The movements of people since time immemorial does not adhere to the arbitrary political lines we’ve drawn between nations today. Both France and England have seen large scale immigration by the Romans, various old Germanic people, then the Vikings. All these people have killed and fucked each other. Attributing DNA to an area is partially a statistical likelihood, so there’s a margin for error. Except in geographically and/or historically isolated areas, we’re all more blended than anything else. That makes the race theory of the late 19th century seem so utterly ludicrous today but we can’t quite completely get it out of our heads either.
(i feel really stupid asking, but what the hell!) could i be of french descent?
Submitted 7 hours ago by drbollocks@lemmy.blahaj.zone to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Comments
FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 5 hours ago
adespoton@lemmy.ca 4 hours ago
Most likely you have ancestors who lived in what is now France. Either that, or you have ancestors whose descendants moved around, and some of them settled in what is now France.
This could have happened before or after France became a nation.
Then again, it’s pretty likely that you have ancestors who lived in Africa.
Pronell@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Maps cannot answer that question.
Genealogy could, but has its downsides.
drbollocks@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 hours ago
this is from ancestry dna
actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 5 hours ago
In that case, you could be from france, you could be the descendant of people who had emigrated away from france, or you could be related to people who have never had anything to do with friends but possess similar genetic markers to people who come from parts of France. Or, none of the above! That’s the fun part about genetics, it by itself is only a small piece of the puzzle.
cecilkorik@lemmy.ca 4 hours ago
You’d be better off doing actual genealogy, which involves research, reaching out to family members, combing through dusty family heirlooms, following up on leads and stories, gaining access to historical documents and records, and more and more and more research. It’s not so much a conclusion you’ll come to as a process of discovery you’ll go through and a story you’ll piece together, potentially over a lifetime. If you’re lucky the pieces will be very solid and well supported, but more likely they’ll be hazy and questionable and quite possibly completely false. It will lead you in directions you never would’ve suspected. DNA can sometimes play a part in that process, but it’s no substitute for it. Especially it can help connect you with distant or not-so-distant relatives who may be able to fill in huge pieces of the family puzzle, or may be no help at all, but maybe it will not be about the answers you get as much as the friends you meet along the way. Trite but true.
Pronell@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Ah, then I guess I don’t know how to interpret that.
drbollocks@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 hours ago
ok, so apparently some french ppl get a lot of their ancestrydna lumped in with England and northwestern europe
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
So funny story, people move around a lot and settle in new places…
drbollocks@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 hours ago
true
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 3 hours ago
Well, the Normans invaded Britain in 1066, this changed Old English to Middle English, so…
solrize@lemmy.ml 6 hours ago
Yes, I can see your future. The good news is you become a starship captain. The bad news is you lose your hair.
drbollocks@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 hours ago
i get to befriend an awesome android though!
drbollocks@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 hours ago
noooooo!
Mothra@mander.xyz 4 hours ago
Calm down. Have a cup of tea. There’s this type I recommend, I think you’ll love, it’s called Earl Grey