Ancient DNA suggests ancestors of Estonians, Finns and Hungarians lived in Siberia 4,500 years ago

A man with light skin wears a red-and-blue traditional Saami outfit while tending to a reindeer in the snow.

Present-day speakers of Hungarian, Finnish and Estonian have substantial Siberian ancestry, a new study of ancient genomes finds. These roots likely spread westward from a group of people living in the forest steppes of the Altai Mountains of Central and East Asia 4,500 years ago.

Ancient DNA revealed that this group was patrilineal, or organized based on descent from fathers.