Using Your DNA to Pinpoint Your Scottish Origin
I am Dr Tyrone Bowes and people employ my services to pinpoint where their Scottish ancestors lived using only the results of a simple painless commercial ancestral DNA test. This test known as the Y-DNA test will potentially provide one with the names of many hundreds of individuals with whom one shares a common male ancestor, but what often perplexes people is how one can match many individuals with different surnames? The answer is quite simple. Roughly 1,000 years ago one’s direct medieval male ancestor, the first for example to call himself ‘McGregor’ was living in close proximity to others with whom he was related but who crucially assumed other surnames like Buchanan, Drummond and Murray. Given that 1,000 years have passed since surnames were adopted, there will be many descendants of these individuals some of whom today will undergo commercial ancestral DNA testing. Hence the surnames of one’s medieval ancestor’s neighbours will be revealed in today’s DNA test results.
Since early 19th Century UK census data demonstrates that surnames could still be found concentrated in the area where they first appeared, one can examine the origin of the surnames that appear in one's DNA results, and reveal an area that is common to all. That area is where one's ancestor lived when he first took a surname, what I like to call the ‘Paternal Ancestral Genetic Homeland.’ The Genetic Homeland is the area (within a 5 mile radius) where one’s ancestors lived for hundreds if not thousands of years. It is the area where one’s ancestors left their mark in that areas history, local placenames and castles, and in the DNA of its current inhabitants.
Since modern science can pinpoint a Genetic Homeland it can also be used to confirm it by DNA testing individuals from the pinpointed area. To view a short presentation demonstrating how to use your DNA to pinpoint your ancestral origin click here, or you can click here to read sample case studies! Not had a DNA test? Then order a DNA test by clicking here. If you want to know what DNA test is suitable for you or you have taken a DNA test already and would like a FREE CONSULTATION then you can do so by clicking here to contact me.
