Briar Patch Research
Genealogy, History, and other Fictional Pursuits.
June 15, 2018: MINOR Genealogy update
To my surprise and delight, I just had a hit on my yDNA line, (passed directly from father to son) from a different branch of the clan. Our lines both seem to have branched off from the same forefather within about 20 generations or so… early 1500s. My only other link prior to this was back at roughly 450 AD, so this is quite an improvement. The dates will shift, as there was a lot of intermarriage in the small, remote Alpine village our ancestors spent time in, and that can mess up calculations.
I had pretty much given up on this line of research since our branch is VERY small, and few people have actually spent the money to be tested. Genes for frugality are entirely hypothetical, mind you. Frugality is just a …virtue. Honest. More testing, analysis and research needs to be done but… hey, that is the fun part. TWO links from the same place is interesting. I have been testing and upgrading since 2003, started and "tested out" at FTDNA.com (and yFull), and have just taken the Ancestry.com test to support my family tree there. The 23&me version is next... big sale on now.
yDNA and mtDNA are mostly useful for deep genealogy, not the “out to fourth cousin” tests commonly advertised for finding ethnicity. In my opinion, though, it is where the really useful and interesting stuff on human migrations is hidden. I am I-a8689, sometimes called I2A3, or even I-P37.2*Alpine (depending on when you last looked) for yDNA, the original pre-Ice Age settlers of Europe. My mom’s folks, H7D2A wandered in after things warmed up. She always hated cold weather.
November 22, 2017: TALK to them...
For once, this is a genealogical rant, and NOT a political one. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the US, a chance for families and friends to get together, talk and maybe eat a bit too much. Maybe.
Holidays are your prime chance to get the answers to family history questions like who is really related to who, where everyone lived, and the tiny, intimate details of everyday life that might bore YOU to tears, but will be fascinating to YOUR grandchildren. Maybe you can even convince some of the Older Ones to take a genetic test... there are lots of tear-jerking reality TV shows that may have softened them up a bit.
You will hate yourself later if you let this chance pass you by. With luck, genealogy will be less controversial than politics.
Regardless of ANYTHING else, Happy Thanksgiving to All!
2015.07.22 Too hot...
Since it is just too hot for metalworking in what passes for my shop, I have been getting a case of screenburn on my ongoing genetic genealogy project. This is a refreshing change, as all my vital records leads are stone-cold.
I started through FTDNA.com back in 2003, and have taken everything available right now, y-111. BigY, yFull, the Mitochondrial DNA Full Scan, the aDNA Family Finder and Geno2, plus a bunch of smaller tests and refinements as they became either useful for me, or to refine a clade-branching for someone else. This is a fast-evolving field, and it is exciting to watch the cutting edge at work.
What is it about people who go through the expense and inconvenience of taking the tests, if they aren’t going to actually share information? Or even answer eMails? I am on a very slim set on limbs, being H7D2A matrilineal, the smallest subgroup of the largest European haplogroup. My sub-group seems to have split in Ireland, with no clue as to when. So far, the 4 other H7D2As seem not to look in their mailboxes.
Depending on what nomenclature you prefer, my male line is I2A3* Alpine, L233- or CTS595, all under M-438. My “time to most common remote ancestor” (TMCRA) for anyone tested on the male line is… 7,800 years. My very-distant genetic relations are scattered all over Europe, which makes sense since we seemingly were among the first in-country, prior to the last Ice Age. Many seem to share a gene for frugality, at least when it comes to spending money on DNA tests. Hint, hint.
Oh. Yeah. According to the GENO2 tests I am 2.3% Neanderthal, 1.9% Denisovan.
The cost adds up, but the tests are far less expensive than they were back at the start. IF you have any interest in genealogy, or deep history, I urge you to get tested by a reputable firm, and make your results accessible. There is a lot of exciting work being done by both the professionals and a large cadre of highly-skilled “citizen-scientists” that are helping to rewrite history. As always, more data is needed.