Autosomal DNA test results?

[Fraser178]

Hello,
I'm new to FTDNA but I Have had my DNA tested before and am now looking into having it maybe tested here as part of a surname project.
But I was first wondering if anyone could help me shed light on whether or not my autosomal results were unusual for someone who thought that they had no family from outside of the U.K. And Ireland going back at least 7-8 generations (where records stop for most).
50% Northwest European
19% Basque-Iberian
12% Steppe-Turkic
7% Southwest Asian
7% Balto-Slavic
5% Ashkenazi Jewish
4% Anatlolian Caucaus

The rest of the percentages were simply 'white noise' if you will as they were all so small.
Their is believed to be some Romanichal Gypsy family on my mothers side, which could account for the Asian and Balto-Slavic. But even then the amounts seem very large to an untrained eye such as myself. There were some rumours about the parentage of one of my grandparents who may have had a Ashkenazic Jewish Father with Austrian/Russian Heritage.

But I have no idea how to interpret these results and they could simply be entirely normal!
Thank you for the help in advance
Regards,
Joel

[andwele]

Hi there,

If you count the amount of ancestors 7-8 generations ago the number total 128 or 256, not counting that the same person may show up on different branches in your three. Chances are that even in those times you may either have had a couple of recent immigrant ancestors who have contributed to the diversity in your results or the community your ancestors were born in to has a history of significant migration numbers in the not too distant past the accounts for the variety.

Generations ancestors

7 generations back 128

8 generations back 256

There is a great article that has helped me understand the basics of dna inheritance, I recommend you read it:

http://dna-explained.com/2013/08/05/autosomal-dna-ancient-ancestors-ethnicity-and-the-dandelion/

[Fraser178]

Thanks for the link it was an interesting read and has helped me understand it alot.
But then according to this link I should have at least a great-grandparent from the Basque or Iberia regions
and a great-grandparent of Steppe-Turkic heritage (or a combination of further generations back) and so forth from my results. Part of this could make sense as a great-grandparent could of had an almost full Romani Heritage which could of contributed to this.
But that wouldn't really account for the Steppe or Jewish Percentages.
But aside from that it doesn't seem to fit in with my almost 100% British ancestors.
This is all very interesting I must say and remarkable to think of how much we can learn from simply deciphering our DNA.

Joel

[MMaddi]

Hello,
I'm new to FTDNA but I Have had my DNA tested before and am now looking into having it maybe tested here as part of a surname project.
But I was first wondering if anyone could help me shed light on whether or not my autosomal results were unusual for someone who thought that they had no family from outside of the U.K. And Ireland going back at least 7-8 generations (where records stop for most).
50% Northwest European
19% Basque-Iberian
12% Steppe-Turkic
7% Southwest Asian
7% Balto-Slavic
5% Ashkenazi Jewish
4% Anatlolian Caucaus

This looks like the results from one of the GEDmatch admixture calculators. One thing to know about many of the GEDmatch calculators is that they are giving you basic components that don't represent recent ancestry. So, taking the results at face value can be misleading.

If you tell us which calculator you used, we'd probably be better able to answer your questions.

[Fraser178]

I did my testing through BritainsDNA, I am personally unsure of what calculator they used. But I hope that this helps.

[MMaddi]

I did my testing through BritainsDNA, I am personally unsure of what calculator they used. But I hope that this helps.

If it was BritainsDNA, you probably should take your results with more than a grain of salt. First of all, I haven't seen any genetic genealogy blogger review their autosomal results, so I don't know how accurate they are. Also, they have a bad reputation in general and have been accused of practicing "genetic astrology."

Basically, the rap against them is that their analysis is not very scientific and is meant to appeal to wishful thinking of their customers about whether they're "Vikings" or "Celts" and similar nonsense. You can read more about why knowledgeable genetic genealogists make this charge at http://cruwys.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03...ir-moffat.html and http://dna-explained.com/2012/12/20/...caveat-emptor/.

[Fraser178]

Ahhhh yes I've read about them and I seen how they tried to label my Y-Chromosome as Saxon for a fanciful effect without any solid evidence for that
As a scientist myself I just like dealing with raw data and facts so I may get onto them to see if I can have my data in a rawer form

I did read a few good reviews praising the results with the only complaints being the narrative they try to spin and they lack of specificity with the autosomal results which is was from the cruwys blog but I do not have the link to hand

So I have assumed that some of the results may be exaggerated but it still leaves a large amount of similar DNA to other worldwide populations that is not particular common in uk people