Recent advances in archeogenetics have revived an interest in grand narratives in which ethnic groups are once again thought to be agents of historical change. New scientific developments are generating a sense of optimism that difficult questions in palaeodemography may, at last, be solved. However, genetic research often uncritically makes use of essentialist models of past populations, reifying genetic populations as ethnic groups. This paper explores how such views of the past may play into notions of racial purity and fears of non-European migrants, stoked by adherents of far-right ideologies.