Who I am ...

Last Xmas, the genome company, 23andMe had a sale! $100 for a genome. My wife and I ordered our done and the results are in!

I am a VERY weird bird!

Paternal side: Locations of haplogroup R1b1b2 circa 500 years ago, before the era of intercontinental travel. R1b1b2 is the most common haplogroup in western Europe, where its branches are clustered in various national populations. R1b1 was confined to Iberia and southern France during the Ice Age. R1b1b2a1a2b is characteristic of the Basque, while R1b1b2a1a2f2 reaches its peak in Ireland and R1b1b2a1a1 is most commonly found on the fringes of the North Sea.[/caption]

Lets start with the paternal side. Paternal Haplogroup:R1b1b2a1a2d. By family stories, I knew we were from Andalus, that is pre 1492 Spain. . That story is confirmed here.

What is surprising is that we "begin" .. that is start  ... from a few ancestors only 17,000 years ago .. the time of the last ice age. We have origins from the North Sea. Sounds like some Viking got to some ancestor and passed on his genome. The other fun idea is that we may be related to the Cro Magnons, the first modern people in Europe and believed by some to be the direct ancestors of the Basque!
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The Maternal Haplogroup, U1b, is part of Haplogroup R. R  arose in southwest Asia not long after humans first expanded beyond Africa. It eventually spread throughout Eurasia, giving rise to most of the major haplogroups of Europe as well as one – haplogroup B – that was involved in the migration of people from Siberia into the Americas.[/caption]
Mom's genome is VERY different. We appear to be related to the first folks who left Africa, 60,000 years ago!

Of course this raises an intriguing question. If my genome is half Viking and half African, if some of my closest relatives are indigenous to South America, South African, and my paternal family name is Negri, am I now legally a Hispanic or an African-Australian-American?