNA research.
Although it is regrettable that there is less available or researched data on prehistoric DNA from Native Americans, Chinese, and Africans, and this book would undoubtedly be much more extensive in 20 years, it was definitely worth reading.