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Why use modern geographic names as anchors instead of pure ancient DNA regions?

Updated over 2 weeks ago

Ancient genomes are unevenly distributed across space and time. Some areas are well-sampled (like Poland and Estonia), while others are sparse. If we built the regional breakdown purely from ancient DNA, the grid would be dominated by well-sampled zones.

Instead, we use stable modern geographic names as anchors β€” Estonia, Poland, western Russia, etc. β€” but interpret them entirely through ancient DNA. This gives you a clearer, fairer picture.

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