With the time travelling ability of archaeogenetic studies it has become possible to shed light onto the dynamic past of human populations world-wide. Integrated with archaeological and anthropological data, it has been shown that fundamental changes in lifestyle, culture, technical know-how and social systems were often linked to the movement and interaction of people. By studying 131 individuals from the wider Caucasus region, spanning a time transect of 6000 years, a team of international researchers was able to reconstruct a series of key events when contact and innovation transfer facilitated the economic exploration of the West Eurasian steppe belt.