by David Reich
First published 2018
Recent years have transformed our ability to extract DNA from ancient human remains. This genetic evidence has expanded knowledge from archaeology and anthropology, settled old debates, overturned established theories, and delivered unexpected findings. The data reveals multiple waves of ancient human migrations, showing that all modern populations result from mixtures of ancient groups and often contain genetic material from archaic humans. Reich, whose research team leads these discoveries, explains what genetics reveals about human ancestry and its complex, often unexpected patterns. Traditional concepts of racial purity have disappeared. Instead, scientists find rich varieties of genetic mixing. Reich presents recent cutting-edge discoveries while addressing the sensitivities of ancestry research, where science sometimes conflicts with politics and tradition. He delivers a broader insight that every person represents the outcome of extensive migration and mixing of ancient peoples, traces of which persist as genetic remnants in our DNA.
Genres: history, science, anthropology, non-fiction, genetics, academic
Vibes: informative, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: informative, myth-busting
368 pages · Paperback · OUP Oxford