Ancestry as migration network

Ancient‑DNA research shows that individual ancestry is better described as a web of migrations and admixture events, not a single unbroken line from famous forebears. That means everyday ideas of ‘pure’ lineage or tidy ethnic origins are scientifically inaccurate and socially misleading. — If public conversations adopt the network framing, it undercuts simplistic identity claims, reframes immigration and belonging debates, and forces institutions to reconsider categories based on presumed static ancestry.