Native American: Is She or Isn’t She?

Many people have an oral history that a specific female ancestor is Native American.

Autosomal DNA results may or may not show some percentage of Native American ancestry. If your results DO include a percentage of Native American, you still need to figure out which ancestors were Native. Where did that piece of your genetic heritage come from?

If your results don’t include Native ancestry, that doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have a Native Ancestor. Sometimes you just didn’t inherit a discernable segment of DNA from that ancestor, or maybe the vendor you tested with didn’t pick that up.

Be sure to upload your raw DNA file to both FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage for free to gain another perspective. Here’s my free step-by-step guide for downloading and uploading your DNA files from and to all the major vendors.

FamilyTreeDNA provides painted segment information as well that shows you which segments are Native American.

One of my challenges is that I do have Native American autosomal DNA segments. Determining where they came from has been challenging, although the ethnicity chromosome painting at FamilyTreeDNA has been very useful in confirming the source of those segments.

Is there a way to augment autosomal results and be more specific and directed in my search? Can I focus on an individual ancestor? Especially females who are particularly difficult to research, given name changes in each generation?

Yes, you can.

Chasing the Truth

Sometimes, especially historically, when a female ancestor’s genealogy wasn’t known, people presumed that they must have been Native American. I’ve come across this several times now.

The good news is that using mitochondrial DNA, you can find out conclusively if you test someone who descends from that woman through all females to the current generation, which can be male.

I had Native American oral history connected to two ancestors, both of whom I was able to confirm or refute by finding a cousin who inherited that ancestor’s mitochondrial DNA and agreed to test. Women give their mitochondrial DNA to both sexes of their children, but only daughters pass it on. In the current generation, males or females can test.

I also found an unexpected ancestor who was Native. I had no oral history about her – so you just never know what you’ll discover.

Sarah Faires

Oral history in some descendant families indicated that Sarah Faires’s was Native American, possibly because her ancestors were unknown. There was a supposition that “she must have been Native.”

We were able to obtain the mitochondrial DNA of Sarah whose haplogroup turned out to be H49a1, so clearly not Native.

If Sarah’s direct maternal line (her mother, her mother, her mother, on up her tree) had been Native American, she would have fallen into subclades of haplogroup A, B, C, D or X, although not all of those subclades are Native.

You can view the entire list of Native American mitochondrial DNA haplogroups, here and you can view H49a1 on the public mitochondrial haplotree, here.

H49a1 is most frequently found in Germany, followed by Sweden, England and Denmark.

Elizabeth Vannoy

My father’s grandmother, Elizabeth Vannoy, was reported to be Cherokee, both orally and in several letters between family members.

One of my first genealogy goals was to prove that history, but I wound up eventually doing just the opposite.

Elizabeth Vannoy’s mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is J1c2c, not Native.

Haplogroup J1c2c is found most often in England, France, Sweden and Hungary.

I was able to connect Elizabeth to her parents. Then, eventually, thanks to mitochondrial DNA, working with a cousin, we connected another four maternal generations conclusively, and I’m still working on the fifth generation.

Anne Marie Rimbault

My cousin had no idea that her ancestor, Anne Marie, born about 1631, in Acadia, wife of Rene Rimbault, was Native American when she tested her mitochondrial DNA.

Mitochondrial DNA results explained why Anne Marie’s parents had never been identified in the French records. She was Native American – a member of the Mi’kmaq tribe that intermarried with the French men in the Acadian settlement, proven by her A2f1a haplogroup.

Haplogroup A2f1a is shown on the mitochondrial haplotree as First Nations in Canada and Native American in the US, plus one French flag reflecting a tester who only knew that her ancestor was French-Canadian and believed she had come from France.

Her mitochondrial DNA matches are scattered across the Northern US and Canada, but her closest matches are found in the Acadian and French-Canadian communities.

Is She, or Isn’t She?

Testing your own mitochondrial DNA if you think your direct maternal ancestor may be Native will unquestionably answer that question. Finding a mitochondrial DNA candidate for each of your ancestral lines will reveal which ancestor is Native, or you can target test to see if any specific ancestor is Native.

Unlike autosomal DNA, mitochondrial DNA never loses its potency and doesn’t mix with the DNA of the father. The segments aren’t divided in each generation and don’t wash out over time.

Do you have oral history about female Native American ancestors? Do you have ancestors whose parents are unknown? Mitochondrial DNA testing will resolve that question, plus provide matching with other testers. You don’t know what you don’t know.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to find your Native American ancestors, you might enjoy my book, DNA for Native American Genealogy. There’s lots of information there, including search tips, ancient DNA, maps and known tribes by haplogroup.

Do you have female ancestors who might be Native American?

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DNA: In Search of…Full and Half-Siblings

This is the fifth article in our series of articles about searching for unknown close family members, specifically; parents, grandparents, or siblings. However, these same techniques can be applied by genealogists to identify ancestors further back in time as well.

Please note that if a family member has tested and you do NOT see their results, ask them to verify that they have chosen to allow matching and for other people to view them in their match list. That process varies at different vendors.

You can also ask if they can see you in their results.

All Parties Need to Test

Searching for unknown siblings isn’t exactly searching, because to find them, they, themselves, or their descendant(s) must have taken a DNA test at the same vendor where you tested or uploaded a DNA file.

You may know through any variety of methods that they exist, or might exist, but if they don’t take a DNA test, you can’t find them using DNA. This might sound obvious, but I see people commenting and not realizing that the other sibling(s) must test too – and they may not have.

My first questions when someone comments in this vein are:

  1. Whether or not they are positive their sibling actually tested, meaning actually sent the test in to the vendor, and it was received by the testing company. You’d be surprised how many tests are living in permanent residence on someone’s countertop until it gets pushed into the drawer and forgotten about.
  2. If the person has confirmed that their sibling has results posted. They may have returned their test, but the results aren’t ready yet or there was a problem.
  3. AND that both people have authorized matching and sharing of results. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your vendor’s customer care if you need help with this.

Sibling Scenarios

The most common sibling scenarios are when one of two things happens:

  • A known sibling tests, only to discover that they don’t match you in the full sibling range, or not at all, when you expected they would
  • You discover a surprise match in the full or half-sibling range

Let’s talk about these scenarios and how to determine:

  • If someone is a sibling
  • If they are a full or half-sibling
  • If a half-sibling, if they descend from your mother or father

As with everything else genetic, we’ll be gathering and analyzing different pieces of evidence along the way.

Full and Half-Siblings

Just to make sure we are all on the same page:

  • A full sibling is someone who shares both parents with you.
  • A half-sibling is someone who shares one parent with you, but not the other parent.
  • A step-sibling is someone who shares no biological parents with you. This situation occurs when your parent marries their parent, after you are both born, and their parent becomes your step-parent. You share neither of your biological parents with a step-sibling, so you share no DNA and will not show up on each other’s match lists.
  • A three-quarters sibling is someone with whom you share one parent, but two siblings are the other parent. For example, you share the same mother, but one brother fathered you, and your father’s brother fathered your sibling. Yes, this can get very messy and is almost impossible for a non-professional to sort through, if even then. (This is not a solicitation. I do not take private clients.) We will not be addressing this situation specifically.

Caution

With any search for unknown relatives, you have no way of knowing what you will find.

In one’s mind, there are happy reunions, but you may experience something entirely different. Humans are human. Their stories are not always happy or rosy. They may have made mistakes they regret. Or they may have no regrets about anything.

Your sibling may not know about you or the situation under which you, or they, were born. Some women were victims of assault and violence, which is both humiliating and embarrassing. I wrote about difficult situations, here.

Your sibling or close family member may not be receptive to either you, your message, or even your existence. Just be prepared, because the seeking journey may not be pain-free for you or others, and may not culminate with or include happy reunions.

On the other hand, it may.

Please step back and ponder a bit about the journey you are about to undertake and the possible people that may be affected, and how. This box, once opened, cannot be closed again. Be sure you are prepared.

On the other hand, sometimes that box lid pops off, and the information simply falls in your lap one day when you open your match list, and you find yourself sitting there, in shock, staring at a match, trying to figure out what it all means.

Congratulations, You Have a Sibling!

This might not be exactly what runs through your mind when you see that you have a very close match that you weren’t expecting.

The first two things I recommend when making this sort of discovery, after a few deep breaths, a walk, and a cup of tea, are:

  • Viewing what the vendor says
  • Using the DNAPainter Shared cM Relationship Chart

Let’s start with DNAPainter.

DNAPainter

DNAPainter provides a relationship chart, here, based on the values from the Shared cM Project.

You can either enter a cM amount or a percentage of shared DNA. I prefer the cM amount, but it doesn’t really matter.

I’ll enter 2241 cM from a known half-sibling match. To enter a percent, click on the green “enter %.”

As you can see, statistically speaking, this person is slightly more likely to be a half-sibling than they are to be a full sibling. In reality, they could be either.

Looking at the chart below, DNAPainter highlights the possible relationships from the perspective of “Self.”

The average of all the self-reported relationships is shown, on top, so 2613 for a full sibling. The range is shown below, so 1613-3488 for a full sibling.

In this case, there are several possibilities for two people who share 2241 cM of DNA.

I happen to know that these two people are half-siblings, but if I didn’t, it would be impossible to tell from this information alone.

The cM range for full siblings is 1613-3488, and the cM range for half-siblings is 1160-2436.

  • The lower part of the matching range, from 1160-1613 cM is only found in half-siblings.
  • The portion of the range from 1613-2436 cM can be either half or full siblings.
  • The upper part of the range, from 2436-3488 cM is only found in full siblings.

If your results fall into the center portion of the range, you’re going to need to utilize other tools. Fortunately, we have several.

If you’ve discovered something unexpected, you’ll want to verify using these tools, regardless. Use every tool available. Ranges are not foolproof, and the upper and lower 10% of the responses were removed as outliers. You can read more about the shared cM Project, here and here.

Furthermore, people may be reporting some half-sibling relationships as full sibling relationships, because they don’t expect to be half-siblings, so the ranges may be somewhat “off.”

Relationship Probability Calculator

Third-party matching database, GEDmatch, provides a Relationship Probability Calculator tool that is based on statistical probability methods without compiled user input. Both tools are free, and while I haven’t compared every value, both seem to be reasonably accurate, although they do vary somewhat, especially at the outer ends of the ranges.

When dealing with sibling matches, if you are in all four databases, GEDmatch is a secondary resource, but I will include GEDmatch when they have a unique tool as well as in the summary table. Some of your matches may be willing to upload to GEDmatch if the vendor where you match doesn’t provide everything you need and GEDmatch has a supplemental offering.

Next, let’s look at what the vendors say about sibling matches.

Vendors

Each of the major vendors reports sibling relationships in a slightly different way.

Sibling Matches at Ancestry

Ancestry reports sibling relationships as Sister or Brother, but they don’t say half or full.

If you click on the cM portion of the link, you’ll see additional detail, below

Ancestry tells you that the possible relationships are 100% “Sibling.” The only way to discern the difference between full and half is by what’s next.

If the ONLY relationship shown is Sibling at 100%, that can be interpreted to mean this person is a full sibling, and that a half-sibling or other relationship is NOT a possibility.

Ancestry never stipulates full or half.

The following relationship is a half-sibling at Ancestry.

Ancestry identifies that possible range of relationships as “Close Family to First Cousin” because of the overlaps we saw in the DNAPainter chart.

Clicking through shows that there is a range of possible relationships, and Ancestry is 100% sure the relationship is one of those.

DNAPainter agrees with Ancestry except includes the full-sibling relationship as a possibility for 1826 cM.

Sibling Matches at 23andMe

23andMe does identify full versus half-siblings.

DNAPainter disagrees with 23andMe and claims that anyone who shares 46.2% of their DNA is a parent/child.

However, look at the fine print. 23andMe counts differently than any of the other vendors, and DNAPainter relies on the Shared cM Project, which relies on testers entering known relationship matching information. Therefore, at any other vendor, DNAPainter is probably exactly right.

Before we understand how 23andMe counts, we need to understand about half versus fully identical segments.

To determine half or full siblings, 23andMe compares two things:

  1. The amount of shared matching DNA between two people
  2. Fully Identical Regions (FIR) of DNA compared to Half Identical Regions (HIR) of DNA to determine if any of your DNA is fully identical, meaning some pieces of you and your sibling’s DNA is exactly the same on both your maternal and paternal chromosomes.

Here’s an example on any chromosome – I’ve randomly selected chromosome 12. Which chromosome doesn’t matter, except for the X, which is different.

Your match isn’t broken out by maternal and paternal sides. You would simply see, on the chromosome browser, that you and your sibling match at these locations, above.

In reality, though, you have two copies of each chromosome, one from Mom and one from Dad, and so does your sibling.

In this example, Mom’s chromosome is visualized on top, and Dad’s is on the bottom, below, but as a tester, you don’t know that. All you know is that you match your sibling on all of those blue areas, above.

However, what’s actually happening in this example is that you are matching your sibling on parts of your mother’s chromosome and parts of your father’s chromosome, shown above as green areas

23andMe looks at both copies of your chromosome, the one you inherited from Mom, on top, and Dad, on the bottom, to see if you match your sibling on BOTH your mother’s and your father’s chromosomes in that location.

I’ve boxed the green matching areas in purple where you match your sibling fully, on both parents’ chromosomes.

If you and your sibling share both parents, you will share significant amounts of the same DNA on both copies of the same chromosomes, meaning maternal and paternal. In other words, full siblings share some purple fully identical regions (FIR) of DNA with each other, while half-siblings do not (unless they are also otherwise related) because half-siblings only share one parent with each other. Their DNA can’t be fully identical because they have a different parent that contributed the other copy of their chromosome.

Total Shared DNA Fully Identical DNA from Both Parents
Full Siblings ~50% ~25%
Half Siblings ~25% 0
  • Full siblings are expected to share about 50% of the same DNA. In other words, their DNA will match at that location. That’s all the green boxed locations, above.
  • Full siblings are expected to share about 25% of the same DNA from BOTH parents at the same location on BOTH copies of their chromosomes. These are fully identical regions and are boxed in purple, above.

You’ll find fully identical segments about 25% of the time in full siblings, but you won’t find fully identical segments in half-siblings. Please note that there are exceptions for ¾ siblings and endogamous populations.

You can view each match at 23andMe to see if you have any completely identical regions, shown in dark purple in the top comparison of full siblings. Half siblings are shown in the second example, with less total matching DNA and no FIR or completely identical regions.

Please note that your matching amount of DNA will probably be higher at 23andMe than at other companies because:

  • 23andMe includes the X chromosome in the match totals
  • 23andMe counts fully identical matching regions twice. For full siblings, that’s an additional 25%

Therefore, a full sibling with an X match will have a higher total cM at 23andMe than the same siblings elsewhere because not only is the X added into the total, the FIR match region is added a second time too.

Fully Identical Regions (FIR) and Half Identical Regions (HIR) at GEDmatch

At GEDMatch, you can compare two people to each other, with an option to display the matching information and a painted graphic for each chromosome that includes FIR and HIR.

If you need to know if you and a match share fully identical regions and you haven’t tested at 23andMe, you can both upload your DNA data file to GEDmatch and use their One to One Autosomal DNA Comparison.

On the following page, simply enter both kit numbers and accept the defaults, making sure you have selected one of the graphics options.

While GEDmatch doesn’t specifically tell you whether someone is a full or half sibling, you can garner additional information about the relationship based on the graphic at GEDmatch.

GEDMatch shows both half and fully identical regions.

The above match is between two full siblings using a 7 cM threshold. The blue on the bottom bar indicates a match of 7 cM or larger. Black means no match.

The green regions in the top bar indicate places where these two people carry the same DNA on both copies of their chromosome 1. This means that both people inherited the same DNA from BOTH parents on the green segments.

In the yellow regions, the siblings inherited the same DNA from ONE parent, but different DNA in that region from the other parent. They do match each other, just on one of their chromosomes, not both.

Without a tool like this to differentiate between HIR and FIR, you can’t tell if you’re matching someone on one copy of your chromosome, or on both copies.

In the areas marked with red on top, which corresponds to the black on the bottom band, these two siblings don’t match each other because they inherited different DNA from both parents in that region. The yellow in that region is too scattered to be significant.

Full siblings generally share a significant amount of FIR, or fully identical regions of DNA – about 25%.

Half siblings will share NO significant amount of FIR, although some will be FIR on very small, scattered green segments simply by chance, as you can see in the example, below.

This half-sibling match shares no segments large enough to be a match (7 cM) in the black section. In the blue matching section, only a few small green fragments of DNA match fully, which, based on the rest of that matching segment, must be identical by chance or misreads. There are no significant contiguous segments of fully identical DNA.

When dealing with full or half-siblings, you’re not interested in small, scattered segments of fully identical regions, like those green snippets on chromosome 6, but in large contiguous sections of matching DNA like the chromosome 1 example.

GEDmatch can help when you match when a vendor does not provide FIR/HIR information, and you need additional assistance.

Next, let’s look at full and half-siblings at FamilyTreeDNA

Sibling Matches at FamilyTreeDNA

FamilyTreeDNA does identify full siblings.

Relationships other than full siblings are indicated by a range. The two individuals below are both half-sibling matches to the tester.

The full range when mousing over the relationship ranges is shown below.

DNAPainter agrees except also gives full siblings as an option for the two half-siblings.

FamilyTreeDNA also tells you if you have an X match and the size of your X match.

We will talk about X matching in a minute, which, when dealing with sibling identification, can turn out to be very important.

Sibling Matches at MyHeritage

MyHeritage indicates brother or sister for full siblings

MyHeritage provides other “Estimated relationships” for matches too small to be full siblings.

DNAPainter’s chart agrees with this classification, except adds additional relationship possibilities.

Be sure to review all of the information provided by each vendor for close relationships.

View Close Known Relationships

The next easiest step to take is to compare your full or half-sibling match to known close family members from your maternal and paternal sides, respectively. The closer the family members, the better.

It’s often not possible to determine if someone is a half sibling or a full sibling by centiMorgans (cMs) alone, especially if you’re searching for unknown family members.

Let’s start with the simplest situation first.

Let’s say both of your parents have tested, and of course, you match both of them as parents.

Your new “very close match” is in the sibling range.

The first thing to do at each vendor is to utilize that vendor’s shared matches tool and see whether your new match matches one parent, or both.

Here’s an example.

Close Relationships at FamilyTreeDNA

This person has a full sibling match, but let’s say they don’t know who this is and wants to see if their new sibling matches one or both of their parents.

Select the match by checking the box to the left of the match name, then click on the little two-person icon at far right, which shows “In Common” matches

You can see on the resulting shared match list that both of the tester’s parents are shown on the shared match list.

Now let’s make this a little more difficult.

No Parents, No Problem

Let’s say neither of your parents has tested.

If you know who your family is and can identify your matches, you can see if the sibling you match matches other close relatives on both or either side of your family.

You’ll want to view shared matches with your closest known match on both sides of your tree, beginning with the closest first. Aunts, uncles, first cousins, etc.

You will match all of your family members through second cousins, and 90% of your third cousins. You can view additional relationship percentages in the article, How Much of Them is in You?.

I recommend, for this matching purpose, to utilize 2nd cousins and closer. That way you know for sure if you don’t share them as a match with your sibling, it’s because the sibling is not related on that side of the family, not because they simply don’t share any DNA due to their distance.

In this example, you have three sibling matches. Based on your and their matches to the same known first and second cousins, you can see that:

  • Sibling 1 is your full sibling, because you both match the same maternal and paternal first and second cousins
  • Sibling 2 is your paternal half-sibling because you both match paternal second cousins and closer, but not maternal cousins.
  • Sibling 3 is your maternal half-sibling because you both match maternal second cousins and closer, but not paternal cousins.

Close Relationships at Ancestry

Neither of my parents have tested, but my first cousin on my mother’s side has. Let’s say I have a suspected sibling or half-sibling match, so I click on the match’s name, then on Shared Matches.

Sure enough, my new match also matches my first cousin that I’ve labeled as “on my mother’s side.”

If my new match in the sibling range also matches my second cousins or closer on my father’s side, the new match is a full sibling, not a half-sibling.

Close Relationships at MyHeritage

Comparing my closest match provided a real surprise. I wonder if I’ve found a half-sibling to my mother.

Now, THIS is interesting.

Hmmm. More research is needed, beginning with the age of my match. MyHeritage provides ages if the MyHeritage member authorizes that information to be shared.

Close Relationships at 23andMe

Under DNA Relatives, click on your suspected sibling match, then scroll down and select “Find Relatives in Common.”

The Relatives in Common list shows people that match both of you.

The first common match is very close and a similar relationship to my closest match on my father’s side. This would be expected of a sibling. I have no common matches with this match to anyone on my mother’s side, so they are only related on my father’s side. Therefore they are a paternal half-sibling, not a full sibling.

More Tools Are Available

Hopefully, by now, you’ve been able to determine if your mystery match is a sibling, and if so, if they are a half or full sibling, and through which parent.

We have some additional tools that are relevant and can be very informative in some circumstances. I suggest utilizing these tools, even if you think you know the answer.

In this type of situation, there’s no such thing as too much information.

X Matching

X matching, or lack thereof, may help you determine how you are related to someone.

There are two types of autosomal DNA. The X chromosome versus chromosomes 1-22. The X chromosome (number 23) has a unique inheritance path that distinguishes it from your other chromosomes.

The X chromosome inheritance path also differs between men and women.

Here’s my pedigree chart in fan form, highlighting the ancestors who may have contributed a portion of their X chromosome to me. In the closest generation, this shows that I inherited an X chromosome from both of my parents, and who in each of their lines could have contributed an X to them.

The white or uncolored positions, meaning ancestors, cannot contribute any portion of an X chromosome to me based on how the X chromosome is inherited.

You’ll notice that my father inherited none of his X chromosome from any of his paternal ancestors, so of course, I can’t inherit what he didn’t inherit. There are a very limited number of ancestors on my father’s side whom I can inherit any portion of an X chromosome from.

Men receive their Y chromosome from their fathers, so men ONLY receive an X chromosome from their mother.

Therefore, men MUST pass their mother’s X chromosome on to their female offspring because they don’t have any other copy of the X chromosome to pass on.

Men pass no X chromosome to sons.

We don’t need to worry about a full fan chart when dealing with siblings and half-siblings.

We only need to be concerned with the testers plus one generation (parents) when utilizing the X chromosome in sibling situations.

These two female Disney Princesses, above, are full siblings, and both inherited an X chromosome from BOTH their mother and father. However, their father only has one X (red) chromosome to give them, so the two females MUST match on the entire red X chromosome from their father.

Their mother has two X chromosomes, green and black, to contribute – one from each of her parents.

The full siblings, Melody, and Cinderella:

  • May have inherited some portion of the same green and black X chromosomes from their mother, so they are partial matches on their mother’s X chromosome.
  • May have inherited the exact same full X chromosome from their mother (both inherited the entire green or both inherited the entire black), so they match fully on their mother’s X chromosome.
  • May have inherited the opposite X from different maternal grandparents. One inherited the entire green X and one inherited the entire black X, so they don’t match on their mother’s X chromosome.

Now, let’s look at Cinderella, who matches Henry.

This female and male full sibling match can’t share an X chromosome on the father’s side, because the male’s father doesn’t contribute an X chromosome to him. The son, Henry, inherited a Y chromosome instead from his father, which is what made them males.

Therefore, if a male and female match on the X chromosome, it MUST be through HIS mother, but could be through either of her parents. In a sibling situation, an X match between a male and female always indicates the mother.

In the example above, the two people share both of their mother’s X chromosomes, so are definitely (at least) maternally related. They could be full siblings, but we can’t determine that by the X chromosome in this situation, with males.

However, if the male matches the female on HER father’s X chromosome, there a different message, example below.

You can see that the male is related to the female on her father’s side, where she inherited the entire magenta X chromosome. The male inherited a portion of the magenta X chromosome from his mother, so these two people do have an X match. However, he matches on his mother’s side, and she matches on her father’s side, so that’s clearly not the same parent.

  • These people CAN NOT be full siblings because they don’t match on HER mother’s side too, which would also be his mother’s side if they were full siblings.
  • They cannot be maternal half-siblings because their X DNA only matches on her father’s side, but they wouldn’t know that unless she knew which side was which based on share matches.
  • They cannot be paternal half-siblings because he does not have an X chromosome from his father.

They could, however, be uncle/aunt-niece/nephew or first cousins on his mother’s side and her father’s side. (Yes, you’re definitely going to have to read this again if you ever need male-female X matching.)

Now, let’s look at X chromosome matching between two males. It’s a lot less complicated and much more succinct.

Neither male has inherited an X chromosome from their father, so if two males DO match on the X, it MUST be through their mother. In terms of siblings, this would mean they share the same mother.

However, there is one slight twist. In the above example, you can see that the men inherited a different proportion of the green and black X chromosomes from their common mother. However, it is possible that the mother could contribute her entire green X chromosome to one son, Justin in this example, and her entire black X chromosome to Henry.

Therefore, even though Henry and Justin DO share a mother, their X chromosome would NOT match in this scenario. This is rare but does occasionally happen.

Based on the above examples, the X chromosome may be relevant in the identification of full or half siblings based on the sexes of the two people who otherwise match at a level indicating a full or half-sibling relationship.

Here’s a summary chart for sibling X matching.

X Match Female Male
Female Will match on shared father’s full X chromosome, mother’s X is the same rules as chromosomes 1-22 Match through male’s mother, but either of female’s parents. If the X match is not through the female’s mother, they are not full siblings nor maternal half-siblings. They cannot have an X match through the male’s father. They are either full or half-siblings through their mother if they match on both of their mother’s side. If they match on his mother’s side, and her father’s side, they are not siblings but could be otherwise closely related.
Male Match through male’s mother, but either of female’s parents. If the X match is not through the female’s mother, they are not full siblings nor maternal half-siblings. They cannot have an X match through the male’s father. They are either full or half-siblings through their mother if they match on both or their mother’s side. If they match on his mother’s side, and her father’s side, they are not siblings but could be otherwise closely related. Both males are related on their mother’s side – either full or half-siblings.

Here’s the information presented in a different way.

DOES match X summary:

  • If a male DOES match a female on the X, he IS related to her through HIS mother’s side, but could match her on her mother or father’s side. If their match is not through her mother, then they are not full siblings nor maternal half-siblings. They cannot match through his father, so they cannot be paternal half-siblings.
  • If a female DOES match a female on the X, they could be related on either side and could be full or half-siblings.
  • If a male DOES match a male on the X, they ARE both related through their mother. They may also be related on their father’s side, but the X does not inform us of that.

