What’s Your Haplogroup? Comparing Deep Ancestry
Most any couple spends some time considering about their similarities and differences. Surely our ancestors did too – they were probably aware of how alike they were in religion, culture, social class, and other areas. One thing that they didn’t know, however, was their ancient ancestry.
Knowing their deep origins probably wouldn’t have changed how they felt about each other, although they would have learned more about each other. The technology wasn’t available to them, but it is to us. And, because we carry the DNA of our ancestors, we can learn more about them after they are gone.
People who are closely related to us genealogically can quite different from us genetically. Most people find that their own mtDNA haplogroup is different from their father’s and their grandfather’s. On the flip side, you might find out that your genetics are more alike than you thought. We know of one couple who discovered that their mtDNA was identical, meaning they probably share a maternal ancestor about 2000 years ago.
Our friend Anna started a new pedigree chart mapping out the mtDNA haplogroups of her family to see how genetically different some of her closest ancestors are. Take a look below to see how she did this. When asked why she made a new pedigree chart, Anna responded “I did this to show my parents the larger picture of how DNA works. It is fun to see where deep ancestry takes each of us in our whole pedigree chart rather than just the individual lines. I have also tested all 3 of my brothers-in-law and their mtDNA has all been from haplogroup H. I joke with my sisters that they have all been fishing in the same genetic pond.”
“So, what’s your haplogroup?” might not be the next catchy pickup line, but it can make for an interesting conversation. Whether you are testing yourself and your own sweetheart, or exploring the relationship of another couple in your family tree, you’re discovering a piece of history that hasn’t yet been written down.
