Ancient DNA research has produced findings that have significantly revised the understanding of human prehistory.

Studies of genetic material from Neanderthal and Denisovan specimens — members of human species or subspecies that coexisted with anatomically modern humans tens of thousands of years ago — revealed that interbreeding between these groups and modern humans had occurred, leaving genetic traces in modern human populations.

Studies of ancient human remains from across Eurasia and the Americas have illuminated patterns of migration, population replacement, and cultural exchange that were previously obscured or unknown.

The relevance of this broader research context to the Sitting Bull study is partly technical — the method developed for the Sitting Bull hair sample builds on the same decades of methodological development that have enabled ancient DNA research more broadly — and partly ethical.