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Triangulating distant paternal ancestry with DNA

Started by Justin Durand on Sunday, May 26, 2013
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Justin Durand PRO
5/26/2013 at 1:19 PM

Here's another DNA tip I came across recently. The idea here is to use yDNA results and matches along with census data and surname maps to get an idea where your paternal ancestors were living maybe about 1000 years ago. For those of us doing genealogy, 1000 years is pretty much the outer limit where DNA is interesting or helpful.

http://www.scottishorigenes.com/content/video-tutorial

The author gave a presentation at the 2012 Genetic Genealogy Conference. You can download a copy of PowerPoint his presentation here:

http://www.scottishorigenes.com/content/scottish-origenes-presentat...

He has three websites devoted to different countries:

Scotland: http://www.scottishorigenes.com/

Ireland: http://www.irishorigenes.com/

England: http://www.englishorigenes.com/

I've been doing something similar with my own DNA results but I never thought to get this sophisticated with it.

I haven't formed an opinion about this yet, so I'd be very interested in comments from anyone else working with genetic genealogy.

(My apologies in advance for using so many commercial links. I'm not selling anything here. This is one of those cases where the only way to present the idea is to let the author speak for himself.)
Kris Hewitt 🧬 C
5/26/2013 at 1:38 PM

I dont have a firm opinion on this yet either, I am still tackling the last 500 years....
Justin Durand PRO
5/26/2013 at 1:47 PM

Kris, that's exactly the scenario he's trying to help people overcome. The basic idea is that if you can figure out where they started out, it'll be easier to figure out where to look for them in more recent times.
Kris Hewitt 🧬 C
5/26/2013 at 1:53 PM

I might try it on my husband, I intend to Y-DNA test him. With a name like Stewart, I can use just about any hint at all!

Private User
5/26/2013 at 3:21 PM

Actually, there are plenty of SNPs that are younger than 1000 years. SNP L1253 comes to mind, which is about 400-500 years old, and a marker of the J1 Graham family.

Private User
5/27/2013 at 9:32 AM

I just found out that I can download my DNA results from ancestry, and upload them to a site called and upload it to a site called Gedmatch.com. Doe's anyone know if this is a good site, or have a suggestion as to where else I might be able to upload them. I have been disappointed with the hits I get from the ancestry site.
Myrna
Kris Hewitt 🧬 C
5/27/2013 at 9:47 AM

I love gedmatch. There really isnt any others like it that I know of. I havent tested at Ancestry.com only 23andme and FTDNA.
Justin Durand PRO
5/27/2013 at 9:49 AM

Quite a few of us use Gedmatch.com. It's a great way to search for autosomal matches. Talk to Hatte Blejer; she's done amazing work with her matches there.

If you are just looking for yDNA matches, try ysearch.org. For mtDNA matches, try mitosearch.org.

Private User
5/27/2013 at 10:18 AM

Thanks Kris & Justin

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