The maternal lineage test is based on the fact that mitochondrial DNA is passed down from mother to child relatively unchanged through several generations. Our mtDNA contains markers that can be traced to our early ancestors and where they settled thousands of years ago. Results of a maternal lineage test are expressed in terms of haplogroups -genetic groups of people who share the same set of DNA markers and can be traced to a certain geographic area that they settled at a particular point in human history.