Does NOT match X summary:

  • If a male does NOT match a female on the X, they are NOT related through HIS mother and are neither full siblings nor maternal half-siblings. Since a male does not have an X chromosome from his father, they cannot be paternal half-siblings based on an X match.
  • If a male does NOT match a male, they do NOT share a mother.
  • If a female does NOT match another female on the X, they are NOT full siblings and are NOT half-siblings on their paternal side. Their father only has one X chromosome, and he would have given the same X to both daughters.

Of the four autosomal vendors, only 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA report X chromosome results and matching, although the other two vendors, MyHeritage and Ancestry, include the X in their DNA download file so you can find X matches with those files at either FamilyTreeDNA or GEDMatch if your match has or will upload their file to either of those vendors. I wrote step-by-step detailed download/upload instructions, here.

X Matching at FamilyTreeDNA

In this example from FamilyTreeDNA, the female tester has discovered two half-sibling matches, both through her father. In the first scenario, she matches a female on the full X chromosome (181 cM). She and her half-sibling MUST share their father’s entire X chromosome because he only had one X, from his mother, to contribute to both of his daughters.

In the second match to a male half-sibling, our female tester shares NO X match because her father did not contribute an X chromosome to his son.

If we didn’t know which parents these half-sibling matches were through, we can infer from the X matching alone that the male is probably NOT through the mother.

Then by comparing shared matches with each sibling, Advanced Matches, or viewing the match Matrix, we can determine if the siblings match each other and are from the same or different sides of the family.

Under Additional Tests and Tools, Advanced Matching, FamilyTreeDNA provides an additional tool that can show only X matches combined with relationships.

Of course, you’ll need to view shared matches to see which people match the mother and/or match the father.

To see who matches each other, you’ll need to use the Matrix tool.

At FamilyTreeDNA, the Matrix, located under Autosomal DNA Results and Tools, allows you to select your matches to see if they also match each other. If you have known half-siblings, or close relatives, this is another way to view relationships.

Here’s an example using my father and two paternal half-siblings. We can see that the half-siblings also match each other, so they are (at least) half-siblings on the paternal side too.

If they also matched my mother, we would be full siblings, of course.

Next, let’s use Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA.

Y DNA and Mitochondrial DNA

In addition to autosomal DNA, we can utilize Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in some cases to identify siblings or to narrow or eliminate relationship possibilities.

Given that Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA both have distinctive inheritance paths, full and half-siblings will, or will not, match under various circumstances.

Y DNA

Y DNA is passed intact from father to son, meaning it’s not admixed with any of the mother’s DNA. Daughters do not inherit Y DNA from their father, so Y DNA is only useful for male-to-male comparisons.

Two types of Y DNA are used for genealogy, STR markers for matching, and haplogroups, and both are equally powerful in slightly different ways.

Y DNA at FamilyTreeDNA

Men can order either 37 or 111 STR marker tests, or the BIg Y which provides more than 700 markers and more. FamilyTreeDNA is the only one of the vendors to offer Y DNA testing that includes STR markers and matching between men.

Men who order these tests will be compared for matching on either 37, 111 or 700 STR markers in addition to SNP markers used for haplogroup identification and assignment.

Fathers will certainly match their sons, and paternal line brothers will match each other, but they will also match people more distantly related.

However, if two men are NOT either full or half siblings on the paternal side, they won’t match at 111 markers.

If two men DON’T match, especially at high marker levels, they likely aren’t siblings. The word “likely” is in there because, very occasionally, a large deletion occurs that prevents STR matching, especially at lower levels.

Additionally, men who take the 37 or 111 marker test also receive an estimated haplogroup at a high level for free, without any additional testing.

However, if men take the Big Y-700 test, they not only will (or won’t) match on up to 700 STR markers, they will also receive a VERY refined haplogroup via SNP marker testing that is often even more sensitive in terms of matching than STR markers. Between these two types of markers, Y DNA testing can place men very granularly in relation to other men.

Men can match in two ways on Y DNA, and the results are very enlightening.

If two men match on BOTH their most refined haplogroup (Big Y test) AND STR markers, they could certainly be siblings or father/son. They could also be related on the same line for another reason, such as known or unknown cousins or closer relationships like uncle/nephew. Of course, Y DNA, in addition to autosomal matching, is a powerful combination.

Conversely, if two men don’t have a similar or close haplogroup, they are not a father and son or paternal line siblings.

FamilyTreeDNA offers both inexpensive entry-level testing (37 and 111 markers) and highly refined advanced testing of most of the Y chromosome (Big Y-700), so haplogroup assignments can vary widely based on the test you take. This makes haplogroup matching and interpretation a bit more complex.

For example, haplogroups R-M269 and I-BY14000 are not related in thousands of years. One is haplogroup R, and one is haplogroup I – completely different branches of the Y DNA tree. These two men won’t match on STR markers or their haplogroup.

However, because FamilyTreeDNA provides over 50,000 different haplogroups, or tree branches, for Big Y testers, and they provide VERY granular matching, two father/son or sibling males who have BOTH tested at the Big Y-700 level will have either the exact same haplogroup, or at most, one branch difference on the tree if a mutation occurred between father and son.

If both men have NOT tested at the Big Y-700 level, their haplogroups will be on the same branch. For example, a man who has only taken a 37/111 marker STR test may be estimated at R-M269, which is certainly accurate as far as it goes.

His sibling who has taken a Big Y test will be many branches further downstream on the tree – but on the same large haplogroup R-M269 branch. It’s essential to pay attention to which tests a Y DNA match has taken when analyzing the match.

The beauty of the two kinds of tests is that even if one haplogroup is very general due to no Big Y test, their STR markers should still match. It’s just that sometimes this means that one hand is tied behind your back.

Y DNA matching alone can eliminate the possibility of a direct paternal line connection, but it cannot prove siblingship or paternity alone – not without additional information.

The Advanced Matching tool will provide a list of matches in all categories selected – in this case, both the 111 markers and the Family Finder test. You can see that one of these men is the father of the tester, and one is the full sibling.

You can view haplogroup assignments on the public Y DNA tree, here. I wrote about using the public tree, here.

In addition, recently, FamilyTreeDNA launched the new Y DNA Discover tool, which explains more about haplogroups, including their ages and other fun facts like migration paths along with notable and ancient connections. I wrote about using the Discover tool, here.

Y DNA at 23andMe

Testers receive a base haplogroup with their autosomal test. 23andMe tests a limited number of Y DNA SNP locations, but they don’t test many, and they don’t test STR markers, so there is no Y DNA matching and no refined haplogroups.

You can view the haplogroups of your matches. If your male sibling match does NOT share the same haplogroup, the two men are not paternal line siblings. If two men DO share the same haplogroup, they MIGHT be paternal siblings. They also might not.

Again, autosomal close matching plus haplogroup comparisons include or exclude paternal side siblings for males.

Paternal side siblings at 23andMe share the same haplogroup, but so do many other people. These two men could be siblings. The haplogroups don’t exclude that possibility. If the haplogroups were different, that would exclude being either full or paternal half-siblings.

Men can also compare their mitochondrial DNA to eliminate a maternal relationship.

These men are not full siblings or maternal half-siblings. We know, unquestionably, because their mitochondrial haplogroups don’t match.

23andMe also constructs a genetic tree, but often struggles with close relative placement, especially when half-relationships are involved. I do not recommend relying on the genetic tree in this circumstance.

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mothers to all of their children, but only females pass it on. If two people, males or females, don’t match on their mitochondrial DNA test, with a couple of possible exceptions, they are NOT full siblings, and they are NOT maternal half-siblings.

Mitochondrial DNA at 23andMe

23andMe provides limited, base mitochondrial haplogroups, but no matching. If two people don’t have the same haplogroup at 23andMe, they aren’t full or maternal siblings, as illustrated above.

Mitochondrial DNA at FamilyTreeDNA

FamilyTreeDNA provides both mitochondrial matching AND a much more refined haplogroup. The full sequence test (mtFull), the only version sold today, is essential for reliable comparisons.

Full siblings or maternal half-siblings will always share the same haplogroup, regardless of their sex.

Generally, a full sibling or maternal half-sibling match will match exactly at the full mitochondrial sequence (FMS) level with a genetic distance of zero, meaning fully matching and no mismatching mutations.

There are rare instances where maternal siblings or even mothers and children do not match exactly, meaning they have a genetic distance of greater than 0, because of a mutation called a heteroplasmy.

I wrote about heteroplasmies, here.

Like Y DNA, mitochondrial DNA cannot identify a sibling or parental relationship without additional evidence, but it can exclude one, and it can also provide much-needed evidence in conjunction with autosomal matching. The great news is that unlike Y DNA, everyone has mitochondrial DNA and it comes directly from their mother.

Once again, FamilyTreeDNA’s Advanced Matching tool provides a list of people who match you on both your mitochondrial DNA test and the Family Finder autosomal test, including transfers/uploads, and provides a relationship.

You can see that our tester matches both a full sibling and their mother. Of course, a parent/child match could mean that our tester is a female and one of her children, of either sex, has tested.

Below is an example of a parent-child match that has experienced a heteroplasmy.

Based on the comparison of both the mitochondrial DNA test, plus the autosomal Family Finder test, you can verify that this is a close family relationship.

You can also eliminate potential relationships based on the mitochondrial DNA inheritance path. The mitochondrial DNA of full siblings and maternal half-siblings will always match at the full sequence and haplogroup level, and paternal half-siblings will never match. If paternal half-siblings do match, it’s happenstance or because of a different reason.

Sibling Summary and Checklist

I’ve created a quick reference checklist for you to use when attempting to determine whether or not a match is a sibling, and, if so, whether they are half or full siblings. Of course, these tools are in addition to the DNAPainter Shared cM Tool and GEDmatch’s Relationship Predictor Calculator.

FamilyTreeDNA Ancestry 23andMe MyHeritage GEDmatch
Matching Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Shared Matches Yes – In Common With Yes – Shared Matches Yes – Relatives in Common Yes – Review DNA Match Yes – People who match both or 1 of 2 kits
Relationship Between Shared Matches No No No Yes, under shared match No
Matches Match Each Other* Yes, Matrix No Yes, under “View DNA details,” then, “compare with more relatives” Partly, through triangulation Yes, can match any kits
Full Siblings Yes Sibling, implies full Yes Brother, Sister, means full No
Half Siblings Sibling, Uncle/Aunt-Niece/Nephew, Grandparent-Grandchild Close Family – 1C Yes Half sibling, aunt/uncle-niece-nephew No
Fully Identical Regions (FIR) No No Yes No Yes
Half Identical Regions (HIR) No No Yes No Yes
X matching Yes No Yes No Yes
Unusual Reporting or Anomalies No No, Timber is not used on close relationships X match added into total, FIR added twice No Matching amount can vary from vendors
Y DNA Yes, STRs, refined haplogroups, matching No High-level haplogroup only, no matching No No, only if tester enters haplogroup manually
Mitochondrial DNA Yes, full sequence, matching, refined haplogroup No High-level haplogroup only, no matching No No, only if tester enters haplogroup manually
Combined Tools (Autosomal, X, Y, mtDNA) Yes No No No No

*Autoclusters through Genetic Affairs show cluster relationships of matches to the tester and to each other, but not all matches are included, including close matches. While this is a great tool, it’s not relevant for determining close and sibling relationships. See the article, AutoClustering by Genetic Affairs, here.

Additional Resources

Some of you may be wondering how endogamy affects sibling numbers.

Endogamy makes almost everything a little more complex. I wrote about endogamy and various ways to determine if you have an endogamous heritage, here.

Please note that half-siblings with high cM matches also fall into the range of full siblings (1613-3488), with or without endogamy. This may be, but is not always, especially pronounced in endogamous groups.

As another resource, I wrote an earlier article, Full or Half Siblings, here, that includes some different examples.

Strategy

You have a lot of quills in your quiver now, and I wish you the best if you’re trying to unravel a siblingship mystery.

You may not know who your biological family is, or maybe your sibling doesn’t know who their family is, but perhaps your close relatives know who their family is and can help. Remember, the situation that has revealed itself may be a shock to everyone involved.

Above all, be kind and take things slow. If your unexpected sibling match becomes frightened or overwhelmed, they may simply check out and either delete their DNA results altogether or block you. They may have that reaction before you have a chance to do anything.

Because of that possibility, I recommend performing your analysis quickly, along with taking relevant screenshots before reaching out so you will at least have that much information to work with, just in case things go belly up.

When you’re ready to make contact, I suggest beginning by sending a friendly, short, message saying that you’ve noticed that you have a close match (don’t say sibling) and asking what they know about their family genealogy – maybe ask who their grandparents are or if they have family living in the area where you live. I recommend including a little bit of information about yourself, such as where you were born and are from.

I also refrain from using the word adoption (or similar) in the beginning or giving too much detailed information, because it sometimes frightens people, especially if they know or discover that there’s a painful or embarrassing family situation.

And, please, never, ever assume the worst of anyone or their motives. They may be sitting at their keyboard with the same shocked look on their face as you – especially if they have, or had, no idea. They may need space and time to reach a place of acceptance. There’s just nothing more emotionally boat-capsizing in your life than discovering intimate and personal details about your parents, one or both, especially if that discovery is disappointing and image-altering.

Or, conversely, your sibling may have been hoping and waiting just for you!

Take a deep breath and let me know how it goes!

Please feel free to share this article with anyone who could benefit.

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DNA: In Search of…Signs of Endogamy

This is the fourth in our series of articles about searching for unknown close family members, specifically; parents, grandparents, or siblings. However, these same techniques can be applied by genealogists to ancestors further back in time as well.

In this article, we discuss endogamy – how to determine if you have it, from what population, and how to follow the road signs.

After introductions, we will be covering the following topics:

  • Pedigree collapse and endogamy
  • Endogamous groups
  • The challenge(s) of endogamy
  • Endogamy and unknown close relatives (parents, grandparents)
  • Ethnicity and Populations
  • Matches
  • AutoClusters
  • Endogamous Relationships
  • Endogamous DNA Segments
  • “Are Your Parents Related?” Tool
  • Surnames
  • Projects
  • Locations
  • Y DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and Endogamy
  • Endogamy Tools Summary Tables
    • Summary of Endogamy Tools by Vendor
    • Summary of Endogamous Populations Identified by Each Tool
    • Summary of Tools to Assist People Seeking Unknown Parents and Grandparents

What Is Endogamy and Why Does It Matter?

Endogamy occurs when a group or population of people intermarry among themselves for an extended period of time, without the introduction of many or any people from outside of that population.

The effect of this continual intermarriage is that the founders’ DNA simply gets passed around and around, eventually in small segments.

That happens because there is no “other” DNA to draw from within the population. Knowing or determining that you have endogamy helps make sense of DNA matching patterns, and those patterns can lead you to unknown relatives, both close and distant.

This Article

This article serves two purposes.

  • This article is educational and relevant for all researchers. We discuss endogamy using multiple tools and examples from known endogamous people and populations.
  • In order to be able to discern endogamy when we don’t know who our parents or grandparents are, we need to know what signs and signals to look for, and why, which is based on what endogamy looks like in people who know their heritage.

There’s no crystal ball – no definitive “one-way” arrow, but there are a series of indications that suggest endogamy.

Depending on the endogamous population you’re dealing with, those signs aren’t always the same.

If you’re sighing now, I understand – but that’s exactly WHY I wrote this article.

We’re covering a lot of ground, but these road markers are invaluable diagnostic tools.

I’ve previously written about endogamy in the articles:

Let’s start with definitions.

Pedigree Collapse and Endogamy

Pedigree collapse isn’t the same as endogamy. Pedigree collapse is when you have ancestors that repeat in your tree.

In this example, the parents of our DNA tester are first cousins, which means the tester shares great-grandparents on both sides and, of course, the same ancestors from there on back in their tree.

This also means they share more of those ancestors’ DNA than they would normally share.

John Smith and Mary Johnson are both in the tree twice, in the same position as great-grandparents. Normally, Tester Smith would carry approximately 12.5% of each of his great-grandparents’ DNA, assuming for illustration purposes that exactly 50% of each ancestor’s DNA is passed in each generation. In this case, due to pedigree collapse, 25% of Tester Smith’s DNA descends from John Smith, and another 25% descends from Mary Johnson, double what it would normally be. 25% is the amount of DNA contribution normally inherited from grandparents, not great-grandparents.

While we may find first cousin marriages a bit eyebrow-raising today, they were quite common in the past. Both laws and customs varied with the country, time, social norms, and religion.

Pedigree Collapse and Endogamy is NOT the Same

You might think that pedigree collapse and endogamy is one and the same, but there’s a difference. Pedigree collapse can lead to endogamy, but it takes more than one instance of pedigree collapse to morph into endogamy within a population. Population is the key word for endogamy.

The main difference is that pedigree collapse occurs with known ancestors in more recent generations for one person, while endogamy is longer-term and systemic in a group of people.

Picture a group of people, all descended from Tester Smith’s great-grandparents intermarrying. Now you have the beginnings of endogamy. A couple hundred or a few hundred years later, you have true endogamy.

In other words, endogamy is pedigree collapse on a larger scale – think of a village or a church.

My ancestors’ village of Schnait, in Germany, is shown above in 1685. One church and maybe 30 or 40 homes. According to church and other records, the same families had inhabited this village, and region, for generations. It’s a sure bet that both pedigree collapse and endogamy existed in this small community.

If pedigree collapse happens over and over again because there are no other people within the community to marry, then you have endogamy. In other words, with endogamy, you assuredly DO have historical pedigree collapse, generally back in time, often before you can identify those specific ancestors – because everyone descends from the same set of founders.

Endogamy Doesn’t Necessarily Indicate Recent Pedigree Collapse

With deep, historic endogamy, you don’t necessarily have recent pedigree collapse, and in fact, many people do not. Jewish people are a good example of this phenomenon. They shared ancestors for hundreds or thousands of years, depending on which group we are referring to, but in recent, known, generations, many Jewish people aren’t related. Still, their DNA often matches each other.

The good news is that there are telltale signs and signals of endogamy.

The bad news is that not all of these are obvious, meaning as an aid to people seeking clues about unknown close relatives, and other “signs” aren’t what they are believed to be.

Let’s step through each endogamy identifier, or “hint,” and then we will review how we can best utilize this information.

First, let’s take a look at groups that are considered to be endogamous.

Endogamous Groups

Jewish PeopleSpecifically groups that were isolated from other groups of Jewish (and other) people; Ashkenazi (Germany, Northern France, and diaspora), Sephardic (Spanish, Iberia, and diaspora), Mizrahi (Israel, Middle Eastern, and diaspora,) Ethiopian Jews, and possibly Jews from other locations such as Mountain Jews from Kazakhstan and the Caucasus.

AcadiansDescendants of about 60 French families who settled in “Acadia” beginning about 1604, primarily on the island of Nova Scotia, and intermarried among themselves and with the Mi’kmaq people. Expelled by the English in 1755, they were scattered in groups to various diasporic regions where they continued to intermarry and where their descendants are found today. Some Acadians became the Cajuns of Louisiana.

Anabaptist Protestant FaithsAmish, Mennonite, and Brethren (Dunkards) and their offshoots are Protestant religious sects founded in Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries on the principle of baptizing only adults or people who are old enough to choose to follow the faith, or rebaptizing people who had been previously baptized as children. These Anabaptist faiths tend to marry within their own group or church and often expel those who marry outside of the faith. Many emigrated to the American colonies and elsewhere, seeking religious freedom. Occasionally those groups would locate in close proximity and intermarry, but not marry outside of other Anabaptist denominations.

Native American (Indigenous) People – all indigenous peoples found in North and South America before European colonization descended from a small number of original founders who probably arrived at multiple times.

Indigenous Pacific Islanders – Including indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii prior to colonization. They are probably equally as endogamous as Native American people, but I don’t have specific examples to share.

Villages – European or other villages with little inflow or whose residents were restricted from leaving over hundreds of years.

Other groups may have significant multiple lines of pedigree collapse and therefore become endogamous over time. Some people from Newfoundland, French Canadians, and Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) come to mind.

Endogamy is a process that occurs over time.

Endogamy and Unknown Relatives

If you know who your relatives are, you may already know you’re from an endogamous population, but if you’re searching for close relatives, it’s helpful to be able to determine if you have endogamous heritage, at least in recent generations.

If you know nothing about either parent, some of these tools won’t help you, at least not initially, but others will. However, as you add to your knowledge base, the other tools will become more useful.

If you know the identity of one parent, this process becomes at least somewhat easier.

In future articles, we will search specifically for parents and each of your four grandparents. In this article, I’ll review each of the diagnostic tools and techniques you can use to determine if you have endogamy, and perhaps pinpoint the source.

The Challenge

People with endogamous heritage are related in multiple, unknown ways, over many generations. They may also be related in known ways in recent generations.

If both of your parents share the SAME endogamous culture or group of relatives:

  • You may have significantly more autosomal DNA matches than people without endogamy, unless that group of people is under-sampled. Jewish people have significantly more matches, but Native people have fewer due to under-sampling.
  • You may experience a higher-than-normal cM (centiMorgan) total for estimated relationships, especially more distant relationships, 3C and beyond.
  • You will have many matches related to you on both your maternal and paternal sides.
  • Parts of your autosomal DNA will be the same on both your mother’s and father’s sides, meaning your DNA will be fully identical in some locations. (I’ll explain more in a minute.)

If either (or both) of your parents are from an endogamous population, you:

  • Will, in some cases, carry identifying Y and mitochondrial DNA that points to a specific endogamous group. This is true for Native people, can be true for Jewish people and Pacific Islanders, but is not true for Anabaptist people.

One Size Does NOT Fit All

Please note that there is no “one size fits all.”

Each or any of these tools may provide relevant hints, depending on:

  • Your heritage
  • How many other people have tested from the relevant population group
  • How many close or distant relatives have tested
  • If your parents share the same heritage
  • Your unique DNA inheritance pattern
  • If your parents, individually, were fully endogamous or only partly endogamous, and how far back generationally that endogamy occurred

For example, in my own genealogy, my maternal grandmother’s father was Acadian on his father’s side. While I’m not fully endogamous, I have significantly more matches through that line proportionally than on my other lines.

I have Brethren endogamy on my mother’s side via her paternal grandmother.

Endogamous ancestors are shown with red stars on my mother’s pedigree chart, above. However, please note that her maternal and paternal endogamous ancestors are not from the same endogamous population.

However, I STILL have fewer matches on my mother’s side in total than on my father’s side because my mother has recent Dutch and recent German immigrants which reduces her total number of matches. Neither of those lines have had as much time to produce descendants in the US, and Europe is under-sampled when compared with the US where more people tend to take DNA tests because they are searching for where they came from.

My father’s ancestors have been in the US since it was a British Colony, and I have many more cousins who have tested on his side than mother’s.

If you looked at my pedigree chart and thought to yourself, “that’s messy,” you’d be right.

The “endogamy means more matches” axiom does not hold true for me, comparatively, between my parents – in part because my mother’s German and Dutch lines are such recent immigrants.

The number of matches alone isn’t going to tell this story.

We are going to need to look at several pieces and parts for more information. Let’s start with ethnicity.

Ethnicity and Populations

Ethnicity can be a double-edged sword. It can tell you exactly nothing you couldn’t discern by looking in the mirror, or, conversely, it can be a wealth of information.

Ethnicity reveals the parts of the world where your ancestors originated. When searching for recent ancestors, you’re most interested in majority ethnicity, meaning the 50% of your DNA that you received from each of your parents.

Ethnicity results at each vendor are easy to find and relatively easy to understand.

This individual at FamilyTreeDNA is 100% Ashkenazi Jewish.

If they were 50% Jewish, we could then estimate, and that’s an important word, that either one of their parents was fully Jewish, and not the other, or that two of their grandparents were Jewish, although not necessarily on the same side.

On the other hand, my mother’s ethnicity, shown below, has nothing remarkable that would point to any majority endogamous population, yet she has two.

The only hint of endogamy from ethnicity would be her ~1% Americas, and that isn’t relevant for finding close relatives. However, minority ancestry is very relevant for identifying Native ancestors, which I wrote about, here.

You can correlate or track your ethnicity segments to specific ancestors, which I discussed in the article, Native American & Minority Ancestors Identified Using DNAPainter Plus Ethnicity Segments, here.

Since I wrote that article, FamilyTreeDNA has added the feature of ethnicity or population Chromosome Painting, based on where each of your populations fall on your chromosomes.

In this example on chromosome 1, I have European ancestry (blue,) except for the pink Native segment, which occurs on the following segment in the same location on my mother’s chromosome 1 as well.

Both 23andMe, and FamilyTreeDNA provide chromosome painting AND the associated segment information so you can identify the relevant ancestors.

Ancestry is in the process of rolling out an ethnicity painting feature, BUT, it has no segment or associated matching information. While it’s interesting eye candy, it’s not terribly useful beyond the ethnicity information that Ancestry already provides. However, Jonny Perl at DNAPainter has devised a way to estimate Ancestry’s start and stop locations, here. Way to go Jonny!

Now all you need to do is convince your Ancestry matches to upload their DNA file to one of the three databases, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, and GEDMatch, that accept transfers, aka uploads. This allows matching with segment data so that you can identify who matches you on that segment, track your ancestors, and paint your ancestral segments at DNAPainter.

I provided step-by-step instructions, here, for downloading your raw DNA file from each vendor in order to upload the file to another vendor.

Ethnicity Sides

Three of the four DNA testing vendors, 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, and recently, Ancestry, attempt to phase your ethnicity DNA, meaning to assign it to one parental “side” or the other – both in total and on each chromosome.

Here’s Ancestry’s SideView, where your DNA is estimated to belong to parent 1 and parent 2. I detailed how to determine which side is which, here, and while that article was written specifically pertaining to Ancestry’s SideView, the technique is relevant for all the vendors who attempt to divide your DNA into parents, a technique known as phasing.

I say “attempt” because phasing may or may not be accurate, meaning the top chromosome may not always be parent 1, and the bottom chromosome may not always be chromosome 2.

Here’s an example at 23andMe.

See the two yellow segments. They are both assigned as Native. I happen to know one is from the mother and one is from the father, yet they are both displayed on the “top” chromosome, which one would interpret to be the same parent.

I am absolutely positive this is not the case because this is a close family member, and I have the DNA of the parent who contributed the Native segment on chromosome 1, on the top chromosome. That parent does not have a Native segment on chromosome 2 to contribute. So that Native segment had to be contributed by the other parent, but it’s also shown on the top chromosome.

The DNA segments circled in purple belong together on the same “side” and were contributed to the tester by the same parent. The Native segment on chromosome 2 abuts a purple African segment, suggesting perhaps that the ancestor who contributed that segment was mixed between those ethnicities. In the US, that suggests enslavement.

The other African segments, circled, are shown on the second chromosome in each pair.

