To think these DNA ancestry tests make no sense

[CarolineFields]

So you get back a score of 40% Nigerian. Meaning out of the tiny scrap of DNA tested - less than 0.1% -40% of that matches the average population in Nigeria. But if those Nigerians are tested, they won't come back as 100% Nigerian, so 40% of 0.1% matches people who are likely to be told they are 50% not Nigerian?

And if you are in Iceland when you have that test, you are told you are 40% Nigerian, but someone in Australia can be told they are 80% Icelandic due to being compared to you and you cohort?

@fuckssaaaaake if you decide to go ahead and do the AncestryDNA (this is the one I’d recommend) and want a hand understanding it all when the results are in, feel free to pm me and I’ll happily take a look with you.

@Ikeatears thank you that's very kind

Snort. Have you actually read that article?

You might be descended from the Vikings if you have a surname like Johnson or Anderson (never mind that surnames in that form came into being in this country considerably later than the Viking era)

You might be descended from the Vikings if your family has lots of fishing and seafaring occupations (right, cos no other coastal region ever has done anything about it)

You might be descended from the Vikings if you are brave and adventurous!

You might be descended from the Vikings if you are tall and well-built (even though the same paragraph tells us the Viking tallness was due to their diet and lifestyle... ooo, Lamarckian)

Apart from the first one, geographical location (...) the only one with the slightest element of sense is the part about red hair, blue eyes, broad forehead, prominent chin and v-shaped hairpin. And I haven't the least idea whether that's accurate.

Still, this thread has answered my question - would it help in telling me which of the two major groups with his distinctive surname my 4-greats-grandfather was part of - so thanks for that (no point in spending money).

Snort. How droll we all are. It’s a shitty entertainment article that some freelancer had to write for their livelihood, no doubt, with two lines of useful information. Did you think that was earth-shattering new info for me or I didn’t read it? Did you read the part of the article that I ACTUALLY quoted, that linked to the study and the accompanying percentages under “how rare is Viking DNA” or not? I read that part, and then I read a bit of the actual study it linked, so that part was accurate enough.

If you’re in Britain, your chances are 6%. But obviously, I can’t rely on people like you to actually read that bit and look at the study themselves instead of trying to point score like you did, so I guess I should have skipped the article with two lines that make the study a lot easier to understand, and just linked directly to the study. It’s here:
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)01468-4

If you are British or European, you are descended from Vikings. (or Asian, or North American or North African)

They got around a bit by all accounts. I am just reading David Mitchell's book and apparently they didn't have horns on their helmets, which is disappointing.

Ultimately, we are descended from tiny single cell bacteria if you go back far enough.

But that's just being really pedantic

🙄Yes because that's what Ancestry and genealogy is all about, isn't it? Trying to trace your roots back to single celled bacteria.

Nope. I’m not doing this shite with you again. I explained the whole Bronze Age thing, you refused to listen. I don’t know why you’re obsessed with Vikings but tell you what, you win, you’re super special, we can all go home now.

Where do you think our descendents came from? We have loads of descendents - if you got a family tree of everyone in the UK's ancestors and went back far enough, do you think there would be a whole range of people in there -

including people who were Vikings, Celts etc and then you go back further and further and further until you get back to Africa

Do you think iit's wrong to say that a lot of British people will have at least one ancestor who was a Viking?

It's also true to say that a lot of British people will have at least one ancestor who was a Celt.

Chances are they have at least one ancestor who was from Normandy

That is disappointing. My favorite baseball team uses a "Viking' helmet in their home run celly. As evidenced here by my favorite player.

@CarolineFields Are you OK? Serious question.

I’m not here to fight or to goad or to share my opinion. I shared an actual scientific study that used the DNA of several individuals known to be Vikings. Results: only 6% of British people have Vikings in their ancestry. What would you like me to do about it? You may have Celt, or Norman, or Saxon, or Moor, or maybe even Nordic - and 6% have Vikings.

If you don’t like it, I would simply recommend you do more research yourself, and who knows? Perhaps you’ll find something that disproves me. But it’s disappointing that no one continuing these arguments has even bothered to look. It’s been quite a few years since I took logic at uni but I somehow doubt they are now accepting the argument, “Well, that’s just how it is, innit?” Because all I’ve seen is people saying all of this with not a solid fact to back them up, OP included. So I really do wish you luck (if you decide to research), but I’m done. i just can’t add anything else helpful.

Good point. I do hope you’re OK, @CarolineFields . If this was just a troll post, no worries. If this is real, and you have this rigidity of thinking, saying the same thing again and again, it’s a bit concerning. Maybe give up the Vikings for a bit, and get some fresh air.

you have not read or understood what I have said

By "rigidity of thinking" do you mean knowledge? YOu do have to repeat yourself on MN because people dont always read the whole thread

It is not a case of I dont like it, it is a case of your so called "study" simply being wrong, ALL Europeans have Viking ancestory.

You can't show me where my maths is wrong, you cant show me where my conclusions are wrong, you can only dredge up a bit of rubbishy pop media science and call it "an actual scientific study" which goes to show how few people understand the words "scientific study" or understand the "studies" they quote

The horned helmets were just a hollywood invention so you could see who was who in battle scenes

But I am just using the Vikings as an example, to show what drivel these so called ethnicity DNA tests are - All Europeans are conclusively and indisputably descended from Vikings, so why don't these tests tell everyone that?

Everyone English is a direct descendent of Edward 1 - why dont these so called DNA identity tests tell you that?

absolutely, except it wont be 1, for each of these catagories, it will be tens of thousands

( celt is a tricky one though, as it does not refer to an inheritance, but a form of art. People were celts if they made celtic art, it wasn't anything to do with being related, and does not have a firm definition- Celts were a ruler class who invaded the West of UK, and dominated the Brits from there, but yes, you are right, whoever and whatever the were , we are all decended from them)

Mine was very accurate. I am not 100% British and it reflected back what I understood of my family history on both sides of the family, including the specific regional areas. I used AncestryDNA.

I am using Vikings as an example, but for any one European, choose any Viking from 1000 AD at random, and that individual will be in your family tree MILLIONS of times.

Also choose any so-called "celt"

That is wrong though. I have no Viking ancestry. I have Anglo-Saxon and Celtic. The Vikings didn’t reach where I live at all. There are people in Wales who migrated from what was Spain, this is why some Welsh people are dark skinned.

I highly doubt we English are all descended from Edward I, some of us will be related to Edward I, but not descended from him.

Whilst looking into this idea I came across this interesting comment (with a discussion following it) from someone on Reddit who pretty much demolishes OP's assertions.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Genealogy/comments/1bcb7ij/no_you_arent_descended_from_royalty_like_edward/

Everyone English is a direct descendent of Edward 1 - why dont these so called DNA identity tests tell you that?

FOR THE 95TH TIME....

Because they are looking at 5-6 generations back at best, and Edward I died over 700 years ago. Hope that helps.