Saturday, October 23, 2010

Kids to get schooled on genealogy research

 Michelle Edmonds     2 hrs ago

In celebration of Family History Month during October, the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is offering a kid-friendly basic genealogy course.

Participants will learn how to use online databases, city directories and how to archive family documents.

Led by local history specialist and Butler Center staffer Rhonda Stewart, the sessions will be a fun and creative way to learn about the past.

The course will be today at the Arkansas Studies Institute Research Room (401 President Clinton Ave) from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
It's open for kids ages 10 and up but a parent must be present. To reserve a seat, call 501.320.5754.

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=124020&catid=2

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

There is NO UniqueTurkish DNA

by Janet Crain

It is now quoted widely on the Internet that certain groups (American Indians and Melungeons) in the USA have "Turkish DNA". The article below from PubMed does not bear out that possibility. The suggestion is disingenuous at best.

The most important sentence in the article below is this:*The major components (haplogroups E3b, G, J, I, L, N, K2, and R1; 94.1%) are shared with European and neighboring Near Eastern populations* and contrast with only a minor share of haplogroups related to Central Asian (C, Q and O; 3.4%), Indian (H, R2; 1.5%) and African (A, E3*, E3a; 1%) affinity.

In other words, 94.1% of the DNA found in 523 Turkish Y chromosome samples is shared with European and neighboring Near Eastern populations. So there is no special motif or Turkish DNA. And this finding is explained by the closing sentence; "the variety of Turkish haplotypes is witness to Turkey being both an important source and recipient of gene flow".

Genes have flowed out and genes have flowed in for a very long time and cannot now be separated as belonging exclusively to one group or the other. So it is very deceptive to speak of "Turkish DNA" in the context of it being unique.

See Also:

http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/HG_2004_v114_p127-148.pdf


Hum Genet. 2004 Jan;114(2):127-48. Epub 2003 Oct 29. Links

Excavating Y-chromosome haplotype strata in Anatolia.

Cinnioglu C, King R, Kivisild T, Kalfoglu E, Atasoy S, Cavalleri GL, Lillie AS, Roseman CC, Lin AA, Prince K, Oefner PJ, Shen P, Semino O, Cavalli-Sforza LL, Underhill

PA.Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5120, USA

Analysis of 89 biallelic polymorphisms in 523 Turkish Y chromosomes revealed 52 distinct haplotypes with considerable haplogroup substructure, as exemplified by their respective levels of accumulated diversity at ten short tandem repeat (STR) loci. *The major components (haplogroups E3b, G, J, I, L, N, K2, and R1; 94.1%) are shared with European and neighboring Near Eastern populations* and contrast with only a minor share of haplogroups related to Central Asian (C, Q and O; 3.4%), Indian (H, R2; 1.5%) and African (A, E3*, E3a; 1%) affinity. The expansion times for 20 haplogroup assemblages was estimated from associated STR diversity. This comprehensive characterization of Y-chromosome heritage addresses many multifaceted aspects of Anatolian prehistory, including: (1) the most frequent haplogroup, J, splits into two sub-clades, one of which (J2) shows decreasing variances with increasing latitude, compatible with a northward expansion; (2) haplogroups G1 and L show affinitie s with south Caucasus populations in their geographic distribution as well as STR motifs; (3) frequency of haplogroup I, which originated in Europe, declines with increasing longitude, indicating gene flow arriving from Europe; (4) conversely, haplogroup G2 radiates towards Europe; (5) haplogroup E3b3 displays a latitudinal correlation with decreasing frequency northward; (6) haplogroup R1b3 emanates from Turkey towards Southeast Europe and Caucasia and; (7) high resolution SNP analysis provides evidence of a detectable yet weak signal (<9%) href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14586639">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14586639

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_people

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Don't Just Muddle Through; Really Understand those Genealogical Documents

   Those just starting to do genealogy research often feel as if they need a crash course in such subjects as Geography, Law, and History. That is one reason many find Genealogy research so challenging as well as fascinating. Here is a very interesting list of terms one may encounter. 

 Genealogy researchers encounter many terms which are rarely used except in legal documents, or genealogical reports, this list is intended to aid with interpreting those terms.

Abstract - Summary of important points of a given text, especially deeds and wills.
Accordant (with) - Agreeing.
Acre - 43,560 square feet; 4,840 square yards; 160 square rods
Administration (of an estate) - The collection, management and distribution of an estate by proper legal process.
Administrator (of an estate) - Person appointed to manage or divide the estate of a deceased person.
Administratrix - A female administrator.
Ae. - (latin) Aged; Aet, "aetatis suae": at the age of.
Affidavit - A written statement confirmed by oath, for use as evidence in court. 

 
Cont. here:


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