I find the whole DNA aspect of genealogy fascinating. I apologize if I've missed the answer to this question somewhere along the way. I have a hard time wrapping my head around one thing. Given that DNA is a relatively contemporary science, where does the data come from that says for example, you come from an ancient people in a specific area. Is DNA collected from the remains of these ancient peoples found in archeological digs? How is the baseline determined? Wouldn't your ancestors have to have their DNA on record somehow? How could that possibly be obtained? I'm sorry if I'm trying to oversimplify, but it's the only way I can start to understand this. I enjoy doing family research, but I feel like DNA for genealogical purposes is a one way road into darkness - all the data is at the end. Where does it begin? Any enlightening of this muddled brain would be appreciated.