Posted on 11/23/2017 6:14:32 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
With a vial of saliva and a little cutting-edge science, AncestryDNA can tell you if you’ve got any Irish heritage in your genes. And with a lot of cutting-edge science, researchers in December 2015 published a study telling the world where that Irish heritage first originated.
By studying the 5,000-year-old remains of a female farmer buried near Belfast, Ireland, and the remains of three men buried 3,000 and 4,000 years ago on Rathlin Island in County Antrim, archaeologists and geneticists now say they now know where the modern Irish people originally came from.
The remains of the Stone Age female farmer show that she resembled modern people from Spain and Sardinia, suggesting she had roots there. But her ancestors ultimately originated from the Fertile Crescent, the once-lush region of the Middle East where humans first practiced agriculture. Those migrants brought cattle, cereals, and ceramics, along with black hair and brown eyes.
The remains of the Bronze Age male farmers show a different group of migrants entering Ireland one to two thousand years later. Those farmers came from the Pontic steppe of southern Russia. They brought metalworking culture, the genetic disposition for blue eyes, and the gene for a blood disorder so often found in Ireland that it’s known as the Celtic disease: haemochromatosis.
Using a technique called whole-genome analysis, scientists at Trinity College Dublin studied the DNA from all four bodies to establish a history of ancestral migration and settlement.
“There was a great wave of genome change that swept into [Bronze Age] Europe from above the Black Sea … we now know it washed all the way to the shores of its most westerly island,” geneticist and lead researcher Dan Bradley told the BBC.
The research shows that cultural changes in the ancient British Isles, such as the introduction of agriculture and metalworking, likely arrived because of large-scale migrations rather than the adoption of new ways by indigenous people.
DNA research isn’t just for looking back thousands of years. With AncestryDNA, you can discover whether your grandparents or great-grandparents really did hail from Ireland or any one of 26 distinct ethnic populations. AncestryDNA can also be an invaluable tool in genealogical research by matching up your DNA with relatives you might never have known and by identifying common forebears you may never have heard of.
From there, the 16 billion historical records on Ancestry can help you search forwards or backward in time to fill in your family tree — wherever that tree first took root.
Maybe I'll do that in the future. I think that might be a tool for studying ethnicity, but not necessarily families.
One of the challenges of genealogical research is the number of others who are doing the same research, and who have submitted their DNA for ethnicity analysis. I'm thinking of joining with 23andme to maybe find new and different people who are studying their ancestry.
That is so true!
I was contacted by someone a couple of days ago who found out he was adopted, and is now looking to find his birth family. He reached out to me because we may be related, and he wants to know if I can help with information.
The errors are not in the DNA itself. Sequencing techniques are very reliable. The interpretation of the DNA results, especially as it comes to ethnicity, is where any inaccuracies might enter. That is because the interpretation is based on statistical analyses and algorithms.
There are also little "quirks" of nature that can complicate the interpretation. For example, it is possible for two embryos to fuse soon after conception, resulting in one person who has two different sets of DNA. I do not know how common this is, but there is a case where a woman was accused of fraud because a DNA test showed that she was related to her children, but not their mother. In reality, her ovaries had one set of DNA, and her blood had the other; she did eventually prove that she is her children's mother.
I'm pretty sure I'm related to half of the US population. 1) I cannot find any immigrants on any branch of my family tree; I have followed some branches back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1600s), with a couple from the Connecticut colony thrown in. 2) My maternal grandma is of Mormon stock, and with all of the polygamy early on (g-g-grandpa had 3 wives), I'm related to a LOT of people.
My local doctor suggested I visit a “bleed doctor” who likely charges $100 to puncture my arm.
I get a free tee shirt and bag of pretzels for donating at Red Cross...
According to the legends those would be the descendants of Milesius of Spain. But before that were the Firbolg (escaped Greek slaves) who were a little rough around the edges, and the Tuatha De Danann (from Egypt?) who arrived soon after and were highly civilized and defeated/domesticated the Firbolg.
Then the Russians showed up and then the Swedes and then the Picts then the Brits. What a mess. No wonder we drink.
According to some genealogy show, the man whose ancestry makes him the true claimant to the throne of the UK is an Australian.
Seven of my eight great grand parents were from Scotland, one was from Sweden. So I guess I am a Scot.
Do some research - it’s there if you care to see.
Thank you
The Scoti, an Irish tribe, migrated to what is now Scotland. I don’t recall who occupied the territory prior to the arrival of the Scoti.
From Wikipedia: “Scoti or Scotti is a Latin name for the Gaels,[1] first attested in the late 3rd century. At first it referred to all Gaels, whether in Ireland or Britain, but later it came to refer only to Gaels in northern Britain.[1] The kingdom they founded became known as Scotia or Scotland, and eventually all its inhabitants came to be known as Scots.”
“Scotia is a Latin placename derived from Scoti, a Latin name for the Gaels.[1] Originally, it meant the land of the Gaels: Ireland and part of northern Britain. From the 9th century, its meaning gradually shifted, so that it came to mean only the part of Britain lying north of the Firth of Forth: the Kingdom of Alba or Scotland.[1] By the later Middle Ages it had become the fixed Latin term for what in English is called Scotland.”
>Do some research - it’s there if you care to see.
I have. Everything I’ve read indicates they’re east Asain, not Caucasian in origin from DNA tests. Unless you’ve got a study that says something different, I don’t see the point.
Our son did a dna sample with 123 DNA testing, and it showed 99.9% Eastern European, going back to the 1700’s. No real surprise there. However, there was an additional report that said maternal side 125,000 years ago was East African, and 275,000 years East African from paternal side.My question to our son (which he didn’t much care for my asking) is how can they have dna from 125,000 years ago to make that kind of comparison? From “teeth”??? Somebody smarter than me please help me here.
I just looked, and they have a special for $59 through Monday. I’m thinking about it.
Yes if you are Irish or part Irish and you get the DNA test the results will show a certain percentage of Iberian which is Spanish.
Yes, my family legends have mentioned Spain way back.
Did you or someone you know do the DNA test. I’m curious about my possible Iberian roots.
Yes my mom just did the test. She is half Irish and I think it showed up 10% Iberian. My Dad’s family is 100% Irish traced back to the Spanish kings.
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