Ancient DNA solves mystery of Hungarian, Finnish language family’s origins
Tian Chen (T.C.) Zeng (from left) and David Reich.Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer Science & Tech Ancient DNA solves mystery of Hungarian, Finnish language family’s origins Parent emerged over 4,000 years ago in Siberia, farther east than many thought, then rapidly spread west Christy DeSmith Harvard Staff Writer July 16, 2025 6 min read Where did Europe’s distinct Uralic family of languages — which includes Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian — come from? New research puts their origins a lot farther east than many thought. The analysis, led by a pair of recent graduates with oversight from ancient DNA expert David Reich, integrated genetic data on 180 newly sequenced Siberians with more than 1,000 existing samples covering many continents and about 11,000 years of human history. The results, published this month in the journal Nature, identify the prehistoric progenitors of two important language families, including Uralic, spoken today by more than 25 million people. The study finds the ancestors of present-day Uralic...