# DNA testing of archaeological specimens **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 24, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-testing-of-archaeological-specimens/1025108 "2025-11-24T22:40:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-testing-of-archaeological-specimens/1025108/1 "2025-11-24T22:40:32Z")
Not sure if this belongs in MPSIMS or IMHO. The subject is too fuzzy for FQ. Recently, YouTube has been offering me videos with titles like “DNA analysis reveals the shocking origins of X.” X might be a historical figure (Richard III, Ramses II) a dynasty (the Tudors, one of the Egyptian or Chinese dynasties) an ethnic group (Picts, Basques, Ainu) a nation (Finns, Minoans). These videos are often an hour long, but they usually get really boring at the two-minute mark. Also, I have a nagging suspicion that many of them are about as trustworthy as the “Extraterrestrials built the pyramids” videos. Has anyone read any respectable scientific literature on the subject? Has DNA testing produced any paradigm-shattering revelations? Has it produced any mildly interesting surprises? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-testing-of-archaeological-specimens/1025108/2 "2025-11-25T00:19:06Z")
I don’t have answers, but the [Wikipedia article on Ancient DNA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_DNA) was interesting enough, and has a short (and vague) section on results. Has anyone read the books [Who We Are and How We Got Here (2019)](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/247850/who-we-are-and-how-we-got-here-by-david-reich/) or [The Trouble With Ancient DNA (2025)](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo238848353.html)? There’s also a 2024 PBS/NOVA documentary called [Hunt for the Oldest DNA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ppreiB1PQ). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-testing-of-archaeological-specimens/1025108/3 "2025-11-25T00:30:55Z")
I’ve been recently started watching [Stefan Milo](https://youtube.com/@stefanmilo?si=nXnMrVC1XGSzd4i-) on YouTube. He does really good explanations on modern archeology (and some debunking of bs “popular” archeology). He is not specifically an expert on DNA but often touches on it. E.g… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eB07m7bv5Aw/maxresdefault.jpg "The Next Frontier Of Ancient DNA") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB07m7bv5Aw) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-testing-of-archaeological-specimens/1025108/4 "2025-11-25T00:47:13Z")
There was this. Which was very surprising. Two bodies in an Anglo Saxon graveyard from 400s were actually West African [https://www.science.org/content/article/youths-buried-anglo-saxon-cemeteries-carried-west-african-dna](https://www.science.org/content/article/youths-buried-anglo-saxon-cemeteries-carried-west-african-dna) Often these kind of archeology articles, as reported in the popular press, have an element of strawman (e.g. some archeology discovery in Denmark has “shocked” the archeology world by showing the vikings were not just raiders who raped and pillaged and did nothing else. But no one thinks that about the vikings). But this is not that. It’s actually surprising.