AncestryDNA update
Every once in a while, AncestryDNA (and other genetic genealogy companies, too) will update their customers’ “ethnicity estimates” — you know, those maps that supposedly tell you what parts of the world your ancestors came from.
Well, we had an update recently!
Here are our previous maps. Now, here are our new ones:
Thekla’s results
Again… just a plain ol’ white lady DNA. I do think it’s interesting that they’ve separated out England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Before, it was just 2 big overlapping lumps.
Gary’s results
Yup, Gary’s map is still much more interesting to look at. But they’ve removed a couple of groups from his previous map, too — “Sardinia” and “Eastern Europe and Russia”.
It’s important to note that these really are just estimates, based on various genetic markers in their control groups from each defined population.
This is not like putting a few pins on a map and saying your ancestors absolutely came only from here, here, and here.
For example, I know for a fact — based on both the paper trail and genetic evidence — that I descend from more than 1 German. And my previous AncestryDNA map reflected that… but this new map doesn’t. My guess is that whatever markers I might have in my chromosomes that used to be labeled “Germany” are now lumped in with “England and Northwestern Europe”.
Similarly, my mother’s map (not shown; privacy is important) reflects certain aspects of our heritage, including “Germany” and “Spain”, which do not show up on my own map. Even though I clearly descend from the same group of ancestors as my own mother, I didn’t inherit from her whichever markers AncestryDNA is using to determine if someone descends from those groups.
If you have also done AncestryDNA or another genetic genealogy test, let me know! To tell me about your results or ask questions about this whole thing, just reply to this email or visit the newsletter homepage at tlmk.substack.com and leave a comment on this post.