To be clear, parent 1 is not assigned by the vendors to either mother or father and will differ by person. Your parent 1, or the parent on the top chromosome may be your mother and another person’s parent 1 may be their father.

As shown in this example, parents can vary by chromosome, a phenomenon known as “strand swap.” Occasionally, the DNA can even be swapped within a chromosome assignment.

You can, however, get an idea of the division of your DNA at any specific location. As shown above, you can only have a maximum of two populations of DNA on any one chromosome location.

In our example above, this person’s majority ancestry is European (blue.) On each chromosome where we find a minority segment, the opposite chromosome in the same location is European, meaning blue.

Let’s look at another example.

At FamilyTreeDNA, the person whose ethnicity painting is shown below has a Native American (pink) ancestor on their father’s side. FamilyTreeDNA has correctly phased or identified their Native segments as all belonging to the second chromosome in each pair.

Looking at chromosome 18, for example, most of their father’s chromosome is Native American (pink). The other parent’s chromosome is European (dark blue) at those same locations.

If one of the parents was of one ethnicity, and the other parent is a completely different ethnicity, then one bar of each chromosome would be all pink, for example, and one would be entirely blue, representing the other ethnicity.

Phasing ethnicity or populations to maternal and paternal sides is not foolproof, and each chromosome is phased individually.

Ethnicity can, in some cases, give you a really good idea of what you’re dealing with in terms of heritage and endogamy.

If someone had an Ashkenazi Jewish father and European mother, for example, one copy of each chromosome would be yellow (Ashkenazi Jewish), and one would be blue (European.)

However, if each of their parents were half European Jewish and half European (not Jewish), then their different colored segments would be scattered across their entire set of chromosomes.

In this case, both of the tester’s parents are mixed – European Jewish (green) and Western Europe (blue.) We know both parents are admixed from the same two populations because in some locations, both parents contributed blue (Western Europe), and in other locations, both contributed Jewish (green) segments.

Both MyHeritage and Ancestry provide a secondary tool that’s connected to ethnicity, but different and generally in more recent times.

Ancestry’s DNA Communities

While your ethnicity may not point to anything terribly exciting in terms of endogamy, Genetic Communities might. Ancestry says that a DNA Community is a group of people who share DNA because their relatives recently lived in the same place at the same time, and that communities are much smaller than ethnicity regions and reach back only about 50-300 years.

Based on the ancestors’ locations in the trees of me and my matches, Ancestry has determined that I’m connected to two communities. In my case, the blue group is clearly my father’s line. The orange group could be either parent, or even a combination of both.

My endogamous Brethren could be showing up in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, but it’s uncertain, in part, because my father’s ancestral lines are found in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland too.

These aren’t useful for me, but they may be more useful for fully endogamous people, especially in conjunction with ethnicity.

My Acadian cousin’s European ethnicity isn’t informative.

However, viewing his DNA Communities puts his French heritage into perspective, especially combined with his match surnames.

I wrote about DNA Communities when it was introduced with the name Genetic Communities, here.

MyHeritage’s Genetic Groups

MyHeritage also provides a similar feature that shows where my matches’ ancestors lived in the same locations as mine.

One difference, though, is that testers can adjust their ethnicity results confidence level from high, above, to low, below where one of my Genetic Groups overlaps my ethnicity in the Netherlands.

You can also sort your matches by Genetic Groups.

The results show you not only who is in the group, but how many of your matches are in that group too, which provides perspective.

I wrote about Genetic Groups, here.

Next, let’s look at how endogamy affects your matches.

Matches

The number of matches that a person has who is from an entirely endogamous community and a person with no endogamy may be quite different.

FamilyTreeDNA provides a Family Matching feature that triangulates your matches and assigns them to your paternal or maternal side by using known matches that you have linked to their profile cards in your tree. You must link people for the Family Matching feature known as “bucketing” to be enabled.

The people you link are then processed for shared matches on the same chromosome segment(s). Triangulated individuals are then deposited in your maternal, paternal, and both buckets.

Obviously, your two parents are the best people to link, but if they haven’t tested (or uploaded their DNA file from another vendor) and you have other known relatives, link them using the Family Tree tab at the top of your personal page.

I uploaded my Ancestry V4 kit to use as an example for linking. Let’s pretend that’s my sister. If I had not already linked my Ancestry V4 kit to “my sister’s” profile card, I’d want to do that and link other known individuals the same way. Just drag and drop the match to the correct profile card.

Note that a full or half sibling will be listed as such at FamilyTreeDNA, but an identical twin will show as a potential parent/child match to you. You’re much more likely to find a parent than an identical twin, but just be aware.

I’ve created a table of FamilyTreeDNA bucketed match results, by category, comparing the number of matches in endogamous categories with non-endogamous.

Total Matches Maternal Matches Paternal Matches Both % Both % DNA Unassigned
100% Jewish 34,637 11,329 10,416 4,806 13.9 23.3
100% Jewish 32,973 10,700 9,858 4,606 14 23.7
100% Jewish 32,255 9,060 10,970 3,892 12 25.8
75% Jewish 24,232 11,846 Only mother linked Only mother linked Only mother linked
100% Acadian 8093 3826 2299 1062 13 11
100% Acadian 7828 3763 1825 923 11.8 17
Not Endogamous 6760 3845 1909 13 0.19 14.5
Not Endogamous 7723 1470 3317 6 0.08 38
100% Native American 1,115 Unlinked Unlinked Unlinked
100% Native American 885 290 Unknown Can’t calculate without at least one link on both sides

The 100% Jewish, Acadian, and Not Endogamous testers both have linked their parents, so their matches, if valid (meaning not identical by chance, which I discussed here,) will match them plus one or the other parent.

One person is 75% Jewish and has only linked their Jewish mother.

The Native people have not tested their parents, and the first Native person has not linked anyone in their tree. The second Native person has only linked a few maternal matches, but their mother has not tested. They are seeking their father.

It’s very difficult to find people who are fully Native as testers. Furthermore, Native people are under-sampled. If anyone knows of fully Native (or other endogamous) people who have tested and linked their parents or known relatives in their trees, and will allow me to use their total match numbers anonymously, please let me know.

As you can see, Jewish, Acadian, and Native people are 100% endogamous, but many more Jewish people than Native people have tested, so you CAN’T judge endogamy by the total number of matches alone.

In fact, in order:

  • Fully Jewish testers have about 4-5 times as many matches as the Acadian and Non-endogamous testers
  • Acadian and Non-endogamous testers have about 5-6 times as many matches as the Native American testers
  • Fully Jewish people have about 30 times more matches than the Native American testers

If a person’s endogamy with a particular population is only on their maternal or paternal side, they won’t have a significant number of people related to both sides, meaning few people will fall into the “Both” bucket. People that will always be found in the ”Both” bucket are full siblings and their descendants, along with descendants of the tester, assuming their match is linked to their profiles in the tester’s tree.

In the case of our Jewish testers, you can easily see that the “Both” bucket is very high. The Acadians are also higher than one would reasonably expect without endogamy. A non-endogamous person might have a few matches on both sides, assuming the parents are not related to each other.

A high number of “Both” matches is a very good indicator of endogamy within the same population on both parents’ sides.

The percentage of people who are assigned to the “Both” bucket is between 11% and 14% in the endogamous groups, and less than 1% in the non-endogamous group, so statistically not relevant.

As demonstrated by the Native people compared to the Jewish testers, the total number of matches can be deceiving.

However, being related to both parents, as indicated by the “Both” bucket, unless you have pedigree collapse, is a good indicator of endogamy.

Of course, if you don’t know who your relatives are, you can’t link them in your tree, so this type of “hunt” won’t generally help people seeking their close family members.

However, you may notice that you’re matching people PLUS both of their parents. If that’s the case, start asking questions of those matches about their heritage.

A very high number of total matches, as compared to non-endogamous people, combined with some other hints might well point to Jewish heritage.

I included the % DNA Unassigned category because this category, when both parents are linked, is the percentage of matches by chance, meaning the match doesn’t match either of the tester’s parents. All of the people with people listed in “Both” categories have linked both of their parents, not just maternal and paternal relatives.

Matching Location at MyHeritage

MyHeritage provides a matching function by location. Please note that it’s the location of the tester, but that may still be quite useful.

The locations are shown in the most-matches to least-matches order. Clicking on the location shows the people who match you who are from that location. This would be the most useful in situations where recent immigration has occurred. In my case, my great-grandfather from the Netherlands arrived in the 1860s, and my German ancestors arrived in the 1850s. Neither of those groups are endogamous, though, unless it would be on a village level.

AutoClusters

Let’s shift to Genetic Affairs, a third-party tool available to everyone.

Using their AutoCluster function, Genetic Affairs clusters your matches together who match both each other and you.

This is an example of the first few clusters in my AutoCluster. You can see that I have several colored clusters of various sizes, but none are huge.

Compare that to the following endogamous cluster, sample courtesy of EJ Blom at Genetic Affairs.

If your AutoCluster at Genetic Affairs looks something like this, a huge orange blob in the upper left hand corner, you’re dealing with endogamy.

Please also note that the size of your cluster is also a function of both the number of testers and the match threshold you select. I always begin by using the defaults. I wrote about using Genetic Affairs, here.

If you tested at or transferred to MyHeritage, they too license AutoClusters, but have optimized the algorithm to tease out endogamous matches so that their Jewish customers, in particular, don’t wind up with a huge orange block of interrelated people.

You won’t see the “endogamy signature” huge cluster in the corner, so you’re less likely to be able to discern endogamy from a MyHeritage cluster alone.

The commonality between these Jewish clusters at MyHeritage is that they all tend to be rather uniform in size and small, with lots of grey connecting almost all the blocks.

Grey cells indicate people who match people in two colored groups. In other words, there is often no clear division in clusters between the mother’s side and the father’s side in Jewish clusters.

In non-endogamous situations, even if you can’t identify the parents, the clusters should still fall into two sides, meaning a group of clusters for each parent’s side that are not related to each other.

You can read more about Genetic Affairs clusters and their tools, here. DNAGedcom.com also provides a clustering tool.

Endogamous Relationships

Endogamous estimated relationships are sometimes high. Please note the word, “sometimes.”

Using the Shared cM Project tool relationship chart, here, at DNAPainter, people with heavy endogamy will discover that estimated relationships MAY be on the high side, or the relationships may, perhaps, be estimated too “close” in time. That’s especially true for more distant relationships, but surprisingly, it’s not always true. The randomness of inheritance still comes into play, and so do potential unknown relatives. Hence, the words “may” are bolded and underscored.

Unfortunately, it’s often stated as “conventional wisdom” that Jewish matches are “always” high, and first cousins appear as siblings. Let’s see what the actual data says.

At DNAPainter, you can either enter the amount of shared DNA (cM), or the percent of shared DNA, or just use the chart provided.

I’ve assembled a compilation of close relationships in kits that I have access to or from people who were generous enough to share their results for this article.

I’ve used Jewish results, which is a highly endogamous population, compared with non-endogamous testers.

The “Jewish Actual” column reports the total amount of shared DNA with that person. In other words, someone to their grandparent. The Average Range is the average plus the range from DNAPainter. The Percent Difference is the % difference between the actual number and the DNAPainter average.

You’ll see fully Jewish testers, at left, matching with their family members, and a Non-endogamous person, at right, matching with their same relative.

Relationship Jewish Actual Percent Difference than Average Average -Range Non-endogamous Actual Percent Difference than Average
Grandparent 2141 22 1754 (984-2482) 1742 <1 lower
Grandparent 1902 8.5 1754 (984-2482) 1973 12
Sibling 3039 16 2613 (1613-3488) 2515 3.5 lower
Sibling 2724 4 2613 (1613-3488) 2761 5.5
Half-Sibling 2184 24 1759 (1160-2436) 2127 21
Half-Sibling 2128 21 1759 (1160-2436) 2352 34
Aunt/Uncle 2066 18.5 1741 (1201-2282) 1849 6
Aunt/Uncle 2031 16.5 1741 (1201-2282) 2097 20
1C 1119 29 866 (396-1397) 959 11
1C 909 5 866 (396-1397) 789 9 lower
1C1R 514 19 433 (102-980) 467 8
1C1R 459 6 433 (102-980) 395 9 lower

These totals are from FamilyTreeDNA except one from GEDMatch (one Jewish Half-sibling).

Totals may vary by vendor, even when matching with the same person. 23andMe includes the X segments in the total cMs and also counts fully identical segments twice. MyHeritage imputation seems to err on the generous side.

However, in these dozen examples:

  • You can see that the Jewish actual amount of DNA shared is always more than the average in the estimate.
  • The red means the overage is more than 100 cM larger.
  • The percentage difference is probably more meaningful because 100 cM is a smaller percentage of a 1754 grandparent connection than compared to a 433 cM 1C1R.

However, you can’t tell anything about endogamy by just looking at any one sample, because:

  • Some of the Non-Endogamous matches are high too. That’s just the way of random inheritance.
  • All of the actual Jewish match numbers are within the published ranges, but on the high side.

Furthermore, it can get more complex.

Half Endogamous

I requested assistance from Jewish genealogy researchers, and a lovely lady, Sharon, reached out, compiled her segment information, and shared it with me, granting permission to share with you. A HUGE thank you to Sharon!

Sharon is half-Jewish via one parent, and her half-sibling is fully Jewish. Their half-sibling match to each other at Ancestry is 1756 cM with a longest segment of 164 cM.

How does Jewish matching vary if you’re half-Jewish versus fully Jewish? Let’s look at 21 people who match both Sharon and her fully Jewish half-sibling.

Sharon shared the differences in 21 known Jewish matches with her and her half-sibling. I’ve added the Relationship Estimate Range from DNAPainter and colorized the highest of the two matches in yellow. Bolding in the total cM column shows a value above the average range for that relationship.

Total Matching cMs is on the left, with Longest Segment on the right.

While this is clearly not a scientific study, it is a representative sample.

The fully Jewish sibling carries more Jewish DNA, which is available for other Jewish matches to match as a function of endogamy (identical by chance/population), so I would have expected the fully Jewish sibling to match most if not all Jewish testers at a higher level than the half-Jewish sibling.

However, that’s not universally what we see.

The fully Jewish sibling is not always the sibling with the highest number of matches to the other Jewish testers, although the half-Jewish tester has the larger “Longest Segment” more often than not.

Approximately two-thirds of the time (13/21), the fully Jewish person does have a higher total matching cM, but about one-third of the time (8/21), the half-Jewish sibling has a higher matching cM.

About one-fourth of the time (5/21), the fully Jewish sibling has the longest matching segment, and about two-thirds of the time (13/21), the half-Jewish sibling does. In three cases, or about 14% of the time, the longest segment is equal which may indicate that it’s the same segment.

Because of endogamy, Jewish matches are more likely to have:

  • Larger than average total cM for the specific relationship
  • More and smaller matching segments

However, as we have seen, neither of those are definitive, nor always true. Jewish matches and relationships are not always overestimated.

Ancestry and Timber

Please note that Ancestry downweights some matches by removing some segments using their Timber algorithm. Based on my matches and other accounts that I manage, Ancestry does not downweight in the 2-3rd cousin category, which is 90 cM and above, but they do begin downweighting in the 3-4th cousin category, below 90 cM, where my “Extended Family” category begins.

If you’ve tested at Ancestry, you can check for yourself.

By clicking on the amount of DNA you share with your match on your match list at Ancestry, shown above, you will be taken to another page where you will be able to view the unweighted shared DNA with that match, meaning the amount of DNA shared before the downweighting and removal of some segments, shown below.

Given the downweighting, and the information in the spreadsheet provided by Sharon, it doesn’t appear that any of those matches would have been in a category to be downweighted.

Therefore, for these and other close matches, Timber wouldn’t be a factor, but would potentially be in more distant matches.

Endogamous Segments

Endogamous matches tend to have smaller and more segments. Small amounts of matching DNA tend to skew the total DNA cM upwards.

How and why does this happen?

Ancestral DNA from further back in time tends to be broken into smaller segments.

Sometimes, especially in endogamous situations, two smaller segments, at one time separated from each other, manage to join back together again and form a match, but the match is only due to ancestral segments – not because of a recent ancestor.

Please note that different vendors have different minimum matching cM thresholds, so smaller matches may not be available at all vendors. Remember that factors like Timber and imputation can affect matching as well.

Let’s take a look at an example. I’ve created a chart where two ancestors have their blue and pink DNA broken into 4 cM segments.

They have children, a blue child and a pink child, and the two children, shown above, each inherited the same blue 4 cM segment and the same pink 4 cM segment from their respective parents. The other unlabeled pink and blue segments are not inherited by these two children, so those unlabeled segments are irrelevant in this example.

The parents may have had other children who inherited those same 4 cM labeled pink and blue segments as well, and if not, the parents’ siblings were probably passing at least some of the same DNA down to their descendants too.

The blue and pink children had children, and their children had children – for several generations.

Time passed, and their descendants became an endogamous community. Those pink and blue 4 cM segments may at some time be lost during recombination in the descendants of each of their children, shown by “Lost pink” and “Lost blue.”

However, because there is only a very limited amount of DNA within the endogamous community, their descendants may regain those same segments again from their “other parent” during recombination, downstream.

In each generation, the DNA of the descendant carrying the original blue or pink DNA segment is recombined with their partner. Given that the partners are both members of the same endogamous community, the two people may have the same pink and/or blue DNA segments. If one parent doesn’t carry the pink 4 cM segment, for example, their offspring may receive that ancestral pink segment from the other parent.

They could potentially, and sometimes do, receive that ancestral segment from both parents.

In our example, the descendants of the blue child, at left, lost the pink 4 cM segment in generation 3, but a few generations later, in generation 11, that descendant child inherited that same pink 4 cM segment from their other parent. Therefore, both the 4 cM blue and 4 cM pink segments are now available to be inherited by the descendants in that line. I’ve shown the opposite scenario in the generational inheritance at right where the blue segment is lost and regained.

Once rejoined, that pink and blue segment can be passed along together for generations.

The important part, though, is that once those two segments butt up against each other again during recombination, they aren’t just two separate 4 cM segments, but one segment that is 8 cM long – that is now equal to or above the vendors’ matching threshold.

This is why people descended from endogamous populations often have the following matching characteristics:

  • More matches
  • Many smaller segment matches
  • Their total cM is often broken into more, smaller segments

What does more, smaller segments, look like, exactly?

More, Smaller Segments

All of our vendors except Ancestry have a chromosome browser for their customers to compare their DNA to that of their matches visually.

Let’s take a look at some examples of what endogamous and non-endogamous matches look like.

For example, here’s a screen shot of a random Jewish second cousin match – 298 cM total, divided into 12 segments, with a longest segment of 58 cM,

A second Jewish 2C with 323 cM total, across 19 segments, with a 69 cM longest block.

A fully Acadian 2C match with 600 cM total, across 27 segments, with a longest segment of 69 cM.

A second Acadian 2C with 332 cM total, across 20 segments, with a longest segment of 42 cM.

Next, a non-endogamous 2C match with 217 cM, across 7 segments, with a longest segment of 72 cM.

Here’s another non-endogamous 2C example, with 169 shared cM, across 6 segments, with a longest segment of 70 cM.

Here’s the second cousin data in a summary table. The take-away from this is the proportion of total segments

Tester Population Total cM Longest Block Total Segments
Jewish 2C 298 58 12
Jewish 2C 323 69 19
Acadian 2C 600 69 27
Acadian 2C 332 42 20
Non-endogamous 2C 217 72 7
Non-endogamous 2C 169 70 6

You can see more examples and comparisons between Native American, Jewish and non-endogamous DNA individuals in the article, Concepts – Endogamy and DNA Segments.

I suspect that a savvy mathematician could predict endogamy based on longest block and total segment information.

Lara Diamond, a mathematician, who writes at Lara’s Jewnealogy might be up for this challenge. She just published compiled matching and segment information in her Ashkenazic Shared DNA Survey Results for those who are interested. You can also contribute to Laura’s data, here.

Endogamy, Segments, and Distant Relationships

While not relevant to searching for close relatives, heavily endogamous matches 3C and more distant, to quote one of my Jewish friends, “dissolve into a quagmire of endogamy and are exceedingly difficult to unravel.”

In my own Acadian endogamous line, I often simply have to label them “Acadian” because the DNA tracks back to so many ancestors in different lines. In other words, I can’t tell which ancestor the match is actually pointing to because the same DNA segments or segments is/are carried by several ancestors and their descendants due to founder effect.

The difference with the Acadians is that we can actually identify many or most of them, at least at some point in time. As my cousin, Paul LeBlanc, once said, if you’re related to one Acadian, you’re related to all Acadians. Then he proceeded to tell me that he and I are related 137 different ways. My head hurts!

It’s no wonder that endogamy is incredibly difficult beyond the first few generations when it turns into something like multi-colored jello soup.

“Are Your Parents Related?” Tool

There’s another tool that you can utilize to determine if your parents are related to each other.

To determine if your parents are related to each other, you need to know about ROH, or Runs of Homozygosity (ROH).

ROH means that the DNA on both strands or copies of the same chromosome is identical.

For a few locations in a row, ROH can easily happen just by chance, but the longer the segment, the less likely that commonality occurs simply by chance.

The good news is that you don’t need to know the identity of either of your parents. You don’t need either of your parent’s DNA tests – just your own. You’ll need to upload your DNA file to GEDmatch, which is free.

Click on “Are your parents related?”

GEDMatch analyzes your DNA to see if any of your DNA, above a reasonable matching threshold, is identical on both strands, indicating that you inherited the exact same DNA from both of your parents.

A legitimate match, meaning one that’s not by chance, will include many contiguous matching locations, generally a minimum of 500 SNPs or locations in a row. GEDmatch’s minimum threshold for identifying identical ancestral DNA (ROH) is 200 cM.

Here’s my result, including the graphic for the first two chromosomes. Notice the tiny green bars that show identical by chance tiny sliver segments.

I have no significant identical DNA, meaning my parents are not related to each other.

Next, let’s look at an endogamous example where there are small, completely identical segments across a person’s chromosome

This person’s Acadian parents are related to each other, but distantly.

Next, let’s look at a Jewish person’s results.

You’ll notice larger green matching ROH, but not over 200 contiguous SNPs and 7 cM.

GEDMatch reports that this Jewish person’s parents are probably not related within recent generations, but it’s clear that they do share DNA in common.

People whose parents are distantly related have relatively small, scattered matching segments. However, if you’re seeing larger ROH segments that would be large enough to match in a genealogical setting, meaning multiple greater than 7 cM and 500 SNPs,, you may be dealing with a different type of situation where cousins have married in recent generations. The larger the matching segments, generally, the closer in time.

Blogger Kitty Cooper wrote an article, here, about discovering that your parents are related at the first cousin level, and what their GEDMatch “Are Your Parents Related” results look like.

Let’s look for more clues.

Surnames

There MAY be an endogamy clue in the surnames of the people you match.

Viewing surnames is easier if you download your match list, which you can do at every vendor except Ancestry. I’m not referring to the segment data, but the information about your matches themselves.

I provided instructions in the recent article, How to Download Your DNA Match Lists and Segment Files, here.

If you suspect endogamy for any reason, look at your closest matches and see if there is a discernable trend in the surnames, or locations, or any commonality between your matches to each other.

For example, Jewish, Acadian, and Native surnames may be recognizable, as may locations.

You can evaluate in either or both of two ways:

  • The surnames of your closest matches. Closest matches listed first will be your default match order.
  • Your most frequently occurring surnames, minus extremely common names like Smith, Jones, etc., unless they are also in your closest matches. To utilize this type of matching, sort the spreadsheet in surname order and then scan or count the number of people with each surname.

Here are some examples from our testers.

Jewish – Closest surname matches.

  • Roth
  • Weiss
  • Goldman
  • Schonwald
  • Levi
  • Cohen
  • Slavin
  • Goodman
  • Sender
  • Trebatch

Acadian – Closest surname matches.

  • Bergeron
  • Hebert
  • Bergeron
  • Marcum
  • Muise
  • Legere
  • Gaudet
  • Perry
  • Verlander
  • Trombley

Native American – Closest surname matches.

  • Ortega
  • Begay
  • Valentine
  • Hayes
  • Montoya
  • Sun Bear
  • Martin
  • Tsosie
  • Chiquito
  • Yazzie

You may recognize these categories of surnames immediately.

If not, Google is your friend. Eliminate common surnames, then Google for a few together at a time and see what emerges.

The most unusual surnames are likely your best bets.

Projects

Another way to get some idea of what groups people with these surnames might belong to is to enter the surname in the FamilyTreeDNA surname search.

Go to the main FamilyTreeDNA page, but DO NOT sign on.

Scroll down until you see this image.

Type the surname into the search box. You’ll see how many people have tested with that surname, along with projects where project administrators have included that surname indicating that the project may be of interest to at least some people with that surname.

Here’s a portion of the project list for Cohen, a traditional Jewish surname.

These results are for Muise, an Acadian surname.

Clicking through to relevant surname projects, and potentially contacting the volunteer project administrator can go a very long way in helping you gather and sift information. Clearly, they have an interest in this topic.

For example, here’s the Muise surname in the Acadian AmerIndian project. Two great hints here – Acadian heritage and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Repeat for the balance of surnames on your list to look for commonalities, including locations on the public project pages.

Locations

Some of the vendor match files include location information. Each person on your match list will have the opportunity at the vendor where they tested to include location information in a variety of ways, either for their ancestors or themselves.

Where possible, it’s easiest to sort or scan the download file for this type of information.

Ancestry does not provide or facilitate a match list, but you can still create your own for your closest 20 or 30 matches in a spreadsheet.

MyHeritage provides common surname and ancestral location information for every match. How cool is that!

Y DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and Endogamy

Haplogroups for both Y and mitochondrial DNA can indicate and sometimes confirm endogamy. In other cases, the haplogroup won’t help, but the matches and their location information just might.

FamilyTreeDNA is the only vendor that provides Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA tests that include highly granular haplogroups along with matches and additional tools.

23andMe provides high-level haplogroups which may or may not be adequate to pinpoint a haplogroup that indicates endogamy.

Of course, only males carry Y DNA that tracks to the direct paternal (surname) line, but everyone carries their mother’s mitochondrial DNA that represents their mother’s mother’s mother’s, or direct matrilineal line.

Some haplogroups are known to be closely associated with particular ethnicities or populations, like Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and some Jewish people.

Haplogroups reach back in time before genealogy and can give us a sense of community that’s not available by either looking in the mirror or through traditional records.

This Native American man is a member of high-level haplogroup Q-M242. However, some men who carry this haplogroup are not Native, but are of European or Middle Eastern origin.

I entered the haplogroup in the FamilyTreeDNA Discover tool, which I wrote about, here.

