Re: Anthropology, genealogy and DNA

In article <bNGdnXzzq5yAW23YnZ2dnUVZ8tGqnZ2d@xxxxxx>, Don Moody
<dpmoody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Sooner or later there will be somebody in 'britain' whose ancestry
includes that tribe, and there is not a prayer that any DNA lab could sort
out the muddle.

But just like Roy and the others you're putting up a straw man argument. The
DNA labs don't pretend to sort out the muddle. They provide a snapshot of some
of the genetic history that is in (say) your Y-DNA. That's it. It *will* cut
out millions of possible paternal lines and confirm that they are not yours.
If probable lines from your paper records are also tested then they can be
marked as definitely *not* your line, likely to be your line, or unlikely to
be your line. Being able to say definitely not may be a great lead. As to
*likely* to be your line - well we have that with paper records: there are
very few certainties and we judge a family as ours in a census record by the
number of coincidencies - same address as before, parents 9/11 years younger,
kids abot 10 years younger but one given as (say) Annie rather than Amy. And
you say: "Yes , that's them!".

Except the DNA records have (say) 37 points of identification rather than
half-a-dozen and a better means of estimating likelihood of a mutation being
possible than with the Annie - Amy type of mutation where a whole entry can be
confused because of an accent barrier.

--
John
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Anthropology, genealogy and DNA
    ... and there is not a prayer that any DNA lab could ... The DNA labs don't pretend to sort out the muddle. ... And not rule out new sources of evidence. ...
    (soc.genealogy.britain)
  • Re: Anthropology, genealogy and DNA
    ... and there is not a prayer that any DNA lab could sort ... DNA labs don't pretend to sort out the muddle. ... Beta blogger ...
    (soc.genealogy.britain)