With the launch of our new ancient DNA test, many people are exploring their results with great enthusiasm. That’s wonderful — but it’s just as important to understand what these results truly mean, and what they do not mean.
We cannot directly share long DNA segments with ancient samples
Data from ancient remains is often incomplete and degraded, typically based on a limited set of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms).
These are scattered points across the genome, not continuous stretches of DNA. As a result, “segment sharing” in the modern sense
cannot be established with ancient individuals.
What you are seeing is shared allele frequency
The core metric is how often specific genetic variants appear in both you and an ancient sample. This reflects genetic similarity,
not a proven parent–child or ancestor–descendant relationship. You and an ancient population may share similar influences,
but this does not demonstrate direct descent from any particular ancient individual.
Why similar populations may appear in your results
Tools and frameworks such as MTA, G25, and qpadm also compare allele frequencies to detect patterns of similarity. Because of this,
your closest matches may sometimes be a genetically similar population rather than the exact group you expected.
This reflects overlapping historical ancestries rather than a mismatch or an error.
Haplogroups: the most concrete genetic links from ancient DNA
- Y-DNA haplogroups represent paternal lineage.
- mtDNA haplogroups represent maternal lineage.
These uniparental markers change very slowly over time and can be traced with much greater confidence than autosomal admixture results.
When present, they provide the most reliable lines of evidence connecting ancient individuals and modern populations.
Key takeaways
- Your results show patterns of genetic similarity.
- They do not confirm exact lineages or direct descent from specific ancient individuals.
- Similar populations may appear because of shared historical ancestry and overlapping allele frequencies.
- Haplogroups (Y-DNA and mtDNA) are the most reliable markers for identifying ancient lineages.
Putting genetics in context
Our goal is to give you a fascinating, data-driven window into the past while reminding you that genetics is one part of a larger story.
History, archaeology, and anthropology all help complete the picture and should be considered alongside genetic findings.