Checking the information about this haplogroup reveals that their common ancestor descended from an Asian man about 30,000 years ago.

The migration path in the Americans explains why this person would have an endogamous heritage.

Our tester would receive a much more refined haplogroup if he upgraded to the Big Y test at FamilyTreeDNA, which would remove all doubt.

However, even without additional testing, information about his matches at FamilyTreeDNA may be very illuminating.

The Q-M242 Native man’s Y DNA matches men with more granular haplogroups, shown above, at left. On the Haplogroup Origins report, you can see that these people have all selected the “US (Native American)” country option.

Another useful tool would be to check the public Y haplotree, here, and the public mitochondrial tree here, for self-reported ancestor location information for a specific haplogroup.

Here’s an example of mitochondrial haplogroup A2 and a few subclades on the public mitochondrial tree. You can see that the haplogroup is found in Mexico, the US (Native,) Canada, and many additional Caribbean, South, and Central American countries.

Of course, Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tell a laser-focused story of one specific line, each. The great news, if you’re seeking information about your mother or father, the Y is your father’s direct paternal (surname) line, and mitochondrial is your mother’s direct matrilineal line.

Y and mitochondrial DNA results combined with ethnicity, autosomal matching, and the wide range of other tools that open doors, you will be able to reveal a great deal of information about whether you have endogamous heritage or not – and if so, from where.

I’ve provided a resource for stepping through and interpreting your Y DNA results, here, and mitochondrial DNA, here.

Discover for Y DNA Only

If you’re a female, you may feel left out of Y DNA testing and what it can tell you about your heritage. However, there’s a back door.

You can utilize the Y DNA haplogroups of your closest autosomal matches at both FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe to reveal information

Haplogroup information is available in the download files for both vendors, in addition to the Family Finder table view, below, at FamilyTreeDNA, or on your individual matches profile cards at both 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA.

You can enter any Y DNA haplogroup in the FamilyTreeDNA Discover tool, here.

You’ll be treated to:

  • Your Haplogroup Story – how many testers have this haplogroup (so far), where the haplogroup is from, and the haplogroup’s age. In this case, the haplogroup was born in the Netherlands about 250 years ago, give or take 200 years. I know that it was 1806 or earlier based on the common ancestor of the men who tested.
  • Country Frequency – heat map of where the haplogroup is found in the world.
  • Notable Connections – famous and infamous (this haplogroup’s closest notable person is Leo Tolstoy).
  • Migration Map – migration path out of Africa and through the rest of the world.
  • Ancient Connections – ancient burials. His closest ancient match is from about 1000 years ago in Ukraine. Their shared ancestor lived about 2000 years ago.
  • Suggested Projects – based on the surname, projects that other matches have joined, and haplogroups.
  • Scientific Details – age estimates, confidence intervals, graphs, and the mutations that define this haplogroup.

I wrote about the Discover tool in the article, FamilyTreeDNA DISCOVER Launches – Including Y DNA Haplogroup Ages.

Endogamy Tools Summary Tables

Endogamy is a tough nut sometimes, especially if you’re starting from scratch. In order to make this topic a bit easier and to create a reference tool for you, I’ve created three summary tables.

  • Various endogamy-related tools available at each vendor which will or may assist with evaluating endogamy
  • Tools and their ability to detect endogamy in different groups
  • Tools best suited to assist people seeking information about unknown parents or grandparents

Summary of Endogamy Tools by Vendor

Please note that GEDMatch is not a DNA testing vendor, but they accept uploads and do have some tools that the testing vendors do not.

 Tool 23andMe Ancestry FamilyTreeDNA MyHeritage GEDMatch
Ethnicity Yes Yes Yes Yes Use the vendors
Ethnicity Painting Yes + segments Yes, limited Yes + segments Yes
Ethnicity Phasing Yes Partial Yes No
DNA Communities No Yes No No
Genetic Groups No No No Yes
Family Matching aka Bucketing No No Yes No
Chromosome Browser Yes No Yes Yes Yes
AutoClusters Through Genetic Affairs No Through Genetic Affairs Yes, included Yes, with subscription
Match List Download Yes, restricted # of matches No Yes Yes Yes
Projects No No Yes No
Y DNA High-level haplogroup only No Yes, full haplogroup with Big Y, matching, tools, Discover No
Mitochondrial DNA High-level haplogroup only No Yes, full haplogroup with mtFull, matching, tools No
Public Y Tree No No Yes No
Public Mito Tree No No Yes No
Discover Y DNA – public No No Yes No
ROH No No No No Yes

Summary of Endogamous Populations Identified by Each Tool

The following chart provides a guideline for which tools are useful for the following types of endogamous groups. Bolded tools require that both parents be descended from the same endogamous group, but several other tools give more definitive results with higher amounts of endogamy.

Y and mitochondrial DNA testing are not affected by admixture, autosomal DNA or anything from the “other” parent.

Tool Jewish Acadian Anabaptist Native Other/General
Ethnicity Yes No No Yes Pacific Islander
Ethnicity Painting Yes No No Yes Pacific Islander
Ethnicity Phasing Yes, if different No No Yes, if different Pacific Islander, if different
DNA Communities Yes Possibly Possibly Yes Pacific Islander
Genetic Groups Yes Possibly Possibly Yes Pacific Islander
Family Matching aka Bucketing Yes Yes Possibly Yes Pacific Islander
Chromosome Browser Possibly Possibly Yes, once segments or ancestors identified Possibly Pacific Islander, possibly
Total Matches Yes, compared to non-endogamous No No No No, unknown
AutoClusters Yes Yes Uncertain, probably Yes Pacific Islander
Estimated Relationships High Not always Sometimes No Sometimes Uncertain, probably
Relationship Range High Possibly, sometimes Possibly Possibly Possibly Pacific Islander, possibly
More, Smaller Segments Yes Yes Probably Yes Pacific Islander, probably
Parents Related Some but minimal Possibly Uncertain Probably similar to Jewish Uncertain, Possibly
Surnames Probably Probably Probably Not Possibly Possibly
Locations Possibly Probably Probably Not Probably Probably Pacific Islander
Projects Probably Probably Possibly Possibly Probably Pacific Islander
Y DNA Yes, often Yes, often No Yes Pacific Islander
Mitochondrial DNA Yes, often Sometimes No Yes Pacific Islander
Y public tree Probably not alone No No Yes Pacific Islander
MtDNA public tree Probably not No No Yes Pacific Islander
Y DNA Discover Yes Possibly Probably not, maybe projects Yes Pacific Islander

Summary of Endogamy Tools to Assist People Seeking Unknown Parents and Grandparents

This table provides a summary of when each of the various tools can be useful to:

  • People seeking unknown close relatives
  • People who already know who their close relatives are, but are seeking additional information or clues about their genealogy

I considered rating these on a 1 to 10 scale, but the relative usefulness of these tools is dependent on many factors, so different tools will be more or less useful to different people.

For example, ethnicity is very useful if someone is admixed from different populations, or even 100% of a specific endogamous population. It’s less useful if the tester is 100% European, regardless of whether they are seeking close relatives or not. Conversely, even “vanilla” ethnicity can be used to rule out majority or recent admixture with many populations.

Tools Unknown Close Relative Seekers Known Close Relatives – Enhance Genealogy
Ethnicity Yes, to identify or rule out populations Yes
Ethnicity Painting Yes, possibly, depending on population Yes, possibly, depending on population
Ethnicity Phasing Yes, possibly, depending on population Yes, possibly, depending on population
DNA Communities Yes, possibly, depending on population Yes, possibly, depending on population
Genetic Groups Possibly, depending on population Possibly, depending on population
Family Matching aka Bucketing Not if parents are entirely unknown, but yes if one parent is known Yes
Chromosome Browser Unlikely Yes
AutoClusters Yes Yes, especially at MyHeritage if Jewish
Estimated Relationships High Not No
Relationship Range High Not reliably No
More, Smaller Segments Unlikely Unlikely other than confirmation
Match List Download Yes Yes
Surnames Yes Yes
Locations Yes Yes
Projects Yes Yes
Y DNA Yes, males only, direct paternal line, identifies surname lineage Yes, males only, direct paternal line, identifies and correctly places surname lineage
Mitochondrial DNA Yes, both sexes, direct matrilineal line only Yes, both sexes, direct matrilineal line only
Public Y Tree Yes for locations Yes for locations
Public Mito Tree Yes for locations Yes for locations
Discover Y DNA Yes, for heritage information Yes, for heritage information
Parents Related – ROH Possibly Less useful

Acknowledgments

A HUGE thank you to several people who contributed images and information in order to provide accurate and expanded information on the topic of endogamy. Many did not want to be mentioned by name, but you know who you are!!!

If you have information to add, please post in the comments.

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FamilyTreeDNA DISCOVER™ Launches – Including Y DNA Haplogroup Ages

FamilyTreeDNA just released an amazing new group of public Y DNA tools.

Yes, a group of tools – not just one.

The new Discover tools, which you can access here, aren’t just for people who have tested at FamilyTreeDNA . You don’t need an account and it’s free for everyone. All you need is a Y DNA haplogroup – from any source.

I’m going to introduce each tool briefly because you’re going to want to run right over and try Discover for yourself. In fact, you might follow along with this article.

Y DNA Haplogroup Aging

The new Discover page provides seven beta tools, including Y DNA haplogroup aging.

Haplogroup aging is THE single most requested feature – and it’s here!

Discover also scales for mobile devices.

Free Beta Tool

Beta means that FamilyTreeDNA is seeking your feedback to determine which of these tools will be incorporated into their regular product, so expect a survey.

If you’d like changes or something additional, please let FamilyTreeDNA know via the survey, their support line, email or Chat function.

OK, let’s get started!

Enter Your Haplogroup

Enter your Y DNA haplogroup, or the haplogroup you’re interested in viewing.

If you’re a male who has tested with FamilyTreeDNA , sign on to your home page and locate your haplogroup badge at the lower right corner.

If you’re a female, you may be able to test a male relative or find a haplogroup relevant to your genealogy by visiting your surname group project page to locate the haplogroup for your ancestor.

I’ll use one of my genealogy lines as an example.

In this case, several Y DNA testers appear under my ancestor, James Crumley, in the Crumley DNA project.

Within this group of testers, we have two different Big Y haplogroups, and several estimated haplogroups from testers who have not upgraded to the Big Y.

If you’re a male who has tested at either 23andMe or LivingDNA, you can enter your Y DNA haplogroup from that source as well. Those vendors provide high-level haplogroups.

The great thing about the new Discover tool is that no matter what haplogroup you enter, there’s something for you to enjoy.

I’m going to use haplogroup I-FT272214, the haplogroup of my ancestor, James Crumley, confirmed through multiple descendants. His son John’s descendants carry haplogroup I-BY165368 in addition to I-FT272214, which is why there are two detailed haplogroups displayed for this grouping within the Crumley haplogroup project, in addition to the less-refined I-M223.

Getting Started

When you click on Discover, you’ll be asked to register briefly, agree to terms, and provide your email address.

Click “View my report” and your haplogroup report will appear.

Y DNA Haplogroup Report

For any haplogroup you enter, you’ll receive a haplogroup report that includes 7 separate pages, shown by tabs at the top of your report.

Click any image to enlarge

The first page you’ll see is the Haplogroup Report.

On the first page, you’ll find Haplogroup aging. The TMRCA (time to most recent common ancestor) is provided, plus more!

The report says that haplogroup I-FT272214 was “born,” meaning the mutation that defines this haplogroup, occurred about 300 years ago, plus or minus 150 years.

James Crumley was born about 1710. We know his sons carry haplogroup I-FT272214, but we don’t know when that mutation occurred because we don’t have upstream testers. We don’t know who his parents were.

Three hundred years before the birth of our Crumley tester would be about 1670, so roughly James Crumley’s father’s generation, which makes sense.

James’ son John’s descendants have an additional mutation, so that makes sense too. SNP mutations are known to occur approximately every 80 years, on average. Of course, you know what average means…may not fit any specific situation exactly.

The next upstream haplogroup is I-BY100549 which occurred roughly 500 years ago, plus or minus 150 years. (Hint – if you want to view a haplogroup report for this upstream haplogroup, just click on the haplogroup name.)

There are 5 SNP confirmed descendants of haplogroup I-FT272214 claiming origins in England, all of whom are in the Crumley DNA project.

Haplogroup descendants mean this haplogroup and any other haplogroups formed on the tree beneath this haplogroup.

Share

If you scroll down a bit, you can see the share button on each page. If you think this is fun, you can share through a variety of social media resources, email, or copy the link.

Sharing is a good way to get family members and others interested in both genealogy and genetic genealogy. Light the spark!

I’m going to be sharing with collaborative family genealogy groups on Facebook and Twitter. I can also share with people who may not be genealogists, but who will think these findings are interesting.

If you keep scrolling under the share button or click on “Discover More” you can order Y DNA tests if you’re a biological male and haven’t already taken one. The more refined your haplogroup, the more relevant your information will be on the Discover page as well as on your personal page.

Scrolling even further down provides information about methods and sources.

Country Frequency

The next tab is Country Frequency showing the locations where testers with this haplogroup indicate that their earliest known ancestors are found.

The Crumley haplogroup has only 5 people, which is less than 1% of the people with ancestors from England.

However, taking a look at haplogroup R-M222 with many more testers, we see something a bit different.

Ireland is where R-M222 is found most frequently. 17% of the men who report their ancestors are from Ireland belong to haplogroup R-M222.

Note that this percentage also includes haplogroups downstream of haplogroup R-M222.

Mousing over any other location provides that same information for that area as well.

Seeing where the ancestors of your haplogroup matches are from can be extremely informative. The more refined your haplogroup, the more useful these tools will be for you. Big Y testers will benefit the most.

Notable Connections

On the next page, you’ll discover which notable people have haplogroups either close to you…or maybe quite distant.

Your first Notable Connection will be the one closest to your haplogroup that FamilyTreeDNA was able to identify in their database. In some cases, the individual has tested, but in many cases, descendants of a common ancestor tested.

In this case, Bill Gates is our closest notable person. Our common haplogroup, meaning the intersection of Bill Gates’s haplogroup and my Crumley cousin’s haplogroup is I-L1195. The SNP mutation that defines haplogroup I-L1145 occurred about 4600 years ago. Both my Crumley cousin and Bill Gates descend from that man.

If you’re curious and want to learn more about your common haplogroup, remember, you can enter that haplogroup into the Discover tool. Kind of like genetic time travel. But let’s finish this one first.

Remember that CE means current era, or the number of years since the year “zero,” which doesn’t technically exist but functions as the beginning of the current era. Bill Gates was born in 1955 CE

BCE means “before current era,” meaning the number of years before the year “zero.” So 2600 BCE is approximately 4600 years ago.

Click through each dot for a fun look at who you’re “related to” and how distantly.

This tool is just for fun and reinforces the fact that at some level, we’re all related to each other.

Maybe you’re aware of more notables that could be added to the Discover pages.

Migration Map

The next tab provides brand spanking new migration maps that show the exodus of the various haplogroups out of Africa, through the Middle East, and in this case, into Europe.

Additionally, the little shovel icons show the ancient DNA sites that date to the haplogroup age for the haplogroup shown on the map, or younger. In our case, that’s haplogroup I-M223 (red arrow) that was formed about 16,000 years ago in Europe, near the red circle, at left. These haplogroup ancient sites (shovels) would all date to 16,000 years ago or younger, meaning they lived between 16,000 years ago and now.

Click to enlarge

By clicking on a shovel icon, more information is provided. It’s very interesting that I-L1145, the common haplogroup with Bill Gates is found in ancient DNA in Cardiff, Wales.

This is getting VERY interesting. Let’s look at the rest of the Ancient Connections.

Ancient Connections

Our closest Ancient Connection in time is Gen Scot 24 (so name in an academic paper) who lived in the Western Isles of Scotland.

These ancient connections are more likely cousins than direct ancestors, but of course, we can’t say for sure. We do know that the first man to develop haplogroup I-L126, about 2500 years ago, is an ancestor to both Gen Scot 24 and our Crumley ancestor.

Gen Scot 24 has been dated to 1445-1268 BCE which is about 3400 years ago, which could actually be older than the haplogroup age. Remember that both dating types are ranges, carbon dating is not 100% accurate, and ancient DNA can be difficult to sequence. Haplogroup ages are refined as more branches are discovered and the tree grows.

The convergence of these different technologies in a way that allows us to view the past in the context of our ancestors is truly amazing.

All of our Crumley cousin’s ancient relatives are found in Ireland or Scotland with the exception of the one found in Wales. I think, between this information and the haplogroup formation dates, it’s safe to say that our Crumley ancestors have been in either Scotland or Ireland for the past 4600 years, at least. And someone took a side trip to Wales, probably settled and died there.

Of course, now I need to research what was happening in Ireland and Scotland 4600 years ago because I know my ancestors were involved.

Suggested Projects

I’m EXTREMELY pleased to see suggested projects for this haplogroup based on which projects haplogroup members have joined.

You can click on any of the panels to read more about the project. Remember that not everyone joins a project because of their Y DNA line. Many projects accept people who are autosomally related or descend from the family through the mitochondrial line, the direct mother’s line.

Still, seeing the Crumley surname project would be a great “hint” all by itself if I didn’t already have that information.

Scientific Details

The Scientific Details page actually has three tabs.

The first tab is Age Estimate.

The Age Estimate tab provides more information about the haplogroup age or TMRCA (Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor) calculations. For haplogroup I-FT272214, the most likely creation date, meaning when the SNP occurred, is about 1709, which just happens to align well with the birth of James Crumley about 1710.

However, anyplace in the dark blue band would fall within a 68% confidence interval (CI). That would put the most likely years that the haplogroup-defining SNP mutation took place between 1634 and 1773. At the lower end of the frequency spectrum, there’s a 99% likelihood that the common ancestor was born between 1451 and 1874. That means we’re 99% certain that the haplogroup defining SNP occurred between those dates. The broader the date range, the more certain we can be that the results fall into that range.

The next page, Variants, provides the “normal” or ancestral variant and the derived or mutated variant or SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) in the position that defines haplogroup I-FT272214.

The third tab displays FamilyTreeDNA‘s public Y DNA Tree with this haplogroup highlighted. On the tree, we can see this haplogroup, downstream haplogroups as well as upstream, along with their country flags.

Your Personal Page

If you have already taken a DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA, you can find the new Discover tool conveniently located under “Additional Tests and Tools.”

If you are a male and haven’t yet tested, then you’ll want to order a Y DNA test or upgrade to the Big Y for the most refined haplogroup possible.

Big Y tests and testers are why the Y DNA tree now has more than 50,000 branches and 460,000 variants. Testing fuels growth and growth fuels new tools and possibilities for genealogists.

What Do You Think?

Do you like these tools?

What have you learned? Have you shared this with your family members? What did they have to say? Maybe we can get Uncle Charley interested after all!

Let me know how you’re using these tools and how they are helping you interpret your Y DNA results and assist your genealogy.

_____________________________________________________________

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You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an email whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase the price you pay but helps me to keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

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Top Ten RootsTech 2022 DNA Sessions + All DNA Session Links

The official dates of RootsTech 2022 were March 3-5, but the sessions and content in the vendor booths are still available. I’ve compiled a list of the sessions focused on DNA, with web links on the RootsTech YouTube channel

YouTube reports the number of views, so I was able to compile that information as of March 8, 2022.

I do want to explain a couple of things to add context to the numbers.

Most speakers recorded their sessions, but a few offered live sessions which were recorded, then posted later for participants to view. However, there have been glitches in that process. While the sessions were anticipated to be available an hour or so later, that didn’t quite happen, and a couple still aren’t posted. I’m sure the presenters are distressed by this, so be sure to watch those when they are up and running.

The Zoom rooms where participants gathered for the live sessions were restricted to 500 attendees. The YouTube number of views does not include the number of live viewers, so you’ll need to add an additional number, up to 500.

When you see a number before the session name, whether recorded or live, that means that the session is part of a series. RootsTech required speakers to divide longer sessions into a series of shorter sessions no longer than 15-20 minutes each. The goal was for viewers to be able to watch the sessions one after the other, as one class, or separately, and still make sense of the content. Let’s just say this was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done as a presenter.

For recorded series sessions, these are posted as 1, 2 and 3, as you can see below with Diahan Southard’s sessions. However, with my live session series, that didn’t happen. It looks like my sessions are a series, but when you watch them, parts 1, 2 and 3 are recorded and presented as one session. Personally, I’m fine with this, because I think the information makes a lot more sense this way. However, it makes comparisons difficult.

This was only the second year for RootsTech to be virtual and the conference is absolutely HUGE, so live and learn. Next year will be smoother and hopefully, at least partially in-person too.

When I “arrived” to present my live session, “Associating Autosomal DNA Segments With Ancestors,” my lovely moderator, Rhett, told me that they were going to livestream my session to the RootsTech page on Facebook as well because they realized that the 500 Zoom seat limit had been a problem the day before with some popular sessions. I have about 9000 views for that session and more than 7,400 of them are on the RootsTech Facebook page – and that was WITHOUT any advance notice or advertising. I know that the Zoom room was full in addition. I felt kind of strange about including my results in the top ten because I had that advantage, but I didn’t know quite how to otherwise count my session. As it turns out, all sessions with more than 1000 views made it into the top ten so mine would have been there one way or another. A big thank you to everyone who watched!

I hope that the RootsTech team notices that the most viewed session is the one that was NOT constrained by the 500-seat limited AND was live-streamed on Facebook. Seems like this might be a great way to increase session views for everyone next year. Hint, hint!!!

I also want to say a huge thank you to all of the presenters for producing outstanding content. The sessions were challenging to find, plus RootsTech is always hectic, even virtually. So, I know a LOT of people will want to view these informative sessions, now that you know where to look and have more time. Please remember to “like” the session on YouTube as a way of thanking your presenter.

With 140 DNA-focused sessions available, you can watch a new session, and put it to use, every other day for the next year! How fun is that! You can use this article as your own playlist.

Please feel free to share this article with your friends and genealogy groups so everyone can learn more about using DNA for genealogy.

Ok, let’s look at the top 10. Drum roll please…

Top 10 Most Viewed RootsTech Sessions

Session Title Presenter YouTube Link Views
1 1. Associating Autosomal DNA Segments With Ancestors Roberta Estes (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IHSCkNnX48

 

~9000: 1019 + 500 live viewers + 7,400+ Facebook
2 1. What to Do with Your DNA Test Results in 2022 (part 1 of 3) Diahan Southard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FENAKAYLXX4 7428
3 Who Is FamilyTreeDNA? FamilyTreeDNA – Bennett Greenspan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHFtwoatJ-A 2946
4 2. What to Do with Your DNA Test Results in 2022 (part 2 of 3) Diahan Southard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIllhtONhlI 2448
5 Latest DNA Painter Releases DNAPainter Jonny Perl (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLBThU8l33o 2230 + live viewers
6 DNA Painter Introduction DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpe5LMPNmf0 1983
7 3. What to Do with Your DNA Test Results in 2022 (part 3 of 3) Diahan Southard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hemY5TuLmGI 1780
8 The Tree of Mankind Age Estimates Paul Maier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjkL8PWAEwk 1638
9 A Sneak Peek at FamilyTreeDNA Coming Attractions FamilyTreeDNA (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9sKqNScvnE 1270 + live viewers

 

10 Extending Time Horizons with DNA Rob Spencer (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wppXD1Zz2sQ 1037 + live viewers

 

All DNA-Focused Sessions

I know you’ll find LOTS of goodies here. Which ones are your favorites?

