DNA results & Olive skin

[kjmck]

Hi everyone

I did my AncestryDNA over a year ago now, and I have now updated my results and there are a couple of changes.

My previous results were -

Ireland/Scotland/Wales 50%
Europe East 24%
Great Britain 18%
Scandinavia 5%
Iberian Peninsula 2%
Europe West <1%

I believed that the 2% Iberian Peninsula may be the reason for my olive skin, and ability to tan at the first sight of sun! But after my update, these are now my results....


Ireland and Scotland 58%
Scotland
Northeast & Central Scotland

England, Wales & Northwestern Europe 24%
Eastern Europe and Russia 18%

I would have hoped that the results would have given me a time frame of how far they went back, and whether the results are from my maternal or paternal line. It's a little confusing to a DNA novice!

Also - if I am 58% Scottish / Irish, does that mean I have that DNA from both my father and mother?

[sugarfizzle]

The latest update, even though it might appear more accurate than previous version, is still very much something to look at for amusement, rather than accuracy.

They cannot distinguish between your maternal or paternal line that I know of.  Time frame is also difficult to establish, but usually reckoned to be beyond the times that records began, that is thousands rather than hundreds of years.

Each of us had 50% autosomal DNA from our mother and 50% from our father, so by definition the 58%, if it is accurate, has to be from both parents, but in no fixed proportion.

Regards Margaret

[kjmck]

Thank you for that Margaret.

Do you know if it is true, that if you have more than 50% of a specific region, it means it comes from both parents?

Keelan

[sugarfizzle]

Keelan, Sorry, modified my previous reply when I realised I hadn't answered that part of your question.

You inherit 50% autosomal DNA from each parent, so if one area indicates 58%, it has to come from both parents. But it could be 29% from each one, 40% - 18%, 50% - 8%, or any other combination in between.

That is, assuming (big assumption) that it is accurate in the first place.  I would go with my paper trail rather than the ethnicity estimates.

Regards Margaret

[kjmck]

Well my father's family are Scottish and Irish (Scottish mainly), as far back as I can go. And my mothers family are Welsh, Polish, and English. And there was always a family legend of Spanish on my mother's maternal line which I thought might be the Iberian Peninsula connection!

I would be EXTREMELY surprised to find any Irish or Scottish on my mother's side!

[sugarfizzle]

Keelan, In that case I would go with what you already know.

Just goes to show how inaccurate the estimates still are, though 8% is not all that much of an overestimate.  Think speed limits - 50 mph, police will usually let you go up to 57 mph - 10% + 2 mph, to allow, so they say, for any inaccuracies in your speedometer. 

Regards Margaret

[brigidmac]

I wonder how you lost your 5% Scandinavian? 
I haven't been able to access my updates
Or my mum's but was pleased with the accuracy of her first update which included welsh ...first definition
Contained irish only

 my results reflected  her half of my dna well with 43% scottish coming from my dad I suspect most of my Scandinavian 5% came from him too

My mum's great grandfather was Latvian jewish
..she had 24% eastern European  jewish and I had 13% European jewish which fits perfectly with facts .

But I see a lot of sceptical  posts about accuracy of DNA.

[sugarfizzle]

I think most people have lost their Scandinavian.
Mine was 1%, has changed to Norway 3% instead. I did have Iberian 3% as well, which has gone.

The overall accuracy appears to have improved, but the subtle additions and subtractions would puzzle me if ethnicity was all I was interested in.

Regards Margaret

[Regorian]

This is why I think DNA testing is a waste of time and money, it should be able to detect Saxon or Celt. OK, Scots, Irish and Welsh Celtic (and Cornwall) but English mixture of Saxons, Danes and Norse (Norwegians). Apparently, Danes cannot be told apart from Saxons.

You mention Celtic and Spain and olive skin. This sounds very like Silures from SE Wales, there are Silures in Spain. Silures might have been Mediterranean people and caused the Romans, when they came, to do a double take.