Historical Genetics

New developments in the field of genomic technologies has engendered novel opportunities for the genetic researches of historical and archaeological sites, thus giving rise to a new field of genetic science, which we have previously proposed to designate as historical genetics. Historical genetics is the scientific study of the history of humankind and ancient objects based on DNA analysis. Ancient DNA preserved in archaeological, museum and archival samples is a unique source of information that allows the integration of genetic data with archaeological and historical information, as well as historical identifications that were previously unavailable for research. The purpose of this article is twofold: firstly, to provide an overview of historical genetics using the example of applying ancient DNA analysis methodologies in our own research; and secondly, to consider the main promising areas of research in this field of science. These include a large-scale scientific project to study the genetic history of ancient populations within the framework of an interdisciplinary scientific consortium of leading Russian scientific institutions.