  Session Presenter YouTube Link Views
1 Estimating Relationships by Combining DNA from Multiple Siblings Amy Williams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs1U0ohpKSA 201
2 Overview of HAPI-DNA.org Amy Williams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjNiJgWaBeQ 126
3 How do AncestryDNA® Communities help tell your story? | Ancestry® Ancestry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQNpUxonQO4 183

 

4 AncestryDNA® 201 Ancestry – Crista Cowan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbqpnXloM5s

 

494
5 Genealogy in a Minute: Increase Discoveries by Attaching AncestryDNA® Results to Family Tree Ancestry – Crista Cowan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAqwSCO8Pvw 369
6 AncestryDNA® 101: Beginner’s Guide to AncestryDNA® | Ancestry® Ancestry – Lisa Elzey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N2usCR86sY 909
7 Hidden in Plain Sight: Free People of Color in Your Family Tree Cheri Daniels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUOcdhO3uDM 179
8 Finding Relatives to Prevent Hereditary Cancer ConnectMyVariant – Dr. Brian Shirts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpwLGgEp2IE 63
9 Piling on the chromosomes Debbie Kennett https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e14lMsS3rcY 465
10 Linking Families With Rare Genetic Condition Using Genealogy Deborah Neklason https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b94lUfeAw9k 43
11 1. What to Do with Your DNA Test Results in 2022 Diahan Southard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FENAKAYLXX4 7428
12 1. What to Do with Your DNA Test Results in 2022 Diahan Southard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hemY5TuLmGI 1780
13 2. What to Do with Your DNA Test Results in 2022 Diahan Southard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIllhtONhlI 2448
14 DNA Testing For Family History Diahan Southard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCLuOCC924s 84

 

15 Understanding Your DNA Ethnicity Estimate at 23andMe Diana Elder

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT1OtyvbVHE 66
16 Understanding Your Ethnicity Estimate at FamilyTreeDNA Diana Elder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XosjViloVE0 73
17 DNA Monkey Wrenches Katherine Borges https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thv79pmII5M 245
18 Advanced Features in your Ancestral Tree and Fan Chart DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u5Vf13ZoAc 425
19 DNA Painter Introduction DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpe5LMPNmf0 1983
20 Getting Segment Data from 23andMe DNA Matches DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EBRI85P3KQ 134
21 Getting segment data from FamilyTreeDNA DNA matches DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWnxK86a12U 169
22 Getting segment data from Gedmatch DNA matches DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF11HEL8Apk 163
23 Getting segment data from Geneanet DNA Matches DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eclj8Ap0uK4 38
24 Getting segment data from MyHeritage DNA matches DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rGwOtqbg5E 160
25 Inferred Chromosome Mapping: Maximize your DNA Matches DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzd5arHkv64 688
26 Keeping track of your genetic family tree in a fan chart DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Hcno7en94 806

 

27 Mapping a DNA Match in a Chromosome Map DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A61zQFBWaiY 423
28 Setting up an Ancestral Tree and Fan Chart and Exploring Tree Completeness DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkJp5Xk1thg 77
29 Using the Shared cM Project Tool to Evaluate DNA Matches DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxhn9l3Dxg4 763
30 Your First Chromosome Map: Using your DNA Matches to Link Segments to Ancestors DNAPainter – Jonny Perl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzd5arHkv64 688
31 DNA Painter for absolute beginners DNAPainter (Jonny Perl) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwUWW4WHwhk 1196
32 Latest DNA Painter Releases DNAPainter (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLBThU8l33o 2230 + live viewers
33 Unraveling your genealogy with DNA segment networks using AutoSegment from Genetic Affairs Evert-Jan Blom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVpsJSqOJZI

 

162
34 Unraveling your genealogy with genetic networks using AutoCluster Evert-Jan Blom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTKSz_X7_zs 201

 

 

35 Unraveling your genealogy with reconstructed trees using AutoTree & AutoKinship from Genetic Affairs Evert-Jan Blom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmDQoAn9tVw 143
36 Research Like a Pro with DNA – A Genealogist’s Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Family Locket Genealogists https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYpLscJJQyk 183
37 How to Interpret a DNA Network Graph Family Locket Genealogists – Diana Elder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i83WRl1uLWY 393
38 Find and Confirm Ancestors with DNA Evidence Family Locket Genealogists – Nicole Dyer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGLpV3aNuZI 144
39 How To Make A DNA Network Graph Family Locket Genealogists – Nicole Dyer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLm_dVK2kAA 201
40 Create A Family Tree With Your DNA Matches-Use Lucidchart To Create A Picture Worth A Thousand Words Family Locket Genealogists – Robin Wirthlin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlRIzcW-JI4 270
41 Charting Companion 7 – DNA Edition Family Tree Maker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2r9rkk22nU 316

 

42 Family Finder Chromosome Browser: How to Use FamilyTreeDNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0_tgopBn_o 750

 

 

43 FamilyTreeDNA: 22 Years of Breaking Down Brick Walls FamilyTreeDNA https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/familytreedna-22-years-of-breaking-down-brick-walls Not available
44 Review of Autosomal DNA, Y-DNA, & mtDNA FamilyTreeDNA  – Janine Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJoQVKxgaVY 77
45 Who Is FamilyTreeDNA? FamilyTreeDNA – Bennett Greenspan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHFtwoatJ-A 2946
46 Part 1: How to Interpret Y-DNA Results, A Walk Through the Big Y FamilyTreeDNA – Casimir Roman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra1cjGgvhRw 684

 

47 Part 2: How to Interpret Y-DNA Results, A Walk Through the Big Y FamilyTreeDNA – Casimir Roman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgqcjBD6N8Y

 

259
48 Big Y-700: A Brief Overview FamilyTreeDNA – Janine Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IefUipZcLCQ 96
49 Mitochondrial DNA & The Million Mito Project FamilyTreeDNA – Janine Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zppv2uAa6I 179
50 Mitochondrial DNA: What is a Heteroplasmy FamilyTreeDNA – Janine Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeGTyUDKySk 57
51 Y-DNA Big Y: A Lifetime Analysis FamilyTreeDNA – Janine Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6NEU92rpiM 154
52 Y-DNA: How SNPs Are Added to the Y Haplotree FamilyTreeDNA – Janine Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQaYcroRwY 220
53 Family Finder myOrigins: Beginner’s Guide FamilyTreeDNA – Katy Rowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrJNpSv8nlA 88
54 Mitochondrial DNA: Matches Map & Results for mtDNA FamilyTreeDNA – Katy Rowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtA1j01MOvs 190
55 Mitochondrial DNA: mtDNA Mutations Explained FamilyTreeDNA – Katy Rowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awPs0cmZApE 340

 

56 Y-DNA: Haplotree and SNPs Page Overview FamilyTreeDNA – Katy Rowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOuVhoMD-hw 432
57 Y-DNA: Understanding the Y-STR Results Page FamilyTreeDNA – Katy Rowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCeZz1rQplI 148
58 Y-DNA: What Is Genetic Distance? FamilyTreeDNA – Katy Rowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ6wY6ILhfg 149
59 DNA Tools: myOrigins 3.0 Explained, Part 1 FamilyTreeDNA – Paul Maier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACgY3F4-w78 74

 

60 DNA Tools: myOrigins 3.0 Explained, Part 2 FamilyTreeDNA – Paul Maier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7qU36bIFg0 50
61 DNA Tools: myOrigins 3.0 Explained, Part 3 FamilyTreeDNA – Paul Maier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWlGPm8BGyU 36
62 African American Genealogy Research Tips FamilyTreeDNA – Sherman McRae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdbkM58rXIQ 153

 

63 Connecting With My Ancestors Through Y-DNA FamilyTreeDNA – Sherman McRae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbo1XnLkuQU 200
64 Join The Million Mito Project FamilyTreeDNA (Join link) https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/join-the-million-mito-project link
65 View the World’s Largest mtDNA Haplotree FamilyTreeDNA (Link to mtDNA tree) https://www.familytreedna.com/public/mt-dna-haplotree/L n/a
66 View the World’s Largest Y Haplotree FamilyTreeDNA (Link to Y tree) https://www.familytreedna.com/public/y-dna-haplotree/A link
67 A Sneak Peek at FamilyTreeDNA Coming Attractions FamilyTreeDNA (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9sKqNScvnE 1270 + live viewers

 

68 DNA Upload: How to Transfer Your Autosomal DNA Data FamilyTreeDNA -Katy Rowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS-rH_HrGlo 303
69 Family Finder myOrigins: How to Compare Origins With Your DNA Matches FamilyTreeDNA -Katy Rowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mBmWhM4j9Y 145
70 Join Group Projects at FamilyTreeDNA FamilyTreeDNA link to learning center article) https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/join-group-projects-at-familytreedna link

 

71 Product Demo – Unraveling your genealogy with reconstructed trees using AutoKinship GEDmatch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7_W0FM5U7c 803
72 Towards a Genetic Genealogy Driven Irish Reference Genome Gerard Corcoran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kx8qeNiVmo 155

 

73 Discovering Biological Origins in Chile With DNA: Simple Triangulation Gonzalo Alexis Luengo Orellana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcVby54Uigc 40
74 Cousin Lynne: An Adoption Story International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AptMcV4_B4o 111
75 Using DNA Testing to Uncover Native Ancestry Janine Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edzebJXepMA 205
76 1. Forensic Genetic Genealogy Jarrett Ross https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0euIDZTmx5g 58
77 Reunited and it Feels so Good Jennifer Mendelsohn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-hxjm7grBE 57

 

78 Genealogical Research and DNA Testing: The Perfect Companions Kimberly Brown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X82jA3xUVXk 80
79 Finding a Jewish Sperm Donor Kitty Munson Cooper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKRjFfNcpug 164
80 Using DNA in South African Genealogy Linda Farrell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXkbBWmORM0 141
81 Using DNA Group Projects In Your Family History Research Mags Gaulden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tX7QDib4Cw 165
82 2. The Expansion of Genealogy Into Forensics Marybeth Sciaretta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcEO-rMe3Xo 35

 

83 DNA Interest Groups That Keep ’em Coming Back McKell Keeney (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFwpmtA_QbE 180 plus live viewers
84 Searching for Close Relatives with Your DNA Results Mckell Keeney (live) https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/searching-for-close-relatives-with-your-dna-results Not yet available
85 Top Ten Reasons To DNA Test For Family History Michelle Leonard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B9hEeu_dic 181
86 Top Tips For Identifying DNA Matches Michelle Leonard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Oay_btNAI 306
87 Maximising Messages Michelle Patient https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TRmn0qzHik 442
88 How to Filter and Sort Your DNA Matches MyHeritage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmIgamFDvc8 88
89 How to Get Started with Your DNA Matches MyHeritage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPOzhTxhU0E 447

 

90 How to Track DNA Kits in MyHeritage` MyHeritage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W0zBbkBJ5w 28

 

91 How to Upload Your DNA Data to MyHeritage MyHeritage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ4RoZOQafY 82
92 How to Use Genetic Groups MyHeritage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtDAUHN-3-4 62
My Story: Hope MyHeritage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjyggKZEXYA 133
93 MyHeritage Keynote, RootsTech 2022 MyHeritage https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/myheritage-keynote-rootstech-2022 Not available
94 Using Labels to Name Your DNA Match List MyHeritage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJjdw1xlsk 139

 

95 An Introduction to DNA on MyHeritage MyHeritage – Daniel Horowitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I6LHezMkgc 60
96 Using MyHeritage’s Advanced DNA Tools to Shed Light on Your DNA Matches MyHeritage – Daniel Horowitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pez46Xw20b4 110
97 You’ve Got DNA Matches! Now What? MyHeritage – Daniel Horowitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl3UVksA-2E 260
98 My Story: Lizzie and Ayla MyHeritage – Elizbeth Shaltz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQv6C8G39Kw 147
99 My Story: Fernando and Iwen MyHeritage – Fernando Hermansson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-AR0M7fFE 165

 

100 Using the Autocluster and the Chromosome Browser to Explore Your DNA Matches MyHeritage – Gal Zruhen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7aQbfP7lWU 115

 

101 My Story : Kara Ashby Utah Wedding MyHeritage – Kara Ashby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbr_gg1sDRo 200
102 When Harry Met Dotty – using DNA to break down brick walls Nick David Barratt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SdnLuwWpJs 679
103 How to Add a DNA Match to Airtable Nicole Dyer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKxizWIOKC0 161
104 How to Download DNA Match Lists with DNAGedcom Client Nicole Dyer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9zTWnwl98E 124
105 How to Know if a Matching DNA Segment is Maternal or Paternal Nicole Dyer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zd5iat7pmg 161
106 DNA Basics Part I Centimorgans and Family Relationships Origins International, Inc. dba Origins Genealogy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI1yUdnSpHA 372
107 DNA Basics Part II Clustering and Connecting Your DNA Matches Origins International, Inc. dba Origins Genealogy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECs4a1hwGcs 333
108 DNA Basics Part III Charting Your DNA Matches to Get Answers Origins International, Inc. dba Origins Genealogy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzybjN0JBGY 270
109 2. Using Cluster Auto Painter Patricia Coleman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nfLixwxKN4 691
110 3. Using Online Irish Records Patricia Coleman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZsB0l4z4os 802
111 Exploring Different Types of Clusters Patricia Coleman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEZBFPC8aL4 972

 

112 The Million Mito Project: Growing the Family Tree of Womankind Paul Maier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpctoeKb0Kw 541
113 The Tree of Mankind Age Estimates Paul Maier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjkL8PWAEwk 1638
114 Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA Testing Plans Paul Woodbury https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akymSm0QKaY 168
115 Finding Biological Family Price Genealogy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xh-r3hZ6Hw 137
116 What Y-DNA Testing Can Do for You Richard Hill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a094YhIY4HU 191
117 Extending Time Horizons with DNA Rob Spencer (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wppXD1Zz2sQ 1037 + live viewers
118 DNA for Native American Ancestry by Roberta Estes Roberta Estes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbNyXCFfp4M 212
119 1. Associating Autosomal DNA Segments With Ancestors Roberta Estes (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IHSCkNnX48

 

~9000: 1019 + 500 live viewers + 7,400+ Facebook
120 1. What Can I Do With Ancestral DNA Segments? Roberta Estes (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suv3l4iZYAQ 325 plus live viewers

 

121 Native American DNA – Ancient and Contemporary Maps Roberta Estes (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFTl2vXUz_0 212 plus 483 live viewers

 

122 How Can DNA Enhance My Family History Research? Robin Wirthlin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3KKW-U2P6w 102
123 How to Analyze a DNA Match Robin Wirthlin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTL8NbpROwM 367
124 1. Jewish Ethnicity & DNA: History, Migration, Genetics Schelly Talalay Dardashti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIJyphGEZTA 82

 

125 2. Jewish Ethnicity & DNA: History, Migration, Genetics Schelly Talalay Dardashti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM3MCYM0hkI 72
126 Ask us about DNA Talking Family History (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv_RfR6OPpU 96 plus live viewers
127 1. An Introduction to Visual Phasing Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNhErW5UVKU

 

183
128 2. An Introduction to Visual Phasing Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRpQ8EVOShI 110

 

129 Common Problems When Doing Visual Phasing Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzFxtBS5a8Y 68
130 Cross Visual Phasing to Go Back Another Generation Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrrMqhfiwbs 64
131 DNA Basics Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCMUz-kXNZc 155
132 DNA Painter and Visual Phasing Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eh1L4wOmQ 155
133 DNA Painter Part 2: Chromosome Mapping Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgOJDRG7hJc 172
134 DNA Painter Part 3: The Inferred Segment Generator Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ai8nM4lzo

 

100
135 DNA Painter Part 4: The Distinct Segment Generator Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu-WIEQ_8vc 83
136 DNA Painter Part 5: Ancestral Trees Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYDeFLduKA 73
137 Understanding Your DNA Ethnicity Results Tanner Blair Tolman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tAd8jK6Bgw 518
138 What’s New at GEDmatch Tim Janzen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjA59BG_cF4

 

515
139 What Does it Mean to Have Neanderthal Ancestry? Ugo Perego https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DshCKDW07so 190
140 Big Y-700 Your DNA Guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIFC69qswiA 143
141 Next Steps with Your DNA Your DNA Guide – Diahan Southard (live) https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/next-steps-with-your-dna Not yet available

Additions:

142  Adventures of an Amateur Genetic Genealogist – Geoff Nelson https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/adventures-of-an-amateur-genetic-genealogist     291 views

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FamilyTreeDNA Keynote, RootsTech Wrap + Special Show Pricing Still Available

Am I ever whipped. My two live Sessions that were actually a series of three classes each took place on Friday. Yes, that means I presented 6 sessions on Friday, complete with a couple of Zoom gremlins, of course. It’s the nature of the time we live in.

RootsTech tried something new that they’ve never done before. The Zoom class sessions were restricted to 500 attendees each. RootsTech was concerned about disappointed attendees when the room was full and they couldn’t get in, so we live-streamed three of my sessions to Facebook in addition to the 500 Zoom seats.

As of this evening, 6,800 of you have viewed the Facebook video, “Associating Autosomal DNA Segments With Ancestors.” I’m stunned, and touched. Thank you, thank you. Here’s the Facebook link, and here’s the RootsTech YouTube link.

My afternoon sessions, “What Can I DO With Ancestral DNA Segments?” can be viewed here at RootsTech or here on YouTube.

I must admit, I’m really, REALLY looking forward to being together again because RootsTech without the socializing and in-person Expo Hall just isn’t the same. Still, be sure to take a virtual walk through the Expo Hall, here. There’s lots of content in the vendors” booths and it will remain available for all of 2022, until the beginning of RootsTech 2023..

Between prep for my classes and presenting, I didn’t have a lot of time to watch other sessions, but I was able to catch the FamilyTreeDNA keynote and their 2022 Product Sneak Peek. Both were quite worthwhile.

However, I just realized that FamilyTreeDNA’s special show pricing promo codes are still valid for the next two days.

 Special Prices Are Still Available

Every single test that FamilyTreeDNA offers, including UPGRADES, is on sale right now by using special RootsTech promo codes. These prices are good for two more days, through March 7th, so if you want to purchase a Y DNA test, mitochondrial, or Family Finder autosomal test, or upgrade, click here to see the prices only available at RootsTech (and to you through my blog.) It’s not too late, but it will be soon.

To order, click here to sign on or place your order.

FamilyTreeDNA’s Keynote

FamilyTreeDNA’s keynote was titled FamilyTreeDNA: 22 Years of Breaking Down Brick Walls.

I really enjoyed this session, in part because I’ve been a part of the genetic genealogy revolution and evolution from the beginning. Not only that, but I know every single person they interviewed for this video, and have for years. If you’ve been participating in genetic genealogy for some time, you’ll know many of these people too. For a minute, it was almost as good as visiting in person.

I’m going to share a few highlights from the session, but I’m also going to include information NOT in the video. I was one of the early project administrators, so I’ve been along for the ride for just a few months shy of 22 years.

FamilyTreeDNA was the first US company to enter the DNA testing space, the first to offer Y DNA testing, and the only one of the early companies that remains viable today. FamilyTreeDNA was the result of Bennett Greenspan’s dream – but initially, he was only dreaming small. Just like any other genealogist – he was dreaming about breaking down a brick wall which he explains in the video.

I’m so VERY grateful that Bennett had that dream, and persisted, because it means that now millions of us can do the same – and will into the future.

Bennett tells this better than anyone else, along with his partner, Max Blankfeld.

“Some people were fascinated,” Bennett said.

Yep, that’s for sure! I certainly was.

“Among the first genetic genealogists in the world.”

“Frontier of the genetic genealogy revolution.”

Indeed, we were and still are. Today’s genetic genealogy industry wouldn’t even exist were it not for FamilyTreeDNA and their early testers.

I love Max Blankfeld’s story of their first office, and you will too.

This IS the quintessential story of entrepreneurship.

In 2004, when FamilyTreeDNA was only four years old, they hosted the very first annual international project administrator’s conference. At that time, it was believed that the only people that would be interested in learning at that level and would attend a DNA conference would be project administrators who were managing surname and regional projects. How times have changed! This week at RootsTech, we probably had more people viewing DNA sessions than people that had tested altogether in 2004. I purchased kit number 30,087 on December 28, 2004, and kit 50,000 a year later on New Year’s Eve right at midnight!

In April 2005, Nat Geo partnered with FamilyTreeDNA and founded the Genographic Project which was scheduled to last for 5 years. They were hoping to attract 100,000 people who would be willing to test their DNA to discover their roots – and along with that – our human roots. The Genographic Project would run for an incredible 15 years.

In 2005 when the second Project Administrator’s conference was held at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington DC, I don’t think any of us realized the historic nature of the moment we were participating in.

I remember walking from my hotel, ironically named “Helix,” to that iconic building. I had spent my childhood reading those yellow magazines at school and dreaming of far-away places. As an adult, I had been a life-long subscriber. Never, in my wildest dreams did I imagine ever visiting Nat Geo and walking the marble Explorer’s Hall with the portraits of the founders and early explorers hanging above and keeping a watchful eye on us. We would not disappoint them.

That 100,000 participation goal was quickly reached, within weeks, and surpassed, leading us all to walk the road towards the building that housed the Explorer’s Hall, Explorers’ in Residence, and so much more.

We were all explorers, pioneers, adventurers seeking to use the DNA from our ancestors in the past to identify who they were. Using futuristic technology tools like a mirror to look backward into the dim recesses of the past.

The archaeology being unearthed and studied was no longer at the ends of the earth but within our own bodies. The final frontier. Reaching out to explore meant reaching inward, and backward in time, using the most progressive technology of the day.

Most of the administrators in attendance, all volunteers, were on a first-name basis with each other and also with Max, Bennett, and the scientists.

Here, Bennett with a member of the science team from the University of Arizona describes future research goals. Every year FamilyTreeDNA has improved its products in numerous ways.

Today, that small startup business has its own ground-breaking state-of-the-art lab. More than 10,000 DNA projects are still administered by passionate volunteer administrators who focus on what they seek – such as the history of their surname or a specific haplogroup. Their world-class lab allows FamilyTreeDNA to focus on research and science in addition to DNA processing. The lab allows constant improvement so their three types of genetic genealogy products, Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA.

Those three types of tests combine to provide genealogical insights and solutions. The more the science improves, the more solutions can and will be found.

If you watch the video, you’ll see 6 people who have solved particularly difficult and thorny problems. We are all long-time project administrators, all participate on a daily basis in this field and community – and all have an undying love for both genealogy and genetic genealogy.

You’ll recognize most of these people, including yours truly.

  • I talk about my mother’s heritage, unveiled through mitochondrial DNA.
  • Rob Warthen speaks about receiving a random phone call from another genealogist as his introduction to genetic genealogy. Later, he purchased a DNA test for his girlfriend, an adoptee, for Christmas and sweetened the deal by offering to “go where you’re from” for vacation. He didn’t realize why she was moved to tears – that test revealed the first piece of information she had ever known about her history. DNA changed her and Rob’s life. He eventually identified her birth parents – and went on to found both DNAAdoption.org and DNAGedcom.
  • Richard Hill was adopted and began his search in his 30s, but it would be DNA that ended his search. His moving story is told in his book, Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA.
  • Mags Gaulden, professional genealogist and founder of Grandma’s Genes and MitoYDNA.org tells about her 91-year-old adopted client who had given up all hope of discovering her roots. Back in the 1950s, there was literally nothing in her client’s adoption file. She was reconciled to the fact that “I would never know who I was.” Mags simply could not accept that and 2 years later, Mags found her parents’ names.

  • Lara Diamond’s family was decimated during the holocaust. Lara’s family thought everyone in her grandfather’s family had been killed, but in 2013, autosomal DNA testing let her to her grandfather’s aunt who was not killed in the holocaust as everyone thought. The aunt and first cousin were living in Detroit. Lara went from almost no family to a family reunion, shown above. She says she finally met “people who look like me.”
  • Katherine Borges founded ISOGG.org, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy in 2005, following the first genetic genealogy conference in late 2004 where she realized that the genealogy community desperately needed education – beginning with DNA terms. I remember her jokingly standing in the hallway saying that she understood three words, “a, and and the.” While that’s cute today, it was real at that time because DNA was a foreign language, technology, and concept to genealogy. In fact, for years we were banned from discussing the topic on RootsWeb. The consummate genetic genealogist, Katherine carries DNA kits in her purse, even to Scotland!

Bennett says that he’s excited about the future, for the next generation of molecular scientific achievements. It was Bennett that greenlit the Million Mito project. Bennett’s challenge as a genetic genealogy/business owner was to advance the science that led to products while making enough money to be able to continue advancing the science. It was a fine line, but Max and Bennett navigated those waters quite well.

Apparently, Max, Bennett, and the FamilyTreeDNA customers weren’t the only people who believe that.

In January 2021, myDNA acquired and merged with FamilyTreeDNA. Max and Bennett remain involved as board members.

Dr.Lior Rauchberger, CEO of myDNA which includes FamilyTreeDNA

Dr. Lior Rauchberger, the CEO of the merged enterprise believes in the power of genetics, including genetic genealogy, and is continuing to make investments in FamilyTreeDNA products – including new features. There have already been improvements in 2021 and in the presentation by Katy Rowe, the Product Manager for the FamilyTreeDNA products, she explains what is coming this year.

I hope you enjoyed this retrospective on the past 22 years and are looking forward to crossing new frontiers, and breaking down those brick walls, in the coming decades.

Sneak Peek at FamilyTreeDNA – New Features and Upcoming Releases

You can watch Katy Rowe’s Sneak Peek video about what’s coming, here.

Of course, while other companies need to split their focus between traditional genealogy research records and DNA, FamilyTreeDNA does not. Their only focus is genetics. They plan to make advances in every aspect of their products.

FamilyTreeDNA announced a new Help Center which you can access, here. I found lots of short videos and other helpful items. I had no idea it existed.

In 2021, customers began being able to order a combined Family Finder and myDNA test to provide insights into genealogy along with health and wellness

Wellness includes nutrition and fitness insights.

Existing customers either are or will be able to order the myDNA upgrade to their existing test. The ability to upgrade is being rolled out by groups. I haven’t had my turn yet, but when I do, I’ll test and let you know what I think. Trust me, I’m not terribly interested in how many squats I can do anymore, because I already know that number is zero, but I am very interested in nutrition and diet. I’d like to stay healthy enough to research my ancestors for a long time to come.

FamilyTreeDNA announced that over 72,000 men have taken the Big Y test which has resulted in the Y DNA tree of mankind surpassing 50,000 branches.

This is utterly amazing when you consider how far we’ve come since 2002. This also means that a very high number of men, paired with at least one other man, actually form a new branch on the Y haplotree.

The “age” of tester’s Y DNA haplogroups is now often within the 500-year range – clearly genealogical in nature. Furthermore, many leaf-tip haplogroups as defined by the Big Y SNPs are much closer than that and can differentiate between branches of a known family. The Big Y-700 is now the go-to test for Y DNA and genealogy.

Of course, all these new branches necessitate new maps and haplogroup information. These will be released shortly and will provide users with the ability to see the paths together, which is the view you see here, or track individual lines. The same is true for mitochondrial DNA as well.

Y DNA tree branch ages will be forthcoming soon too. I think this is the #1 most requested feature.

On the Mitochondrial DNA side of the house, the Million Mito project has led to a significant rewrite of the MitoTree. As you know, I’m a Million Mito team member.

Here’s Dr. Paul Maier’s branch, for example. You can see that in the current version of the Phylotree, there is one blue branch and lots of “child” branches beneath that. Of course, when we’re measuring the tree from “Eve,” the end tip leaf branches look small, but it’s there that our genealogy resides.

In the new version, yet to be released, there is much more granularity in the branches of U5a2b2a.

To put this another way, in today’s tree, haplogroup U5a2b2a is about 5,000 years old, but the newly defined branches bring the formation of Paul’s (new) haplogroup into the range of about 500 years. Similar in nature to the Y DNA tree and significantly more useful for genealogical purposes. If you have not taken a mitochondrial DNA full sequence test, please order one now. Maybe your DNA will help define a new branch on the tree plus reveal new information about your genealogy.

Stay tuned on this one. You know the Million Mito Project is near and dear to my heart.

2022 will also see much-needed improvements in the tree structure and user experience, as well as the matches pages.

There are a lot of exciting things on FamilyTreeDNA’s plate and I’m excited to see these new features and functions roll out over the next few months.

Just the Beginning

The three days of RootsTech 2022 may be over, but the content isn’t.

In fact, it’s just the beginning of being able to access valuable information at your convenience. The vendor booths will remain in the Expo Hall until RootsTech 2023, so for a full year, plus the individual instructor’s sessions will remain available for three years.

In a few days, after I take a break, I’ll publish a full list of DNA sessions, along with links for your convenience.

Thank You Shout Outs

I want to say a HUGE thank you to RootsTech for hosting the conference and making it free. I specifically want to express my gratitude to the many, many people working diligently behind the scenes during the last year, and frantically during the past three days.

Another huge thank you to the speakers and vendors whose efforts provide the content for the conference.

And special thanks to you for loving genealogy, taking your time to watch and learn, and for reading this blog.

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DNA from 459 Ancient British Isles Burials Reveals Relationships – Does Yours Match?

In December 2021, two major papers were released that focused on the ancient DNA of burials from Great Britain. The paper, A high-resolution picture of kinship practices in an Early Neolithic tomb by Fowler et al provided a genetic analysis of 35 individuals from a Cotswold Neolithic burial who were found to be a multi-generational family unit. In Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age by Patterson et, the authors generated genome-wide data for 793 ancient burials from the British Isles and continental Europe to determine who settled Great Britain, from where, and when.

Of course, the very first thing genealogists want to know is, “Am I related?”

