My True Ancestry

[Jonaitis]

For those of you who know who they are, what do you think about them?

They claim that they can compare your raw DNA data "to thousands of ancient DNA samples from real archaeological sites." Its free (for 48 hours) if you have tested at other ancestry sites such as Ancestry, MyHeritage, and 23andMe, all you have to do is upload your "raw data" and they process it within ten minutes. However, to fully enjoy all the features they make you pay between $37-250.

If you have already done it, what were your results?

 

[MasterYourLife]

For those of you who know who they are, what do you think about them?

They claim that they can compare your raw DNA data "to thousands of ancient DNA samples from real archaeological sites." Its free (for 48 hours) if you have tested at other ancestry sites such as Ancestry, MyHeritage, and 23andMe, all you have to do is upload your "raw data" and they process it within ten minutes. However, to fully enjoy all the features they make you pay between $37-250.

If you have already done it, what were your results?

I've never heard of the ancient ancestry testing.
However I did a DNA test which was absolutely useless. It showed what I already knew. Depending on the company you go with, most likely they'll just give you 2-3 geographical locations of where your recent ancestors lived.
As for ancient ancestry testing, search for people who have done it before, and if the service provided meets with your needs for DNA testing, then go ahead with it.
Personally, I wouldn't waste my money on it. Why? Because who cares about your ancient ancestors geographical location.

 

[Jonaitis]

Actually, what you have said is exactly how this company started. This is what they said.

Our Founder and CEO is an MIT educated industry veteran who is renowned for his work in the fields of Data Privacy and Anonymous Data Security and Encryption. He has been published in articles in the MIT Technology Review, PCWorld, Guiding Tech, Enterprise Efficiency and Cult of Mac as well has holds several patents on secure data transmission.

The company story: A year ago, our founder ran his DNA test with MyHeritage. As a passionate historian and technologist, he was disappointed by the oversimplistic ancestral results. He reached out to other sites like FTDNA and Gedmatch. Many of these sites offered very poor ancestral breakdowns and gedmatch simply was too overwhelming at first. He tried to explain his excitement to those around him but realized very few could comprehend the intricacies of admixture results.

Then came an idea: to make these advanced services available to everybody - to enable everyone to feel the same excitement about their own ancestry. Working during spare hours with no budget, he focused himself on learning everything related to collecting dna samples, analyzing data, and applying the same techniques used in top university research facilities. After numerous discussions, there was a breakthrough in how these algorithms could be applied to everyone with a DNA file and the work began on MyTrueAncestry.

I suppose they are trying to approaching DNA at another angle that all these other companies "fail to do." Instead of comparing your DNA to modern-day populations, they compare it to ancient ethnic groups such as the Scythians, Romans, Moors, Vikings, and many more. They are pretty new, it wouldn't hurt to try it for free.

 

[Jonaitis]

So I uploaded to their database and received some really insightful information. I won't post everything, but one of the ancient populations I am closely related to is the Ostrogoths.

If you aren't familiar with who they were, they were one of two branches of the Germanic peoples of Goth (the other being the Visigoths). Here is some information from their site. When Attila and the Huns invaded through Eastern Europe, the Gothic Kingdom split into these two groups - those who fled and crossed the Danube to the Roman Empire (Visigoths), and those who remained in Dacia to face the Huns (Ostrogoths) who eventually became their vassals and aided them in war against the Romans and their allies. When the Hunnic empire was defeated (450 AD), the newly independent Ostrogoths remained settled in Pannonia (modern-day Hungry, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia).

When Odoacer overthrew the last Western Roman Emperor Flavius Romulus Augustus (c. 460-507), bringing the Roman Empire to an end, the Byzantine Emperor Zeno looked to the Ostrogoth King Theodoric to reclaim Italy in 488 AD. After liberating Italy and murdering Odoacer (r. 476–493), the Byzantines gave the whole peninsula to Theodoric, who set up the Ostrogothic Kingdom there (493-553). Even though Theodoric was a "Germanic barbarian" to the Romans, he was very educated, and did helped Italy flourish and grow strong during his reign. In 535 AD after Theodoric's death, the Gothic war with Byzantium began and Emperor Justinian won ending the Ostrogothic kingdom (553 AD).

What I have gathered from study their history is that "pants" was introduced to the Romans, who were accustomed to wear chiltons and togas. This period marked the beginning of the Early Medieval era, when barbarian tribes invaded and took control of the Romans.

Pretty interesting!

 

[Tigger45]

My sister had her DNA tested and it clarified and confirmed what we already as a family knew of our ancestry. I think it’s interesting and am glad to know the results.

 

[Samuel Anderson]

It seems to be a legitimate site for multiple reasons, not least of which is that they allow you to view your results for free and then decide whether or not you want to pay for more detailed analysis. And the free results are already informative and not at all a waste. Also, I have had my DNA tested through Family Tree DNA, 23andMe, and MyHeritage.com. The results from My True Ancestry did not contradict anything that these more established companies had already told me. In fact the results pretty much confirmed many things I already knew.

 

[nathan j putnam]

MTA is very accurate in opinion and it is a very interesting site. I have trace my ancestry to the Normans that settled in England 1066. The Normans were a mix of Danish Vinkings and Northern French. Here are my results

 

[Lost4words]

I can trace my family tree back quite some distance.

Argos is an ancestor of mine

 

[Anthony2019]

I can trace my family tree back quite some distance.

Argos is an ancestor of mine

Did they do home deliveries back then?

 

[Anthony2019]

My ancestors came from Cornwall and Ireland.

I grew up in care and was adopted in my teens so was always curious about my family history and my ancestors. I never really knew how to go about it, but the internet has made it not only possible, but so much easier.

 

[Lyrasong]

Thanks for sharing about My True Ancestry - will have to give them a try!

Like Samuel above, I and family members have tested through numerous other companies. In my experience, the autosomal-DNA ethnicity results provided by 23andMe are the most accurate, though they are quite broad in a geographic sense. The website, GedMatch, does offer some more detailed calculators (hunter-gatherer vs Neolithic farmer, etc) and the ability to compare one’s DNA to those of ancient remains. Their tools are free to use, if one has already tested with one of the big firms.

 

[Lyrasong]

My ancestors came from Cornwall and Ireland.

I grew up in care and was adopted in my teens so was always curious about my family history and my ancestors. I never really knew how to go about it, but the internet has made it not only possible, but so much easier.

That is awesome. My late grandmother was adopted, and through her genealogical paper trail and DNA, we were finally able to determine the identities of her biological parents. We learned that she had had a little sister as well. Sadly, they never met, but it’s nice to have a mystery solved. Her grandfather was also born in Ireland, and came to the United States during the Great Famine.

Best wishes to you as you search. The British Isles are lovely.