I did my first test through National Geographic's Human Genome Project, then through Dr Stephen Oppenheimer's EthnoAncestry Project. Those analyses found that my male gene type is R1a1-2a, one of the British Isles' 50 male founding clans. The R1a1-2a gene type arrived in the British Isles around 6,500 years ago and is observed today around the Thames or the Severn, to a lesser extent in Kent, Cumbria and East Anglia. My father's ancestors were from Cumbria and probably lived in the same area for 6,000 years. Before arriving in the British Isles, my paternal ancestors were horse nomads from Central Asia.
My mother's ancestors spent the last Ice Age on the Iberian Peninsula, then walked northwards along the Atlantic coastline as the ice sheets melted, arriving in Britain around 7,000 years ago.
Since those first DNA tests, I have tested with Ancestry and MyLivingDNA and uploaded my DNA results to MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA, FamilyFinderDNA, GEDMatch and My True Ancestry.
Apart from connecting with many close and distant cousins, I have discovered the identity of my maternal grandmother's father, a family mystery for 120 years, and made contact with my mother's previously unknown half-brother.
I'm particularly interested in how I'm linked to ancient DNA extracted from the skeletal remains of folk who died long ago. Apart from the Cheddar Man (7150BCE) and the Amesbury Archer (1450BCE), I share DNA with Bell Beaker Folk from England (2150BCE) and the Czech Republic (2215BCE), Norse-Gaelic and Norse from Iceland, Denmark and Sweden (935CE, 875CE and 1050CE) and seven Celtic and Briton gladiators from York (250CE).
The only issue I have with DNA testing is that it can become all-consuming
It's also not something you would want to pursue if you're a bigot and/or hold racist beliefs :
My mother's ancestors spent the last Ice Age on the Iberian Peninsula, then walked northwards along the Atlantic coastline as the ice sheets melted, arriving in Britain around 7,000 years ago.
Since those first DNA tests, I have tested with Ancestry and MyLivingDNA and uploaded my DNA results to MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA, FamilyFinderDNA, GEDMatch and My True Ancestry.
Apart from connecting with many close and distant cousins, I have discovered the identity of my maternal grandmother's father, a family mystery for 120 years, and made contact with my mother's previously unknown half-brother.
I'm particularly interested in how I'm linked to ancient DNA extracted from the skeletal remains of folk who died long ago. Apart from the Cheddar Man (7150BCE) and the Amesbury Archer (1450BCE), I share DNA with Bell Beaker Folk from England (2150BCE) and the Czech Republic (2215BCE), Norse-Gaelic and Norse from Iceland, Denmark and Sweden (935CE, 875CE and 1050CE) and seven Celtic and Briton gladiators from York (250CE).
The only issue I have with DNA testing is that it can become all-consuming
It's also not something you would want to pursue if you're a bigot and/or hold racist beliefs :
“Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don’t you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don’t you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?” Oddball