If we are related, it’s far too distant for the reach of autosomal DNA, but Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA might just be very interesting. If you haven’t yet tested your mother’s line mitochondrial DNA for males and females both, and paternal line Y DNA for males only, you’re in luck because you can purchase those tests here.

These two papers combined provide a significant window into the past in Great Britain; England, Scotland, Wales, and nearby islands.

First, let’s take a look at the Cotswold region.

The Cotswolds

Ancient DNA was retrieved from a cairn burial in the Cotswolds, a hilly region of Southwest England.

By Saffron Blaze – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15675403

Even today, the paused-in-time stone houses, fences, and ancient gardens harken back to earlier times.

By Peter K Burian – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70384620

Stunningly beautiful and historically important, the Cotswolds is a protected landscape that includes Neolithic burial chambers (3950-2450 BCE), Bronze and Iron Age forts, Roman villas, and eventually, the Celtic pathway known as Fosse Way.

The Hazelton North Long-Tomb Burial Site

The Fowler paper explores the kinship practices and relationships between the Cotswolds burials.

Click to enlarge images

The North Hazelton site was endangered due to repeated plowing in a farmer’s field. Excavation of the tomb occurred in 1981. A book was published in 1990 with a pdf file available at that link. The photo from 1979 on page 3 shows that the burial cairn only looks to be a slight rise in the field.

You can see on the map below from the UK Megalithic site map that there are many other locations in close proximity to the Hazelton North site, some with similarly arranged burials.

The paper’s authors state that there are 100 long cairns within 50 km of Hazelton North, and one only 80 meters away. Excavation in those tombs, along with archaeological evaluation would be needed to determine the ages of the cairns, if burial practices were the same or similar, and if any of the individuals were related to each other or the individuals in the North Hazelton cairn. In other words, were these separate cemeteries of an extended family, or disconnected burial grounds of different groups of people over time.

While the North Hazelton site no longer exists, as it was entirely excavated, on the same page, you can see photos before excavation, along with the main chamber which now resides in the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, just a few kilometers away.

The Fowler team analyzed 35 individuals who lived about 5,700 years ago, at least 100 years after cattle and cereal cultivation was introduced to Britain along with the construction of megalithic monuments. Stonehenge, the most well-known megalith, is located about 90 miles away and is estimated to be about 5,100 years old. The burials from Stonehenge indicate that they were primarily Early European Farmers (EEF) from Anatolia who first moved to Iberia, then on to Britain.

The remains analyzed in this paper were excavated from the Hazelton North Megalithic long-cairn type tomb.

The tomb was built between 5,695 and 5,650 years ago, with the stonework of the north passage collapsing and sealing off the north chamber between 5,660 and 5,630 years ago. All burials stopped in this location about 5,620 years ago, so the site was only in use for about 80 years.

The tomb seems to have been built with multiple passages in anticipation of planned burials by genealogical association. The arrangement of burials was determined by kinship, at least until the passage wall of the North chamber collapsed. The southern and northern chambers each housed two females’ descendants, respectively. While the male progenitor was significant in that this entire tomb was clearly his family tomb, the arrangement of the burials within the chambers suggests that the women were socially significant in the community, and to their families as well.

Osteological analysis reveals at least 41 individuals, 22 of whom were adults. Strontium isotope analysis indicates that most of the individuals had spent time in their childhood at least 40 km away. Authors of a 2015 paper interpret this to mean that the population as a whole was not sedentary, meaning that they may have moved with their livestock from place to place, perhaps based on seasons. Of course, this also calls into question what happened if an individual died while the group was not in the location of the burial cairn.

Of those individuals, 27 people were part of a 5-generation family with many interrelationships.

Of the 15 intergenerational genetic transmissions, all were through men, meaning every third, fourth or fifth generation individual was connected to the original patriarch through only males, suggesting that patrilineal descent determined who was buried in a Neolithic tomb. This also tells us that patrilineal social practices were persistent.

26 of 35 people with genetic data were male. Male burials in other Cotswold tombs outnumber females 1.6 to 1. The remains of some women must have been treated differently.

No adult lineage daughters were present in the tomb, although two infant daughters were, suggesting that adult daughters were out-married, outside of either the community or this specific family lineage. They would have been buried in their husband’s tomb, just as these women were buried here.

The male progenitor reproduced with 4 females, producing 14 adult sons who were buried in the tomb. All four females were buried in the tomb, in two chambers, suggesting that women, at least high-status women were buried with their partners and not in their father’s tomb.

The lineages of two of those women were buried in the same half of the tomb over all generations, suggesting maternal lineages were socially important.

The burials included four men who did not descend from the male progenitors of the clan lineage but DID descend from women who also had children with the progenitors. The authors state that this suggests that the progenitor men adopted the four children of their mates into their lineage, but it also raises the possibility that the progenitor men were not aware that those four men were not their descendants.

Multiple reproductive partners of men were not related to each other, but multiple reproductive partners of women were.

Eight individuals found within the tomb were not closely related to the main lineages. This could mean that they were partners of men who did not reproduce, or who had only adult daughters. It could also mean they were socially important, but not biologically related to either each other nor the tomb’s family members whose DNA was sampled.

Of those who are related, inbreeding had been avoided meaning the parents of individuals were not related to each other based on runs of homozygosity (ROH).

Some of the remains from the north chamber had been gnawed by scavengers, apparently before burial, and three cremations were buried at the entrance including an infant, a child, and an adult. This might answer the question of what happened if someone died while the group was away from the burial site.

Individuals in the north tomb exhibited osteoarthritis typical of other burials in southern England, and signs of nutritional stress in childhood.

The south chamber burials were more co-mingled and dispersed among neighboring compartments.

In the Guardian article, World’s oldest family tree revealed in 5,700-year-old Cotswolds tomb, a genetic pedigree chart was drawn based on the burials, their relationship to each other, and burial locations.

As discussed in this PNAS paper, Megalithic tombs in western and northern Neolithic Europe were linked to a kindred society, other Neolithic tomb burials in Europe were also reflective of a kinship system.

The question remains, where did the Cotswold settlers come from? Who were they descended from and related to? The second paper provides insights to that question.

Who Migrated into Britain, and When?

Patterson et al tell us that their DNA analysis of 793 individuals increased the data from the Middle (1550-1150 BCE) to Late Bronze (1150-750 BCE) and Iron Age (70-BCE-43CE) in Britain by 12-fold, and from Western and Central Europe by 3.5 times.

They also reveal that present-day people from England and Wales carry more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers than people from the Early Bronze Age.

The DNA contributed from Early European Farmers (EEF) increased over time in people in the southern portion of Britain and Wales, which includes the Cotswold region, but did not increase in northern Britain (Scotland,) nor in Kent. Specifically, from 31% in the Early Bronze Age to 34% in the Middle Bronze Age to 35% in the Late Bronze Age to 38% in the Iron Age.

While the EEF DNA increased over time in the Southwest area of Britain, it decreased in other regions. This means that the increase could not be explained by migration from northern continental Europe in the medieval period because those early migrants carried even less Early European Farmer ancestry than the inhabitants of Southwest Britain. Therefore, if those two populations had admixed, the results would be progressively lower EEF in Southwest Britain, not higher.

To fully evaluate this data, the team sequenced earlier samples from both Britain and mainland Europe in addition to the Cotswold burials, targeting 1.2 million SNP locations.

In addition to DNA sequencing, they also utilized radiocarbon dating to confirm the age of the remains.

Results for low-coverage individuals, meaning those with less than 30,000 SNPs scanned at least once, were removed from the data set.

123 individuals were identified as related to each other from 48 families within the third degree. Third-degree relatives share approximately 12.5% of their DNA and would include first cousins, great-grandparents/children, granduncles/aunts, half uncles/aunts/nieces/nephews.

Lactase persistence, the ability to digest the lactose in milk was significantly higher in this population than in either the rest of Britain or Central and Western Europe by a factor of 5 or greater.

The DNA of the Cotswold burial groups and others found from this early timeframe in Southwest Britain and Wales is most similar to ancient burials from France.

A Eupedia megalithic culture page shows a map of various major megalithic sites in both Europe and the British Isles.

Based on charts in Figure 4 of the paper, the location in Europe with the highest percentage of EEF about 4300 years ago (2300 BCE) was the Iberian Peninsula – Spain and Portugal, a location that neighbors France. Lactase persistence began increasing about that time and dramatically rose about 3500 years ago (1500 BCE.)

Y DNA haplogroup R-L21/M529 went from 0% in the Neolithic era (3950-2450 BCE,) or about 5950-4450 years ago) in Britain to 90% in all of Britain in the Early Bronze Era (2450-1550 BCE or 4450-3550 years ago), then dropped slowly to about 70% in the Iron Age in Western England and Wales, then 50% in western Britain and Wales and 20% in Central and Eastern Britain in the Modern Era.

You can read more about this research in this Phys.org article: Geneticists’ new research on ancient Britain contains insights on language, ancestry, kinship, milk, and more about Megalithic burials in France in this Smithsonian Magazine article: Europe’s Megalithic Monuments Originated in France and Spread by Sea Routes, new Study Suggests.

Are You Connected?

The paper authors made the resequenced Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA information available for analysis.

Of course, we all want to know if we are connected with these people, especially if our families have origins in the British Isles.

The R&D team at FamilyTreeDNA downloaded the Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA sequences and linked them to mapped locations. They also correlated samples to Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and linked them to their respective public trees here and here. The Y DNA sometimes contained additional SNP information which allowed a more granular haplogroup to be assigned.

I want to specifically thank Goran Runfeldt, head of R&D, for making this valuable information available and useful for genealogists by downloading, reformatting, and mapping the data, and Michael Sager, phylogeneticist in the FamilyTreeDNA lab, for reanalyzing the Y DNA results and refining them beyond the papers.

Now, let’s get to the best part.

The Map

This map shows the locations of 459 ancient British Isles burials included in the papers, both in the Cotswolds and throughout the rest of Great Britain.

There are significantly more mitochondrial DNA haplogroups represented than Y DNA. Of course, everyone, males and females both have mitochondrial DNA, so everyone can test, but only males carry Y DNA.

The next map shows the distribution of the base mitochondrial haplogroups.

  • H=light green (181 samples)
  • U=rust (70 samples)
  • K=burgundy (68 samples)
  • J=yellow (46 samples)
  • T=dark green (43 samples)
  • V=grey (16 samples)
  • X=dark teal (9 samples)
  • I=orange (6 samples)
  • W=purple (6 samples)
  • N=brown (2 samples)

The most common mitochondrial haplogroup found is H which is unsurprising given that H is the most common haplogroup in Europe as well.

It’s interesting to note that there is no clear haplogroup distribution pattern for either Y DNA or mitochondrial  DNA, with the exception of the North Hazelton burials themselves as outlined in the paper.

There were only three ancient major Y DNA haplogroups discovered.

  • R=green (179 samples)
  • I=gold (50 samples)
  • G=blue (5 samples)

225 total samples were female and had no Y chromosome. A few male Y chromosomes were not recoverable.

Of course, some samples on the maps fall directly beneath other samples, so it’s difficult to discern multiple samples from the same location.

For that, and for more granular haplogroups, we need to refer to the data itself.

How to Use the Data

Each sample is identified by:

  • A sample ID from the papers
  • Sex
  • Location with a google map link.
  • Age calibrated to BCE, before current era, which means roughly how many years before about the year 1 that someone lived. To determine approximately how long ago one of these people lived, add 2000 to the BCE date. For example, 3500 BCE equates to 5500 years ago.
  • Y DNA haplogroup for male samples where recoverable, linked to FamilyTreeDNA’s public Y DNA haplotree.
  • Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup for all but 2 samples where mitochondrial results were not recoverable, linked to FamilyTreeDNA’s public mitochondrial DNA haplotree.

If you have tested your full sequence mitochondrial DNA, you can use the browser search function (ctrl+F) on a PC to search for your haplogroup. For example. Searching for haplogroup H61 produces 5 results. Click on the sample locations to view where they were found. Are they in close proximity to each other? In the same burial?

Four were found at the same location in the Channel Islands, and one in Kent. Where is your ancestor from?

For Y DNA, you can search for your haplogroup, but if you’ve taken the Big Y test and don’t find your specific haplogroup, you might want to use the Y DNA tree to search for successive upstream haplogroups to see where your closest ancient match might be found. Of course, if you’re haplogroup G, it’s pretty easy to just take a look without searching for each individual haplogroup. Just search for “G-“.

For each sample, be sure to click on the haplogroup name itself to view its location on the tree and where else in the world this haplogroup is found. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Sample: I26628 (Female)
Location: Channel Islands, Alderney, Longis Common
Age: 756-416 calBCE
mtDNA: H61

Mitochondrial haplogroup H61, above, is fairly rare and currently found sparsely in several countries including England, Germany, Hungary, Belarus, Ireland, Netherlands, the UK, and France. The flags indicate the location of FamilyTreeDNA testers’ earliest known ancestor of their mitochondrial, meaning direct matrilineal, line.

Click on the haplogroup link to view the results in the Y or mtDNA trees.

Next, let’s look at a Y DNA sample.

Sample: I16427 (Male)
Location: Channel Islands, Guernsey, Vale, Le Déhus
Age: 4234-3979 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-M423
mtDNA: X2b-T226C

Haplogroup I-M423 itself is found most frequently in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Scotland and Ireland, but note that it also has 648 downstream branches defined. You may match I-M423 by virtue of belonging to a downstream branch.

Do you match any of these ancient samples, and where were your ancestors from?

Sample: I26630 (Male)
Location: Channel Islands, Alderney, Longis Common
Age: 749-403 calBCE
mtDNA: H61

Sample: I16430 (Female)
Location: Channel Islands, Alderney, Longis Common
Age: 337-52 calBCE
mtDNA: H61

Sample: I16505 (Female)
Location: Channel Islands, Alderney, Longis Common
Age: 174-45 calBCE
mtDNA: H61

Sample: I26629 (Female)
Location: Channel Islands, Alderney, Longis Common
Age: 170 calBCE – 90 calCE
mtDNA: U5a1b1

Sample: I16437 (Female)
Location: Channel Islands, Guernsey, Vale, Le Déhus
Age: 4241-4050 calBCE
mtDNA: K1b1a1

Sample: I16444 (Male)
Location: Channel Islands, Guernsey, Vale, Le Déhus
Age: 4228-3968 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-FT376000
mtDNA: J1c1b1

Sample: I16429 (Male)
Location: Channel Islands, Guernsey, Vale, Le Déhus
Age: 3088-2914 calBCE
mtDNA: K1

Sample: I16425 (Female)
Location: Channel Islands, Guernsey, Vale, Le Déhus
Age: 3083-2912 calBCE
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I16438 (Male)
Location: Channel Islands, Guernsey, Vale, Le Déhus
Age: 2567-2301 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-L623
mtDNA: J1c8

Sample: I16436 (Male)
Location: Channel Islands, Herm, The Common
Age: 3954-3773 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-CTS7213
mtDNA: HV

Sample: I16435 (Male)
Location: Channel Islands, Herm, The Common
Age: 3646-3527 calBCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I16597 (Male)
Location: England, Bedfordshire, Broom Quarry
Age: 404-209 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF49
mtDNA: H1-C16355T

Sample: I21293 (Female)
Location: England, Bedfordshire, Broom Quarry
Age: 425-200 BCE
mtDNA: J1c1b

Sample: I11151 (Male)
Location: England, Bedfordshire, Broom Quarry
Age: 379-197 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FT44983
mtDNA: K1a-T195C!

Sample: I11150 (Male)
Location: England, Bedfordshire, Broom Quarry
Age: 381-197 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FT335377
mtDNA: H15a1

Sample: I19047 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Babraham Research Campus (ARC05), ARES site
Age: 1-50 CE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: H2a

Sample: I19045 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Marshall’s Jaguar Land Rover New Showroom (JLU15)
Age: 388-206 calBCE
Y-DNA: G-S23438
mtDNA: U4a2

Sample: I19046 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Marshall’s Jaguar Land Rover New Showroom (JLU15)
Age: 383-197 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H1t

Sample: I19044 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Marshall’s Jaguar Land Rover New Showroom (JLU15)
Age: 381-199 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FT50512
mtDNA: K1a-T195C!

Sample: I11152 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Over
Age: 355-59 calBCE
Y-DNA: G-Z16775
mtDNA: U3a1

Sample: I11149 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Teversham (Marshall’s) Evaluation
Age: 733-397 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z156
mtDNA: V

Sample: I11154 (Female)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Trumpington Meadows
Age: 743-404 calBCE
mtDNA: H5a1

Sample: I13729 (Female)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Trumpington Meadows
Age: 512-236 calBCE
mtDNA: H1ag1

Sample: I11153 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Trumpington Meadows
Age: 405-209 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FGC33066
mtDNA: H3b

Sample: I13727 (Female)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Trumpington Meadows
Age: 389-208 calBCE
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I13728 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Trumpington Meadows
Age: 381-179 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: T2a1a

Sample: I13687 (Female)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Trumpington Meadows
Age: 368-173 calBCE
mtDNA: W1c

Sample: I11156 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Whittlesey, Bradley Fen
Age: 382-200 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-CTS8704
mtDNA: J1c3

Sample: I11997 (Male)
Location: England, Cambridgeshire, Whittlesey, Bradley Fen
Age: 377-197 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FGC36434
mtDNA: X2b-T226C

Sample: I16620 (Female)
Location: England, Co. Durham, Hartlepool, Catcote
Age: 340 BCE – 6 CE
mtDNA: H1bs

Sample: I12790 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Tregunnel
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: H2a1

Sample: I12793 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Tregunnel
Age: 400-100 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H2a1

Sample: I12792 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Tregunnel
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: H2a1

Sample: I16387 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Trethellan Farm
Age: 300 BCE – 100 CE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: N/A

Sample: I16456 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Trethellan Farm
Age: 300 BCE – 100 CE
mtDNA: T1a1’3

Sample: I16455 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Trethellan Farm
Age: 300 BCE – 100 CE
Y-DNA: R-Z290
mtDNA: T1

Sample: I16386 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Trethellan Farm
Age: 300 BCE – 100 CE
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I16458 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Trethellan Farm
Age: 300 BCE – 100 CE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: T2c1d-T152C!

Sample: I16457 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Trethellan Farm
Age: 300 BCE – 100 CE
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I16450 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Newquay, Trethellan Farm
Age: 300 BCE – 100 CE
Y-DNA: R-FT32396
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I16424 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 2285-2036 calBCE
mtDNA: R1b

Sample: I6769 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 754-416 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY168376
mtDNA: H6a1b2

Sample: I16380 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 800 BCE – 43 CE
Y-DNA: R-ZP298
mtDNA: U4b1a1a1

Sample: I16388 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 800 BCE – 43 CE
mtDNA: J1c1

Sample: I16440 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 800 BCE – 43 CE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: T2c1d-T152C!

Sample: I16441 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 800 BCE – 43 CE
mtDNA: J1c2e

Sample: I16442 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 800 BCE – 43 CE
mtDNA: U4b1a1a1

Sample: I16439 (Female)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 800 BCE – 43 CE
mtDNA: T2c1d-T152C!

Sample: I12772 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, Padstow, St. Merryn, Harlyn Bay
Age: 800 BCE – 43 CE
Y-DNA: G-CTS2230
mtDNA: T2c1d-T152C!

Sample: I16453 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, St. Mawes, Tregear Vean
Age: 800-1 BCE
Y-DNA: I-M253
mtDNA: U5a2a1

Sample: I16454 (Male)
Location: England, Cornwall, St. Merryn, Constantine Island
Age: 1381-1056 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z290
mtDNA: U5b2b2

Sample: I20997 (Male)
Location: England, Cumbria, Ulverston, Birkrigg Common
Age: 2450-1800 BCE
Y-DNA: R-A286
mtDNA: X2b4a

Sample: I12776 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Brassington, Carsington Pasture Cave
Age: 1918-1750 calBCE
mtDNA: U4a2c

Sample: I12774 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Brassington, Carsington Pasture Cave
Age: 758-416 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H10b

Sample: I12771 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Brassington, Carsington Pasture Cave
Age: 513-210 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FT5780
mtDNA: U5b2a2a

Sample: I12778 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Brassington, Carsington Pasture Cave
Age: 381-203 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF5
mtDNA: H4a1a2

Sample: I3014 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Brassington, Carsington Pasture Cave
Age: 377-177 calBCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I12775 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Brassington, Carsington Pasture Cave
Age: 361-177 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY9405
mtDNA: U5a1b1e

Sample: I12770 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Brassington, Carsington Pasture Cave
Age: 390-171 calBCE
mtDNA: H3b1b1

Sample: I12779 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Brassington, Carsington Pasture Cave
Age: 370-197 calBCE
mtDNA: T2b4c

Sample: I20620 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 382-204 calBCE
mtDNA: T2a1b1

Sample: I20627 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 376-203 calBCE
mtDNA: V2b

Sample: I20623 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 400-150 BCE
mtDNA: V2b

Sample: I20624 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 356-108 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: U2e1a1

Sample: I20622 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 357-60 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3713
mtDNA: T2c1d1

Sample: I20634 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: K2b1a1a

Sample: I20630 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H1au1b

Sample: I20632 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: V2b

Sample: I20621 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: T2c1d1

Sample: I20631 (Female)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: V2b

Sample: I20628 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 351-52 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: I2a

Sample: I20626 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 346-53 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-P222
mtDNA: H7b

Sample: I20625 (Male)
Location: England, Derbyshire, Fin Cop
Age: 343-49 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I27382 (Male)
Location: England, Dorset, Long Bredy, Bottle Knap
Age: 774-540 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY116228
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I27383 (Female)
Location: England, Dorset, Long Bredy, Bottle Knap
Age: 750-411 calBCE
mtDNA: U4c1

Sample: I27381 (Female)
Location: England, Dorset, Long Bredy, Bottle Knap
Age: 748-406 calBCE
mtDNA: U4c1

Sample: I20615 (Female)
Location: England, Dorset, Worth Matravers, Football Field
Age: 100 BCE – 50 CE
mtDNA: H1i

Sample: I22065 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Burstwick
Age: 351-55 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H

Sample: I22052 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Coast Pipeline (field 16)
Age: 344-52 calBCE
mtDNA: U2e2a1a

Sample: I22060 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Coast Pipeline (field 9)
Age: 343-1 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY154824
mtDNA: H4a1a3a

Sample: I0527 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Riding, North Ferriby, Melton Quarry
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: U2e1

Sample: I0525 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Melton
Age: 100 BCE – 50 CE
mtDNA: U2e1e

Sample: I7629 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Ferriby, Melton Quarry
Age: 1201-933 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H17

Sample: I5503 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Nunburnholme Wold
Age: 334-42 calBCE
mtDNA: U5b1c2

Sample: I5502 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Nunburnholme Wold
Age: 196-4 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FT96564
mtDNA: H3

Sample: I11033 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 717-395 calBCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I14100 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 409-229 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: J1c9

Sample: I12412 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 387-205 calBCE
mtDNA: K1c1a

Sample: I5507 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 387-206 calBCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I5506 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 358-111 calBCE
mtDNA: K1c1a

Sample: I5504 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I5505 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: V16

Sample: I14103 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H53

Sample: I5510 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: K1c1a

Sample: I13755 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I5509 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-PH4760
mtDNA: K1c1a

Sample: I13758 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L2
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I14107 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-CTS6919
mtDNA: K1c1a

Sample: I13760 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I13751 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I13754 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: U5b2b3

Sample: I13757 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: T2c1d1a

Sample: I13756 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: K1c1a

Sample: I13753 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-Z251
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I14099 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I14101 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I14105 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I14102 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-FT84170
mtDNA: K1c1a

Sample: I14108 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: V2a

Sample: I14104 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H

Sample: I13759 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-BY3865
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I11034 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I12411 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I12415 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: J1c9

Sample: I12413 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-BY50764
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I12414 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H2a3b

Sample: I5508 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-BY11863
mtDNA: J1c9

Sample: I5511 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 400-50 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF63
mtDNA: J1c9

Sample: I13752 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 346-53 calBCE
mtDNA: J1c9

Sample: I14106 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Pocklington (Burnby Lane)
Age: 176 calBCE – 6 calCE
mtDNA: K1c1a

Sample: I18606 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, East Coast Pipeline (field 10)
Age: 1919-1742 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: K1b1a1

Sample: I19220 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, East Coast Pipeline (field 10)
Age: 1894-1695 calBCE
mtDNA: H3g1

Sample: I14326 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, East Coast Pipeline (field 13)
Age: 3074-2892 calBCE
mtDNA: H1c

Sample: I22056 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, East Coast Pipeline (field 16)
Age: 391-201 calBCE
mtDNA: H4a1a3a

Sample: I22055 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, East Coast Pipeline (field 16)
Age: 391-201 calBCE
mtDNA: K1b1a1c1

Sample: I14327 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, East Coast Pipeline (field 16)
Age: 340-47 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY41416
mtDNA: H5

Sample: I22064 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, East Coast Pipeline (field 16)
Age: 105 calBCE – 64 calCE
mtDNA: H4a1a3a

Sample: I22057 (Female)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, East Coast Pipeline (field 16)
Age: 104 calBCE – 65 calCE
mtDNA: H2a1k

Sample: I22062 (Male)
Location: England, East Riding of Yorkshire, Thornholme, Town Pasture
Age: 50 calBCE – 116 calCE
Y-DNA: R-BY23382
mtDNA: K1a-T195C!

Sample: I12931 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Bishop’s Cleeve, Cleevelands
Age: 50-200 CE
Y-DNA: I-L160
mtDNA: H6a2

Sample: I12927 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Bishop’s Cleeve, Cleevelands
Age: 50-200 CE
Y-DNA: R-PR1289
mtDNA: U5b3b1

Sample: I12932 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Bishop’s Cleeve, Cleevelands
Age: 50-200 CE
mtDNA: H1bs

Sample: I12791 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Bourton-on-the-water, Greystones Farm
Age: 200-1 BCE
Y-DNA: I-BY17900
mtDNA: H1e1a

Sample: I12785 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Bourton-on-the-water, Greystones Farm
Age: 200-1 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF21
mtDNA: J1c1b2

Sample: I12926 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Fairford, Saxon Way
Age: 400-100 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H2a2a2

Sample: I21392 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: 3710–3630 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-M284
mtDNA: J2b1a

Sample: I12439 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: K1b1a

Sample: I30304 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-L1195
mtDNA: K1b1a

Sample: I13888 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: N/A
mtDNA: K1b1a

Sample: I21388 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: U8b1b

Sample: I13892 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: 3910–3630 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: T2e1

Sample: I30334 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: N/A
mtDNA: K1a3a1

Sample: I21390 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: 3950–3630 calBCE
mtDNA: U8b1b

Sample: I30300 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: N1b1b

Sample: I13899 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North chamber
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3712
mtDNA: U3a1

Sample: I13893 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North entrance
Age: 3650–3380 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: K1a4

Sample: I13897 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North entrance
Age: 3500–3340 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3712
mtDNA: V

Sample: I13898 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North entrance
Age: 3700–3530 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: K1a3a1

Sample: I12437 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, North entrance
Age: 3790–3510 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: K1a3a1

Sample: I21389 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber
Age: 3720-3520 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I30311 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: U5b1-T16189C!-T16192C!

