01-13-2014, 07:00 AM
PeterB wrote:
[quote=Janit]
Genetic markers move through populations and through space with time. Migration does not negate origin conclusions, it is part of the package.
Right, but it depends on how you define "origin". Saying someone's origin is Scandinavian is misleading, because that implies that only people from that part of the world could have those markers/haplotype, which is simply wrong. Also, we're all just mutated Africans anyway... so it also depends exactly how far back you want to go, when you say "origin".
Indeed. The results above do say they "reflect where your ancestors lived 500 years ago," drawing from 31 populations. My interpretation of the results is that 60.5% of his tested loci were most commonly spread out in a large area of Northern Europe 500 years ago, 1.5% of his tested loci were highly focused in Scandinavia 500 years ago, etc.
Of course, the ancestor carrying those "Scandinavian" loci might have left Scandinavia for Europe 550 years ago and there would be no way know. Nevertheless, there appears to be some low level of relatedness to the Scandinavian population.