Sample: I21387 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber
Age: N/A
mtDNA: K1d

Sample: I12440 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: K2b1

Sample: I30302 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber
Age: N/A
mtDNA: K2b1

Sample: I13889 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber
Age: N/A
mtDNA: K1b1a1d

Sample: I13896 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber
Age: N/A
mtDNA: J1c1b1

Sample: I21395 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber, south entrance
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: J1c1b1

Sample: I13891 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber, south passage
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: U5b1-T16189C!-T16192C!

Sample: I12438 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South chamber, south passage
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-L1195
mtDNA: W5

Sample: I30293 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South entrance
Age: N/A
mtDNA: U5b1-T16189C!

Sample: I30332 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South entrance
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-CTS616
mtDNA: N/A

Sample: I21385 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South entrance
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-FT344600
mtDNA: K1d

Sample: I13895 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South entrance
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: U8b1b

Sample: I30301 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South entrance
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3712
mtDNA: U5a2d

Sample: I20818 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South entrance, south passage
Age: 3970–3640 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3712
mtDNA: J1c1

Sample: I13890 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South passage
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-L1193
mtDNA: T2e1

Sample: I21393 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South passage
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-L1195
mtDNA: K1b1a

Sample: I20821 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South passage
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: H5

Sample: I30299 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, South passage
Age: N/A
Y-DNA: I-Y3709
mtDNA: K2b1

Sample: I21391 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Hazleton North Long Cairn, Uncertain
Age: N/A
mtDNA: K1b1a1

Sample: I12786 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Lechlade-on-Thames, Lechlade Memorial Hall/Skate Park
Age: 2289-2052 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: J1c2

Sample: I12935 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Lechlade-on-Thames, Lechlade Memorial Hall/Skate Park
Age: 2200-1900 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF21
mtDNA: H1ah2

Sample: I12783 (Male)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Lechlade-on-Thames, Lechlade Memorial Hall/Skate Park
Age: 783-541 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF21
mtDNA: J1c5

Sample: I12787 (Female)
Location: England, Gloucestershire, Lechlade-on-Thames, Lechlade Memorial Hall/Skate Park
Age: 539-387 calBCE
mtDNA: H2a2a1

Sample: I13717 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Barton-Stacey Pipeline
Age: 398-208 calBCE
mtDNA: U5a1a1

Sample: I16611 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 401-208 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z16539
mtDNA: H1c

Sample: I17261 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 372-175 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF63
mtDNA: R0a

Sample: I20987 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 450-1 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF63
mtDNA: U5b2b3

Sample: I20985 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 450-1 BCE
mtDNA: U4a3a

Sample: I17262 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 357-57 calBCE
mtDNA: T2b

Sample: I20983 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 450-1 BCE
mtDNA: H3b-G16129A!

Sample: I20986 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 450-1 BCE
mtDNA: HV0-T195C!

Sample: I20982 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 450-1 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L20
mtDNA: J1c3

Sample: I20984 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 450-1 BCE
mtDNA: H1j6

Sample: I16609 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Middle Wallop, Suddern Farm
Age: 341-46 calBCE
mtDNA: J1c2e

Sample: I16612 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 658-397 calBCE
mtDNA: H3

Sample: I17267 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 450-100 BCE
mtDNA: V

Sample: I20988 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 450-100 BCE
Y-DNA: I-Y3713
mtDNA: T2b19

Sample: I17264 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 450-100 BCE
Y-DNA: R-BY4297
mtDNA: U2e1f1

Sample: I20990 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 362-171 calBCE
mtDNA: J1c1b1a

Sample: I17266 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 355-60 calBCE
mtDNA: U5b1b1-T16192C!

Sample: I20989 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 354-59 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: K1c1

Sample: I16613 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 351-54 calBCE
mtDNA: J1b1a1

Sample: I17263 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Nether Wallop, Danebury
Age: 346-52 calBCE
mtDNA: J1c1c

Sample: I17260 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Stockbridge, New Buildings
Age: 800-400 BCE
Y-DNA: R-S1051
mtDNA: U5a1a2a

Sample: I17259 (Male)
Location: England, Hampshire, Stockbridge, New Buildings
Age: 725-400 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-S16030
mtDNA: H5a1

Sample: I17258 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Stockbridge, New Buildings
Age: 542-396 calBCE
mtDNA: K1a2

Sample: I19042 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Winnall Down
Age: 715-48 calBCE
mtDNA: T2b33

Sample: I19043 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Winnall Down
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: J1c1

Sample: I19037 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Winnall Down
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: J1b1a1b

Sample: I19040 (Female)
Location: England, Hampshire, Winnall Down
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: H1m

Sample: I14742 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 1011-860 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H1-T16189C!

Sample: I14377 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 1014-836 calBCE
mtDNA: U5b1b1d

Sample: I14864 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 983-816 calBCE
mtDNA: T2b

Sample: I14862 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 982-812 calBCE
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I14865 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 967-811 calBCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I14861 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 912-808 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FGC23071
mtDNA: V

Sample: I14358 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 912-807 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H3

Sample: I14379 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 903-807 calBCE
mtDNA: T2c1d-T152C!

Sample: I14745 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 900-798 calBCE
mtDNA: X2b

Sample: I14743 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 779-524 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L151
mtDNA: I4a

Sample: I14381 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 727-400 calBCE
mtDNA: U5b2b1a1

Sample: I14857 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 719-384 calBCE
mtDNA: H3an

Sample: I14747 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 514-391 calBCE
mtDNA: H3

Sample: I14378 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 400-208 calBCE
mtDNA: I2

Sample: I14858 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 396-207 calBCE
mtDNA: J1c1

Sample: I14380 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 387-203 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FTB53005
mtDNA: T2e1

Sample: I14860 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 386-198 calBCE
mtDNA: X2b-T226C

Sample: I14859 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 377-203 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H7d3

Sample: I14866 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 372-197 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-BY152642
mtDNA: H1at1

Sample: I14863 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Cliffs End Farm
Age: 360-201 calBCE
mtDNA: U5b1b1-T16192C!

Sample: I13714 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 1533-1417 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-CTS6919
mtDNA: H1c8

Sample: I19915 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 1519-1422 calBCE
mtDNA: K1c1

Sample: I19913 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 1408-1226 calBCE
mtDNA: J1c2e

Sample: I13710 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 1411-1203 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF63
mtDNA: I4a

Sample: I13711 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 1048-920 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY28644
mtDNA: H61

Sample: I13712 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 1011-916 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: U5b2b3a

Sample: I13713 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 1055-837 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H1c

Sample: I19872 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 403-209 calBCE
mtDNA: H13a1a1

Sample: I13732 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 401-208 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-A7835
mtDNA: U5b2c1

Sample: I19873 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-BY3616
mtDNA: U5b2b

Sample: I13615 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H1c

Sample: I19907 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 400-200 BCE
mtDNA: U2e1a1

Sample: I19910 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 400-200 BCE
mtDNA: U4a2

Sample: I19911 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I19874 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 400-200 BCE
mtDNA: H1ax

Sample: I19908 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 400-200 BCE
mtDNA: K2b1a

Sample: I13731 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 393-206 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: U5a1a1g

Sample: I13730 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 390-202 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-S5668
mtDNA: H1bb

Sample: I19914 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 387-200 calBCE
mtDNA: H3g1

Sample: I19909 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 381-197 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY9003
mtDNA: T1a1-C152T!!

Sample: I19912 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 368-173 calBCE
mtDNA: H1bs

Sample: I13616 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 356-49 calBCE
mtDNA: H1b1-T16362C

Sample: I19870 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 200-1 BCE
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I19869 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, East Kent Access Road
Age: 175 calBCE – 8 calCE
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I1774 (Male)
Location: England, Kent, Isle of Sheppey, Neats Court
Age: 1879-1627 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: U4b1a2

Sample: I13716 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Margetts Pit
Age: 1391-1129 calBCE
mtDNA: H11a

Sample: I13617 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Margetts Pit
Age: 1214-1052 calBCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I18599 (Female)
Location: England, Kent, Sittingbourne, Highsted
Age: 43 calBCE – 110 calCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I3083 (Male)
Location: England, London, River Thames, Putney Foreshore
Age: 387-201 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: R

Sample: I16463 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Cockerham, Elbolton Cave
Age: 4000-3500 BCE
Y-DNA: I-L1195
mtDNA: H4a1a2

Sample: I16403 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Cockerham, Elbolton Cave
Age: 1600-1350 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: K2a

Sample: I16394 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Grassington, 3 Barrow Sites
Age: 2400-1600 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P297
mtDNA: K1c1

Sample: I16395 (Female)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Grassington, 3 Barrow Sites
Age: 2400-1600 BCE
mtDNA: U5b1

Sample: I16396 (Female)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Grassington, 3 Barrow Sites
Age: 2400-1600 BCE
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I16400 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Grassington, 3 Barrow Sites
Age: 2400-1500 BCE
Y-DNA: R-Z290
mtDNA: U3a1

Sample: I3035 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Ingleborough Hill, Fox Holes Cave
Age: 4000-3500 BCE
Y-DNA: R-A7208
mtDNA: H5a1

Sample: I12936 (Female)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Raven Scar Cave
Age: 1090-900 BCE
mtDNA: J1c5f

Sample: I16469 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Raven Scar Cave
Age: 1090-900 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H3-T152C!

Sample: I16467 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Raven Scar Cave
Age: 1090-900 BCE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: U5a1g1

Sample: I16459 (Unknown sex)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Raven Scar Cave
Age: 1090-900 BCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I19587 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Scorton Quarry
Age: 195 calBCE – 7 calCE
Y-DNA: G-L140
mtDNA: K2a

Sample: I14097 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Scorton Quarry
Age: 162 calBCE – 26 calCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: H66a1

Sample: I14096 (Male)
Location: England, North Yorkshire, Scorton Quarry
Age: 101 calBCE – 59 calCE
Y-DNA: R-FTA11009
mtDNA: H4a1a2a

Sample: I20583 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 387-201 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY175423
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I20582 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 368-165 calBCE
mtDNA: H10

Sample: I21272 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 400-100 BCE
Y-DNA: R-S5488
mtDNA: V

Sample: I21276 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I21277 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 400-100 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I21274 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I21275 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I21271 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: W1c

Sample: I20584 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Stanton Harcourt, Gravelly Guy
Age: 355-54 calBCE
mtDNA: K1a4a1

Sample: I14808 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 401-209 calBCE
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I14802 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 393-206 calBCE
mtDNA: X2d

Sample: I14807 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 391-204 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF49
mtDNA: T1a1

Sample: I14804 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 387-201 calBCE
mtDNA: H1o

Sample: I14806 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 386-198 calBCE
mtDNA: H1bb

Sample: I14800 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 382-197 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z253
mtDNA: J2b1

Sample: I14803 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 370-175 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H2a1

Sample: I14801 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 362-163 calBCE
mtDNA: X2b-T226C

Sample: I14809 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Thame
Age: 358-108 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: V7

Sample: I2446 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 2454-2139 calBCE
mtDNA: K1b1a1

Sample: I2448 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 1500-1000 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF63
mtDNA: U8a2

Sample: I20585 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 800-400 BCE
mtDNA: K1c1

Sample: I21180 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 396-209 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H7a1

Sample: I19209 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 400-200 BCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I19211 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I20589 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-Z52
mtDNA: V

Sample: I20586 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: J2b1a

Sample: I21178 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 400-200 BCE
mtDNA: T2b3-C151T

Sample: I21182 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-BY15941
mtDNA: J1c2

Sample: I21181 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H3

Sample: I20587 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 389-208 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF63
mtDNA: K1a2a

Sample: I19207 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 382-205 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: H

Sample: I21179 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 381-201 calBCE
mtDNA: T2b

Sample: I20588 (Male)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 366-197 calBCE
Y-DNA: G-BY27899
mtDNA: V

Sample: I19210 (Female)
Location: England, Oxfordshire, Yarnton
Age: 355-118 calBCE
mtDNA: H1cg

Sample: I3019 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Cheddar, Totty Pot
Age: 4000-2400 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: H4a1a-T195C!

Sample: I16591 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 408-232 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z290
mtDNA: H13a1a1

Sample: I11148 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 407-211 calBCE
mtDNA: U6d1

Sample: I13685 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 400-208 calBCE
mtDNA: U5a1b1e

Sample: I11147 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 392-204 calBCE
mtDNA: U5a1b1e

Sample: I16592 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 387-199 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FGC19329
mtDNA: U5a1b1e

Sample: I17014 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 381-179 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF63
mtDNA: U5b1b1d

Sample: I17015 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 380-197 calBCE
mtDNA: H2a2a1

Sample: I17016 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 377-178 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY3231
mtDNA: U2e1a1

Sample: I17017 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Christon, Dibbles Farm
Age: 196 calBCE – 5 calCE
mtDNA: U5b1-T16189C!

Sample: I19653 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L151
mtDNA: H1n6

Sample: I19856 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 400-200 BCE
mtDNA: R2’JT

Sample: I19654 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 400-200 BCE
mtDNA: H1c3a

Sample: I19652 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 395-205 calBCE
mtDNA: J1c2a2

Sample: I19656 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 387-198 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H5’36

Sample: I16593 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 382-197 calBCE
mtDNA: H7b

Sample: I13680 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 366-176 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: U5a2a1

Sample: I19655 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: H1c3a

Sample: I19855 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 400-100 BCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H1ak1

Sample: I19854 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: J1c2a2

Sample: I11993 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: J1c2a2

Sample: I11994 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 400-100 BCE
mtDNA: U5a2c3a

Sample: I19657 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 356-59 calBCE
mtDNA: H5s

Sample: I21315 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Ham Hill
Age: 173 calBCE – 5 calCE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: T1a1’3

Sample: I13684 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Meare Lake Village West
Age: 541-391 calBCE
mtDNA: W1-T119C

Sample: I11146 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Meare Lake Village West
Age: 400-200 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: J1c1c

Sample: I13682 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Mells Down, Kingsdown Camp
Age: 793-544 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY168376
mtDNA: H5a1

Sample: I6748 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Mendip, Hay Wood Cave
Age: 3956-3769 calBCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I11145 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, North Perrott, North Perrott Manor
Age: 166 calBCE – 14 calCE
Y-DNA: R-Z251
mtDNA: H1q

Sample: I11144 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, North Perrott, North Perrott Manor
Age: 149 calBCE – 65 calCE
Y-DNA: R-A9857
mtDNA: H5’36

Sample: I5365 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, Priddy
Age: 103 calBCE – 107 calCE
mtDNA: U5a1b1e

Sample: I11995 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, South Cadbury, Cadbury Castle
Age: 742-399 calBCE
mtDNA: H2a5

Sample: I21303 (Female)
Location: England, Somerset, South Cadbury, Cadbury Castle
Age: 153 calBCE – 25 calCE
mtDNA: H2a5

Sample: I21302 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, South Cadbury, Cadbury Castle
Age: 46 calBCE – 117 calCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: K1a-T195C!

Sample: I6776 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Storgoursey, Wick Barrow
Age: 2400-2000 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: R

Sample: I21306 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Tickenham, Diamond Cottage
Age: 2200-1400 BCE
Y-DNA: R-BY31082
mtDNA: H1an1

Sample: I21305 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Weston-super-Mare, Grove Park Road
Age: 800 BCE – 100 CE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I16596 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Worlebury
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H3b-G16129A!

Sample: I13681 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Worlebury
Age: 400-50 BCE
mtDNA: H3b-G16129A!

Sample: I11143 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Worlebury
Age: 352-53 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FT5780
mtDNA: H3b-G16129A!

Sample: I13726 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Worlebury
Age: 351-52 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY23964
mtDNA: H13a1a1

Sample: I11991 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Worlebury
Age: 349-50 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H3b-G16129A!

Sample: I11992 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Worlebury
Age: 343-50 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H3b-G16129A!

Sample: I11142 (Male)
Location: England, Somerset, Worlebury
Age: 197-44 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-PR1289
mtDNA: H3b-G16129A!

Sample: I16619 (Male)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Bevendean
Age: 361-106 calBCE
mtDNA: H49

Sample: I16617 (Female)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Black Rock
Age: 777-516 calBCE
mtDNA: H4a1a1a

Sample: I16615 (Female)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Coldean Lane, Varley Hall
Age: 1259-912 calBCE
mtDNA: K1c1

Sample: I14543 (Female)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Ditchling Road
Age: 2450-1600 BCE
mtDNA: K1a4a1g

Sample: I16616 (Female)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Mile Oak
Age: 1410-1227 calBCE
mtDNA: H13a1a1

Sample: I14552 (Male)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Moulsecoomb
Age: 92 calBCE – 110 calCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: J1c2

Sample: I14553 (Male)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Roedean Crescent
Age: 1954-1749 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-S15808
mtDNA: H5c

Sample: I14551 (Female)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Slonk Hill
Age: 514-234 calBCE
mtDNA: H6a1a

Sample: I7632 (Male)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Slonk Hill
Age: 391-203 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-CTS4528
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I14550 (Female)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Slonk Hill
Age: 700 BCE – 900 CE
mtDNA: H3-T152C!

Sample: I16618 (Female)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Surrendon Road
Age: 787-544 calBCE
mtDNA: K1a4

Sample: I14549 (Female)
Location: England, Sussex, Brighton, Woodingdean
Age: 401-208 calBCE
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I27379 (Male)
Location: England, Sussex, North Bersted
Age: 174-51 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FGC56332
mtDNA: H7d

Sample: I27380 (Male)
Location: England, Sussex, Westbourne, ‘Racton Man’
Age: 2453-2146 cal BCE
Y-DNA: R-Z290
mtDNA: H3k1

Sample: I2611 (Male)
Location: England, Tyne and Wear, Blaydon, Summerhill
Age: 3092-2905 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: U5a2d1

Sample: I14837 (Female)
Location: England, West Yorkshire, Dalton Parlours
Age: 381 calBCE – 6 calCE
mtDNA: K1a4a1c

Sample: I14347 (Male)
Location: England, West Yorkshire, Wattle Syke
Age: 371-176 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF23
mtDNA: K2a

Sample: I14348 (Female)
Location: England, West Yorkshire, Wattle Syke
Age: 368-173 calBCE
mtDNA: U3a1c

Sample: I14353 (Male)
Location: England, West Yorkshire, Wattle Syke
Age: 349-51 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: U5b2a1a1

Sample: I14352 (Female)
Location: England, West Yorkshire, Wattle Syke
Age: 193-6 calBCE
mtDNA: K2a

Sample: I14351 (Female)
Location: England, West Yorkshire, Wattle Syke
Age: 193-6 calBCE
mtDNA: K2a

Sample: I14359 (Male)
Location: England, West Yorkshire, Wattle Syke
Age: 200 BCE – 100 CE
mtDNA: J1c1

Sample: I14360 (Female)
Location: England, West Yorkshire, Wattle Syke
Age: 151 calBCE – 62 calCE
mtDNA: J1c1

Sample: I14200 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 2470-2239 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L151
mtDNA: K1b1a

Sample: I2565 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 2456-2146 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: W1-T119C

Sample: I2419 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 2393-2144 calBCE
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I2598 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 2139-1950 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: H

Sample: I19287 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 761-422 calBCE
mtDNA: K1b1a

Sample: I16602 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 734-403 calBCE
mtDNA: H1aq

Sample: I16600 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 713-381 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: T2b1

Sample: I16599 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 411-208 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: T2b1

Sample: I16601 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Amesbury Down
Age: 343-43 calBCE
mtDNA: H17

Sample: I21309 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Battlesbury Bowl
Age: 354-57 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-FGC33840
mtDNA: X2b-T226C

Sample: I21307 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Battlesbury Bowl
Age: 346-52 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: H7d

Sample: I21310 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Battlesbury Bowl
Age: 386 calBCE – 58 calCE
mtDNA: U4c1

Sample: I21311 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Battlesbury Bowl
Age: 336-49 calBCE
mtDNA: H16-T152C!

Sample: I21308 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Battlesbury Bowl
Age: 356 calBCE – 110 calCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: J1c1b

Sample: I21313 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Casterley Camp
Age: 354-57 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H3g

Sample: I21312 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Casterley Camp
Age: 343-51 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY129194
mtDNA: J1b1a1

Sample: I21314 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Casterley Camp
Age: 342-51 calBCE
mtDNA: V23

Sample: I16595 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Longbridge Deverill, Cow Down
Age: 387-204 calBCE
mtDNA: T2b9

Sample: I12608 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Potterne, Blackberry Field
Age: 1055-904 calBCE
mtDNA: H3ap

Sample: I12614 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Potterne, Blackberry Field
Age: 1100-800 BCE
mtDNA: K1a1b1

Sample: I12612 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Potterne, Blackberry Field
Age: 1100-800 BCE
mtDNA: U1a1a

Sample: I12611 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Potterne, Blackberry Field
Age: 1100-800 BCE
mtDNA: I2

Sample: I12613 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Potterne, Blackberry Field
Age: 1100-800 BCE
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I12624 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Potterne, Blackberry Field
Age: 900-800 BCE
mtDNA: H3

Sample: I12610 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Potterne, Blackberry Field
Age: 765-489 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: J1c1

Sample: I19858 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 1532-1431 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z290
mtDNA: J2b1a

Sample: I19857 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 1518-1425 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L617
mtDNA: J2b1a

Sample: I19859 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 1504-1403 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-S2497
mtDNA: H3

Sample: I19860 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 1503-1401 calBCE
mtDNA: T2b21

Sample: I19867 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 780-541 calBCE
mtDNA: H3-T16311C!

Sample: I19861 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 779-541 calBCE
mtDNA: U2e2a1c

Sample: I13688 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 775-516 calBCE
mtDNA: H1-C16239T

Sample: I19868 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 771-476 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: T2e1a

Sample: I19862 (Female)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 767-423 calBCE
mtDNA: H5a1f

Sample: I13689 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 753-411 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-BY4297
mtDNA: K1a3a

Sample: I13690 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 750-408 calBCE
mtDNA: H1b3

Sample: I19863 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Rowbarrow
Age: 460-382 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: N1a1a1a2

Sample: I4949 (Male)
Location: England, Wiltshire, Winterbourne Monkton, North Millbarrow
Age: 3624-3376 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-M284
mtDNA: T2b

Sample: I8582 (Female)
Location: Isle of Man, Rushen, Strandhall
Age: 2195-1973 calBCE
mtDNA: H2a1e1

Sample: I12312 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Argyll and Bute, Isle of Ulva, Ulva Cave
Age: 3751-3636 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-P214
mtDNA: K1a-T195C!

Sample: I12314 (Female)
Location: Scotland, Argyll and Bute, Oban, Carding Mill Bay II
Age: 3647-3533 calBCE
mtDNA: T2b

Sample: I12313 (Female)
Location: Scotland, Argyll and Bute, Oban, Carding Mill Bay II
Age: 3700-3350 BCE
mtDNA: T2b

Sample: I12317 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Argyll and Bute, Oban, Carding Mill Bay II
Age: 3629-3377 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-A8742
mtDNA: H5

Sample: I2658 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Argyll and Bute, Oban, Macarthur Cave
Age: 4000-3700 BCE
mtDNA: W1-T119C

Sample: I3137 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Argyll and Bute, Oban, Raschoille Cave
Age: 3800-3000 BCE
Y-DNA: I-S2599
mtDNA: HV0-T195C!

Sample: I3139 (Female)
Location: Scotland, Argyll and Bute, Oban, Raschoille Cave
Age: 3800-3000 BCE
mtDNA: H45

Sample: I16498 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 750-404 calBCE
mtDNA: H2a1

Sample: I2692 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 727-396 calBCE
mtDNA: H2a1

Sample: I16422 (Male)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 364-121 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L151
mtDNA: H3-T152C!

Sample: I2695 (Male)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 364-121 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H2a1

Sample: I2694 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 361-110 calBCE
mtDNA: H1ak1

Sample: I2696 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 355-55 calBCE
mtDNA: U5a2b4a

Sample: I16503 (Male)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 349-51 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z30597
mtDNA: H1ak1

Sample: I16416 (Male)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 346-51 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z30597
mtDNA: H3-T152C!

Sample: I2693 (Male)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 197 calBCE – 1 calCE
Y-DNA: R-P310
mtDNA: H3-T152C!

Sample: I16504 (Male)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Broxmouth
Age: 42 calBCE – 116 calCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: H1as

Sample: I16448 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Innerwick, Thurston Mains
Age: 2337-2138 calBCE
mtDNA: K1b1a1

Sample: I5471 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Innerwick, Thurston Mains
Age: 2269-1985 calBCE
mtDNA: H1c3a

Sample: I2413 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, Innerwick, Thurston Mains
Age: 2114-1900 calBCE
mtDNA: H1a1

Sample: I16499 (Male)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, North Berwick, Law Road
Age: 337-43 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-ZP18
mtDNA: I2a

Sample: I16495 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, North Berwick, Law Road
Age: 196 calBCE – 3 calCE
mtDNA: H6a1a8

Sample: I16418 (Male)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, North Berwick, Law Road
Age: 97 calBCE – 107 calCE
Y-DNA: I-L1195
mtDNA: U5a1d2a

Sample: I16413 (Female)
Location: Scotland, East Lothian, North Berwick, Law Road
Age: 44 calBCE – 117 calCE
mtDNA: H6a1a8

Sample: I2569 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Eweford Cottages
Age: 2140-1901 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: K1a3a

Sample: I3567 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Highland, Applecross
Age: 173 calBCE – 8 calCE
Y-DNA: R-FT221759
mtDNA: J1c3b

Sample: I3566 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Highland, Applecross
Age: 170 calBCE – 10 calCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H13a1a

Sample: I3568 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Highland, Applecross
Age: 42 calBCE – 119 calCE
Y-DNA: R-A277
mtDNA: H7a1

Sample: I19286 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Highland, Embo
Age: 3331-3022 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-M170
mtDNA: J1c1

Sample: I2824 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Isle of Harris, Northton
Age: 41 calBCE – 121 calCE
Y-DNA: R-M269
mtDNA: H13a1a

Sample: I2656 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Longniddry, Grainfoot
Age: 1283-940 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: H2a2a2

Sample: I2983 (Female)
Location: Scotland, Orkney, Bu
Age: 399-207 calBCE
mtDNA: U2e2a1c

Sample: I2982 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Orkney, Bu
Age: 395-207 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-Z16400
mtDNA: H7a1

Sample: I2799 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Orkney, Howe of Howe
Age: 152 calBCE – 22 calCE
Y-DNA: R-DF49
mtDNA: H1

Sample: I2629 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Orkney, Isbister
Age: 3350-2350 BCE
Y-DNA: I-L161
mtDNA: J1c1b

Sample: I2796 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Orkney, Point of Cott
Age: 3706-3536 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-FGC7113
mtDNA: H3

Sample: I5474 (Female)
Location: Scotland, Scottish Borders, Cumledge (Auchencraw Park)
Age: 151 calBCE – 77 calCE
mtDNA: K1a26

Sample: I2699 (Male)
Location: Scotland, South Uist, Hornish Point
Age: 159 calBCE – 26 calCE
mtDNA: V10

Sample: I16412 (Male)
Location: Scotland, Stirling, Coneypark Cairn (Cist 1)
Age: 2134-2056 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-CTS616
mtDNA: R

Sample: I27384 (Male)
Location: Scotland, West Lothian, House of Binns
Age: 90 calBCE – 110 calCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: H2a2a1g

Sample: I27385 (Male)
Location: Scotland, West Lothian, House of Binns
Age: 43 calBCE – 117 calCE
Y-DNA: R-L1066
mtDNA: T2b19

Sample: I16475 (Male)
Location: Wales, Clwyd, Dinorben
Age: 550-1 BCE
Y-DNA: R-P312
mtDNA: X2b

Sample: I16514 (Female)
Location: Wales, Clwyd, Dinorben
Age: 550-1 BCE
mtDNA: HV0

Sample: I16410 (Female)
Location: Wales, Clwyd, Dinorben
Age: 550-1 BCE
mtDNA: T2b

Sample: I16479 (Unknown sex)
Location: Wales, Conwy, Llandudno, Little Ormes Head, Ogof Rhiwledyn
Age: 1500-1100 BCE
mtDNA: H

Sample: I16491 (Male)
Location: Wales, Denbighshire, Llanferres, Orchid Cave
Age: 2876-2680 calBCE
Y-DNA: I-L1195
mtDNA: U5b2b

Sample: I6771 (Female)
Location: Wales, Glamorgan, Llantwit Major, Llanmaes
Age: 169 calBCE – 2 calCE
mtDNA: U4b1a

Sample: I16471 (Female)
Location: Wales, Glamorgan, Llantwit Major, Llanmaes
Age: 200 BCE – 50 CE
mtDNA: H2a

Sample: I16405 (Male)
Location: Wales, Glamorgan, RAF St Athan
Age: 397-205 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-DF13
mtDNA: K1a-T195C!

Sample: I5440 (Male)
Location: Wales, Glamorgan, St. Fagan’s
Age: 1500-1322 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L151
mtDNA: K1c1

Sample: I2574 (Female)
Location: Wales, North Wales, Llandudno, Great Orme
Age: 1417-1226 calBCE
mtDNA: U5a1a2b

Sample: I16476 (Female)
Location: Wales, West Glamorgan, Gower Peninsula, Port Eynon, Culver Hole Cave
Age: 1600-1200 BCE
mtDNA: H24

Sample: I16488 (Male)
Location: Wales, West Glamorgan, Gower Peninsula, Port Eynon, Culver Hole Cave
Age: 1201-1015 calBCE
Y-DNA: R-L21
mtDNA: U5a1b1

_____________________________________________________________

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Y DNA Tree of Mankind Reaches 50,000 Branches

Today is a really, REALLY big day in the genetic genealogy world.

The Y DNA tree of mankind at FamilyTreeDNA has reached 50,000 branches. That’s quite a milestone!

There’s been remarkably rapid growth in the past three years, as shown below.

From the FamilyTreeDNA blog article announcing this milestone event, we see the growth from 2018 to present cumulatively and within each haplogroup. Of course, haplogroup R, present in very high frequencies in Europe, forms the base of this mountain, but every haplogroup has achieved significant gains – which benefits all testers.

Who is Branch 50,000?

Michael Sager, the phylogeneticist at FamilyTreeDNA just added branch 50,000.

Drum roll please! Who is it? Surprisingly, it’s NOT found in haplogroup R, but a man from Vanuatu, a country in Oceania.

The new branch is a member of haplogroup S – specifically S-FTC416, immediately downstream of S-P315. Haplogroup S is found in Indonesia, Micronesia and other Pacific Island nations, including Australia and New Zealand.

This man was a new customer who joins a couple of Aboriginal samples found in academic papers from Kuranda (Queensland, Australia) and 3 ancient samples from Vanuatu.

How cool is that!!!

We’ve Come a LONG Way!

The Y DNA phylogenetic tree has been growing like wildfire.

  • Back in 2002, there were 153 branches on the Y-DNA tree, and a total of 243 known SNPs. (Some SNPs were either duplicates or not yet placed on the tree which explains the difference.)
  • In 2008, six years later, the tree had doubled to 311 branches and 600 SNPs. At the FamilyTreeDNA International Conference that year, attendees received this poster. I remember the project administrators marveling about how large the tree had grown.
  • In 2010, two years later, the tree was comprised of 440 branches and 800 SNPs. That poster was even larger, and it was the last year that the phylotree would fit onto a poster.
  • By 2012, when the Genographic Project V2 was announced, that bombshell announcement included information that the Genographic project was testing for 12,000 SNP locations on their chip, not all of which had been classified.
  • In 2014, when FamilyTreeDNA and Genographic jointly released their new Y tree to celebrate DNA Day, the Y tree had grown to more than 6200 SNPS, of which, more than 1200 were end-of-branch terminal SNPs. If this had been a poster, it would have been more than 62 feet long.

From that point on, the trajectory was unstoppable.

The earliest SNP-seeking product called Walk the Y had been introduced followed by the first-generation powerful Big Y NGS DNA scanning product.

That’s 1300% growth, or said another way, the database increased by 13 times in four years.

In the three years since, many of those SNPs, plus private variants that had not yet been named at that point have been added to the tree.

In January 2019, the Big Y-700 was announced and many people upgraded. The Big Y-700 provided dramatically increased resolution, meaning that test could find more mutations or SNPs. The effect of this granularity is that the Big Y-700 is discovering mutations and new SNPs in a genealogical timeframe, where the original haplogroups a few years ago could only piece together deeper ancestry.

The Big Y-700 has made a HUGE difference for genealogists.

  • Today, in December of 2021, the tree hit 50,000 branches. That poster would be more than 500 feet long, almost twice the length of a football field.

I have to wonder how many more branches are out there just waiting to be found? How many will we find in the next year? Or the next?

The pace doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, that’s for sure. Adding academic and ancient samples to the tree helps a great deal in terms of adding context to our knowledge.

What gems does your family’s Y DNA hold?

How Does a SNP or Variant Get Added to the Tree?

You might be wondering how all of this happens.

A SNP, which becomes a haplogroup has three states of “being,” following discovery.

  1. When the mutation, termed a SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism), pronounced “snip” is found in the first male, it’s simply called a variant. In other words, it varies from the nucleotide that is normally found in that position in that one man.
  2. When the SNP is found in multiple men, assuming it’s found consistently in multiple scans, and it’s in an area that is “clean” and not genetically “noisy,” then the SNP is given a name like R-ZS3700 or R-BY154784, and the SNP is placed on the tree in its correct position. From my article last week about using Y DNA STR and SNP markers for genealogy, you can see that both of those haplogroups have multiple men who have been found with those mutations.
  3. Some SNPs are equivalent SNPs. For example, in the image below, the SNP FT702 today is equivalent to R-ZS3700, meaning it’s found in the same men that carry R-ZS3700. Eventually, many equivalent SNPs form a separate tree branch.

One day, some man may test that does have R-ZS3700 but does NOT have FT702, which means that a new branch will be formed.

When men tested that had R-BY154784, that new branch was added to the left of R-ZS3700, because not all men with R-ZS3700 have the mutation R-BY154784.

You’ll notice that the teal blocks indicate the number of private variants which are mutations that have not yet been found in other men in this same branch structure, and those variants are therefore not yet named SNPs.

If You’ve Already Tested, How Do You Receive a New Haplogroup?

It’s worth noting here that none of the terminal SNPs that define these branches were available using the older Big Y tests which illustrates clearly why it’s important to upgrade from the Big Y or Big Y-500 to the Big Y-700.

In my Estes line, the terminal SNP in the Big Y-500 was R-BY490. These same men upgraded to the Big Y-700 and have now been assigned to four different, distinct, genealogically significant lineages based on SNPs discovered after they upgraded. Some men have three new SNPs that weren’t available in earlier tests. In real terms, that’s the difference between the common ancestor born in 1495 and descendants of John R. Estes who died in the 1880s. Genealogically speaking, that’s night and day.

If you haven’t taken a Big Y test, I heartily recommend it – even if you don’t have STR matches. I talked about why, here. Men can purchase the Big Y initially, or sign on to your account and upgrade if you’ve already taken another test.

In a nutshell, the Big Y-700 test provides testers with two types of tools that work both together and separately to provide genealogically relevant information.

Not to mention – you may be responsible for growing the tree of mankind, one branch at a time. What’s waiting for you?

___________________________________________________________

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase the price you pay but helps me to keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

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STRs and SNPs – Are STR Markers Still Useful for Y DNA?

Some time back, I wrote an article titled, STRs vs SNPs, Multiple DNA Personalities, which you can read, here. In that article, I explained the difference between STR and SNP markers.

Y DNA is extremely useful for men to track their direct paternal line via the Y chromosome that they inherited from their father. You can see how various types of DNA are inherited, here. By way of comparison, mitochondrial DNA (red) is inherited from your matrilineal line, and autosomal DNA (green) is inherited from all lines.

The Y chromosome, shown in blue above, is passed from father to son without mixing with the DNA of the mother, so it is in essence tracked intact for generations – with the exception of occasional mutations.

Two kinds of mutations make Y DNA genealogically useful. They are STRs, short tandem repeat markers and SNPs, single nucleotide polymorphisms, pronounced as “snips.” If you’re looking for in-depth information about Y DNA, I have provided a Y DNA resource guide here.

How is Y DNA Useful?

For Estes males, we have identified several genetic lineages using these markers that show us where testers fit into the tree of Estes males, which of course in turn fits into the larger tree of mankind.

In some cases, Y DNA is the only clue people have as to their genealogy. In other situations, these tests confirm and further refine both the genetic tree and genealogy.

Let’s look at how these two types of Y DNA markers work, separately and together at FamilyTreeDNA.

STR Markers, Results and Matching

Y DNA STR results are returned in panels when men take Y DNA tests.

Every man who takes a Y DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA receives STR results, shown above. How many marker results he receives depends on the level of the test he orders. In the past, 12, 25, 37, 67 and 111 marker tests were available to purchase individually. Men could also upgrade to higher level tests. 500 and 700 STR marker results are only available when the Big Y test has been purchased.

Today, men can order the entry level 37 Y DNA test or a 111 marker test individually. However, a minimum of 700 STR markers are included in the Big Y-700 test, in addition to SNP results, which we will talk about in a minute.

Matching is Key

However, the benefit isn’t in the STR markers themselves, but in matching to other men. The markers are just the tool used – but the more information you have, the better the result.

STR results are used to match all Y DNA testers against each other. Matches are shown at each marker level.

My Estes male cousin has tested at the Big Y 700 level. He is matched against all other men who have taken a Y DNA test. He can see who he matches at 12 through 111 markers separately. For each man that he matches, if they have taken the Big Y test, he can see how closely he matches at the 500 or 700 marker level too.

This Estes match to my Estes cousin, shown above, has tested at 111 markers, but has not taken the Big Y test, so he has no STR markers above 111. He mismatches my cousin with 1 STR marker difference at 111 markers. That’s pretty close.

Additionally, we can see that the match’s haplogroup has been estimated as R-M269 based on STR results. For a more specific haplogroup, either individual SNP markers must be tested, or an upgrade to the Big Y-700 test can be ordered. I don’t recommend individual SNP marker testing anymore because the Big Y gives you so much more for your money by scanning for all Y DNA mutations.

Big Y-700 and SNPs

The only way to obtain the most detailed Y DNA haplogroup is to take a Big Y test. The Big Y test scans the Y chromosome to search for SNP mutations. The Big Y test doesn’t test any one specific location, like STRs or individual SNP tests, but scans for all mutations – currently known and previously unknown. That’s the beauty. You don’t have to tell it what to look for. The Big Y test scans and looks for everything useful.

More than 200,000 men in the FamilyTreeDNA database have been SNP tested and more than 450,000 variants, or mutations, have been found in Big Y tests. The database grows every single day. Sometimes DNA matching is a waiting game, with your DNA available for matching 24X7. When your DNA is working for you, you just never know when that critical match will be forthcoming.

The Big Y test keeps giving over time, because new variants (mutations) are discovered and eventually named as haplogroups. Many new haplogroups are based on what can best be called family line mutations.

Initially, SNP results and haplogroups were so far up the tree that often, they weren’t genealogically relevant, but that’s NOT the case anymore.

Today, SNP results from the Big Y-700 test are sometimes MORE relevant and dependable than STR results.

Each man receives a very refined personal haplogroup, known colloquially as their terminal SNP, often FAR down the tree from the estimated haplogroup provided with STR testing alone.

After Big Y testing, my cousin is now haplogroup R-ZS3700 instead of R-M269. R-M269 was accurate as far as it went, but only the Big Y test can provide this level of detail which is quite useful.

The Block Tree Divides Lines for You

The Block Tree is provided for all Big Y testers.

Looking at the Block Tree for my cousin, you can see that he and several other primarily Estes men either share the same haplogroup or parent/child haplogroups.

My cousin in R-ZS3700, while R-BY490 is the parent haplogroup of R-ZS3700, and R-BY154784 is a child haplogroup of R-ZS3700.

R-M269 is more than 15 haplogroup branches upstream of my cousin’s R-ZS3700.

You can also easily see that Estes men fall onto different “twigs” of the tree, and those twigs are very genealogically significant. Each column above is a twig, representing a distinct genealogical lineage. Taking the Big Y test separates men into their ancestral branches which can be genealogically associated with specific men.

My cousin is R-ZS3700, along with one other man. Two more men form R-BY154784, a subgroup of R-ZS3700, which means they descend from a specific man who descends from Moses Estes. All of these men descend from R-BY490 and all of those men descend from R-BY482, the parent of R-BY490, as shown on the public haplotree, here.

Men who take the Big Y test ALSO receive separate SNP matching – meaning they have BOTH STR and SNP matching which provides testers with two separate tools to use.

Of course, the only men who will be shown as SNP matches are the men who have taken the Big Y test.

Ok, how is this information useful?

Project View

Looking at the Estes DNA project, you can see that two men who have joined the project carry haplogroup R-ZS3700. Several others descend from that same genealogical line according to their paper trail, and STR matches, but have not taken the Big Y-700 test.

As the project administrator, I’ve grouped these men by their known ancestor, and then, in some cases, I’ve used their terminal SNP to further group them. For example, one man, kit 491887, doesn’t know which Estes line he descends from, but I can confidently group him in Estes Group 4 based on his haplogroup of R-ZS3700.

I can also use STR matching and autosomal matching to further refine his match group if needed for the project. But guaranteed, he’ll need to use both of those additional tools to figure out who his Estes ancestors are.

He was absolutely thrilled to be grouped under Moses Estes, because at least now he has something to work his paper trail backwards towards.

Test Summary

Men who take STR tests alone, meaning 12-111 only, receive STR matching and an estimated haplogroup.

Men who take the Big Y test receive STR results and matches, PLUS the most refined haplogroup possible, many additional STR markers, separate SNP matches and block tree placement.

STR 12-111 Tests Only Big Y-700 Test
STR markers through 111 Yes, depending on test level purchased Yes
STR marker matching with other men Yes Yes
STR markers from 112-700 Only if the tester purchases a Big Y upgrade Yes
Estimated haplogroup Yes Haplogroup is fully tested, not estimated
Tested, most refined haplogroup Not without an upgrade to the Big Y-700 test Yes
SNP Matching No Yes
Block Tree No Yes

Genealogy

Recently, someone asked me how to use these tools separately and together. That’s a great question.

First, if there is a data conflict, SNP results are much more stable than STRs. STRs mutate much more often and sometimes back mutate to the original value which in essence looks like a mutation never happened. Furthermore, sometimes STR markers mutate to the same value independently, meaning that two men share the same mutation – making it look like they descend from the same line – but they don’t.

Before the Big Y tests were available, the only Y DNA tools we had were STR matches and individual SNP mutations. From time to time, one of the STR markers would mutate back to the original value which caused me, as a project administrator, to conclude that men without that specific line-marker mutation were not descended from that line, when in fact, that man’s line had experienced a back-mutation.

How do I know that? When the men involved both took the Big Y-700 test, they have a lineage defining haplogroup that proved that there had been a back-mutation in the STR data and the men in question were in fact from the line originally thought.

Thank goodness for the Big Y test.

STRs and SNPs Working in Tandem

Click any image to enlarge

Looking at the Estes project again, the R-ZS3700 SNP defines the Moses Estes (born 1711) line, a son of the immigrant, Abraham Estes. The men grouped together above are descendants of Moses’s great-grandson. You can see that if I were to use STR markers alone, I would have divided this group into two based on the values of the two bottom kits. However, both genealogy and SNP/haplogroups prove that indeed, the genealogy is accurate.

STR markers alone are inconclusive at best and potentially deceptive if we used only those markers without additional information.

However, we don’t always have the luxury of upgrading every man to the right and Big Y-700 test. Some testers are deceased, some don’t have enough DNA left and cannot submit a new swab, and some simply aren’t interesting.

When we don’t have the more refined Big Y test, the STR markers and matches are certainly valuable.

Furthermore, STR markers can sometimes provide lineages WITHIN haplogroups.

For example, let’s say that in the example above the two men at the bottom were a distinct line of men descended from one specific descendant of Moses Estes. If that were the case, then the STR markers would be very valuable within the R-ZS3700 haplogroup. Maybe I need to reevaluate their genealogy and see if there are any new clues available now that were not available before.

STRs Within Match Groups

Using a different example, I can’t group these Estes men any more closely based on their genealogy or SNP results.

Only two men in this group have taken a Big Y test – those with haplogroup R-BY490. Unfortunately, this haplogroup only confirms that these men descend from the Estes lineage that immigrated to America and that they are NOT from the Moses Estes line. That’s useful, but not enough.

Two other men have taken individual SNP tests, R-DF49 and R-L21 which are not useful in this context. They don’t reach far enough down the tree.

We need more information. Fortunately, we have some.

We have two clusters of STR markers. We can see that three men have a purple grouping of 24 at marker DYS390 (the header with STR marker names is not shown in the screen shot) and a grouping of men that share a mutation of 12 at marker DYS391.

It’s likely, but not a given, that the men clustered together at the bottom with the 12 value descend from the same Estes male common ancestor. The men at the top with a value of both 12 and 24 could belong to that same cluster, with an additional small cluster of 24 further delineating their ancestor – OR – the mutation to 12 at location DYS391 could have arisen independently in two separate lines.

It’s also possible that back-mutations have occurred in some of the other men. We just don’t know.

If I were to advise these men, I’d strongly suggest that they all upgrade to the Big Y-700 with the hope that at least some of them would have SNPs that define existing or new haplogroups that would positively sort their lines.

Then, within those haplogroup groups, I’d focus on STR groupings, genealogy and possibly, autosomal results.

Evaluate All Three, Separately and Together

We have three separate tools (plus autosomal) that need to be considered together as well as separately.

  1. The first, of course, is known genealogy. However, Y DNA testing works well even without genealogy.
  2. Big Y haplogroup information combined with the block tree should be evaluated to define genetic lineages.
  3. STR groupings need to be evaluated separately from and within haplogroups and allow us to add people to the SNP-defined groups of testers. Known genealogy is important when using STR markers.

As a bonus, if the men have also taken the Family Finder test, some men may match each other autosomally as well as Y DNA, if the connection is close enough in time. Of course, Y DNA matches reach much further back in time than autosomal matching because Y DNA is never divided or combined with any DNA from the other parent.

Confirm or Refute

Genealogy can be either confirmed or refuted by either STR or SNP tests, independently or together.

Looking again at the public Estes DNA project, you can see that the first person in that group provided his genealogy as descending from the same Moses Estes line as the other men. However, the STR mutations clearly show that indeed, his genealogy is incorrect for some reason. He does not match any of the other men descended from Moses’s grandson or the rest of the Estes lineage.

This man’s haplogroup is estimated as R-M269, but were he to take the Big Y test, he would assuredly not be R-ZS3700. In fact, his STR markers match two men who have taken the Big Y-700 test and those two men share an entirely different haplogroup, not in the Estes or related branches at all. If this man were to take the Big Y-700 test, he would likely match that haplogroup.

Both STRs and SNPs can disprove a lineage relationship. As I mentioned earlier, of the two, SNPs are more reliable. Often SNPs are required to conclusively divide a group of men descended from a common ancestor.

STRs may or may not be useful, or correct, either without SNP-defined haplogroups, or within those haplogroups.

However, STRs, even alone, are a tool that should not be ignored, especially when we don’t have SNP data or it’s not conclusive.p

A Different View

To literally look at this a different way, I prepared a pedigree type Y DNA haplogroup spreadsheet for the Estes Project at WikiTree. I’ve divided the information by ancestor and included haplogroups. You can view that spreadsheet, here, and you can then compare the colored groups with the Estes DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA which are grouped by ancestral line.

This is only a small portion of that pedigree showing the Moses lineage. The image is large, but you can see the entire spreadsheet (as of August 2020) here.

Of note, R-BY490 defines the entire Abraham Estes line (green above). Within that line, other SNP lineages have been defined, including R-ZS3700 and R-BY154784.

However, many lines have additional STR motifs that define or suggest associations with specific genealogical ancestral lines, as you can see in the Estes FamilyTreeDNA project, here. I’ve included only a snippet above.

Bottom Line

To answer the original question – yes you can and should use STR and SNP markers both separately and together. If you don’t have enough SNP data, use STR matches along with genealogy information and Family Finder results to augment what you do have.

The more Y DNA information you have in hand, the better prepared you are to analyze and utilize that information for genealogical purposes.

Do you have genealogical questions that Y DNA could potentially solve? What are they and can you find someone to test?

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DNA for Native American Genealogy – Hot Off the Press!

Drum roll please…my new book, DNA for Native American Genealogy, was just released today, published by Genealogical.com.

I’m so excited! I expected publication around the holidays. What a pleasant surprise.

This 190-page book has been a labor of love, almost a year in the making. There’s a lot.

  • Vendor Tools – The book incorporates information about how to make the best use of the autosomal DNA tools offered by all 4 of the major testing vendors; FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, Ancestry, and 23andMe.
  • Chromosome Painting – I’ve detailed how to use DNAPainter to identify which ancestor(s) your Native heritage descends from by painting your population/ethnicity segments provided by FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.
  • Y and Mitochondrial DNA – I’ve described how and when to utilize the important Y and mitochondrial DNA tests, for you and other family members.
  • Maps – Everyone wants to know about ancient DNA. I’ve included ancient DNA information complete with maps of ancient DNA sites by major Native haplogroups, gathered from many academic papers, as well as mapped contemporary DNA locations.
  • Haplogroups – Locations in the Americas, by haplogroup, where individual haplogroups and subgroups are found. Some haplogroups are regional in nature. If you happen to have one of these haplogroups, that’s a BIG HINT about where your ancestor lived.
  • Tribes – Want to know, by tribe, which haplogroups have been identified? Got you covered there too.
  • Checklist – I’ve provided a checklist type of roadmap for you to follow, along with an extensive glossary.
  • Questions – I’ve answered lots of frequently asked questions. For example – what about joining a tribe? I’ve explained how tribes work in the US and Canada, complete with links for relevant forms and further information.

But wait, there’s more…

New Revelations!!!

There is scientific evidence suggesting that two haplogroups not previously identified as Native are actually found in very low frequencies in the Native population. Not only do I describe these haplogroups, but I provide their locations on a map.

I hope other people will test and come forward with similar results in these same haplogroups to further solidify this finding.

It’s important to understand the criteria required for including these haplogroups as (potentially) Native. In general, they:

  • Must be found multiple times outside of a family group
  • Must be unexplained by any other scenario
  • Must be well-documented both genetically as well as using traditional genealogical records
  • Must be otherwise absent in the surrounding populations

This part of the research for the book was absolutely fascinating to me.

Description

Here’s the book description at Genealogical.com:

DNA for Native American Genealogy is the first book to offer detailed information and advice specifically aimed at family historians interested in fleshing out their Native American family tree through DNA testing.

Figuring out how to incorporate DNA testing into your Native American genealogy research can be difficult and daunting. What types of DNA tests are available, and which vendors offer them? What other tools are available? How is Native American DNA determined or recognized in your DNA? What information about your Native American ancestors can DNA testing uncover? This book addresses those questions and much more.

Included are step-by-step instructions, with illustrations, on how to use DNA testing at the four major DNA testing companies to further your genealogy and confirm or identify your Native American ancestors. Among the many other topics covered are the following:

    • Tribes in the United States and First Nations in Canada
    • Ethnicity
    • Chromosome painting
    • Population Genetics and how ethnicity is assigned
    • Genetic groups and communities
    • Y DNA paternal direct line male testing for you and your family members
    • Mitochondrial DNA maternal direct line testing for you and your family members
    • Autosomal DNA matching and ethnicity comparisons
    • Creating a DNA pedigree chart
    • Native American haplogroups, by region and tribe
    • Ancient and contemporary Native American DNA

Special features include numerous charts and maps; a roadmap and checklist giving you clear instructions on how to proceed; and a glossary to help you decipher the technical language associated with DNA testing.

Purchase the Book and Participate

I’ve included answers to questions that I’ve received repeatedly for many years about Native American heritage and DNA. Why Native DNA might show in your DNA, why it might not – along with alternate ways to seek that information.

You can order DNA for Native American Genealogy, here.

For customers in Canada and outside the US, you can use the Amazon link, here, to reduce the high shipping/customs costs.

I hope you’ll use the information in the book to determine the appropriate tests for your situation and fully utilize the tools available to genealogists today to either confirm those family rumors, put them to rest – or maybe discover a previously unknown Native ancestor.

Please feel free to share this article with anyone who might be interested.

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Disclosure

I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase the price you pay but helps me to keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

Genealogy Products and Services

My Book

Genealogy Books

Genealogy Research