My AncestryByDNA 2.5 Test Result

[Dean]

I just received my result, and it's 95% Indo-European, 5% East Asian and 0% Native American and Sub-Saharan African. This test uses 175 markers, as opposed to the 71 markers used in the ABD 2.0 test. In the 2.0 test my result was 98% Indo-European and 2% East Asian.

The result comes with a most likely estimate point (the result) and confidence contours that surround the result and are placed on a triangle plot. They also use a bar graph to make the results of the triangle plot clear.

The closest confidence contour, which is represented on the bar graph, is at two-times-less likelihood and shows that the East Asian result range is from 0-11%; in other words this result may be statistical noise and mean nothing or it means I have a small amount of East Asian admixture. For Indo-Europeans testing at less than or equal to 5% East Asian, the likelihood of actual East Asian admixture is at or greater than 9% with 95% confidence. This statistic was derived by ABD via simulated matings of different races.

I don't want to trouble my family and ask them to take this test, to see how they score. If I have this admixture, my family's tests could confirm it.

If I have this admixture, I wonder from where it came. My family has different Caucasian morphological types--light-pigmented blondes and olive-skinned brunets. As I said before, my mom had what looked like slight epicanthic eyefolds when she was a teenager, but as she aged her physiognomy changed dramatically and she now looks Mediterranean. One of her maternal uncles looked very Mongoloid as a young man. Her paternal aunt also has what look like slight epicanthic folds.

AncestryByDNA also has new findings about ethnicities. They state that some ethnic groups, like Greeks and Italians, almost uniformally have a small amount of Native American admixture, and East Europeans and Russians have a small amount of East Asian admixture. A Native American reading could also sometimes be shown as an East Asian reading.

I feel that I am moving in the right direction in discovering my relationship to ethnic groups/races This relationship should be shown when admixture percentages between ethnic groups will be tested by AncestryByDNA via its 3.0 test.

[Scoob]

Well, the test does a sort of statistical affinity - not exactly admixture, although they call it that. 5% is at a point where it probably can be considered significant, according to the company (less than that can be disregarded).

Are you sure your family members had epicanthic (inner) eye folds? Many North Europeans have the "nordic fold" (outer corner of eyes, often accentuates with age). There is also a median eyefold, but I don't have a clear idea of what this is.

What's your family's ethnic heritage?

Thanks for posting your results, this is interesting.

[Dean]

Scoob said:

Well, the test does a sort of statistical affinity - not exactly admixture, although they call it that. 5% is at a point where it probably can be considered significant, according to the company (less than that can be disregarded).

Are you sure your family members had epicanthic (inner) eye folds? Many North Europeans have the "nordic fold" (outer corner of eyes, often accentuates with age). There is also a median eyefold, but I don't have a clear idea of what this is.

What's your family's ethnic heritage?

Thanks for posting your results, this is interesting.

My family's ethnic heritage is Greek. It seems like they have inner eyefolds, but I have to look at the pictures more carefully. I know my mother now doesn't have eyefolds, and what I thought I saw in her picture were eyefolds or eyes curved downward near the nose. My mom is olive-skinned and dark-haired, but she and my late father and one of her cousins have a peculiar eye shape that I've seen among people of northern European descent, where the eyes are not completely oval or Mongoloid, but rather where the eyelid starts becoming oval slightly away from the nose.

[Artemidoros]

Epicanthic eyefolds are extremely rare in Greeks, even very slight ones IMO. I don't think it is possible for your mother's eye shape to change with age so that the epicanth disappears. I have noticed though that people in old photographs sometimes appear as if they have a "suspicion" of an epicanthic fold. I think it is due to poor resolution.
With regards to Nordic ancestry, given the area you originate from and having seen your surname, I would say it is definitely possible. I suppose you are aware of the term "Gasmouloi", the Norman-Greeks of the Peloponnese.

[Dean]

Artemidoros said:

Epicanthic eyefolds are extremely rare in Greeks, even very slight ones IMO. I don't think it is possible for your mother's eye shape to change with age so that the epicanth disappears. I have noticed though that people in old photographs sometimes appear as if they have a "suspicion" of an epicanthic fold. I think it is due to poor resolution.
With regards to Nordic ancestry, given the area you originate from and having seen your surname, I would say it is definitely possible. I suppose you are aware of the term "Gasmouloi", the Norman-Greeks of the Peloponnese.

I have to check the pictures again to look at the eyes. I know that my mom's facial appearance changed. She had a broader face as a youth, but as an adult her face narrowed and her head seems to have got smaller.

As far as "gasmouli", I've never heard about them. I did an internet search and all I found was that gasmouli were people of mixed Venetian-Greek heritage. I did a search for "moulos", which is part of my surname. I couldn't find much except for the Czech word "moula", which means "bumpkin." I thought that moulos meant bastard in Greek. Is this word derived from "moulari" (mule)?

The frequent blondism is interesting. My grandfather's father--my grandfather's picture is in another thread--the one you said looks Greek and has the wide jaw--was light-haired and blue-eyed. He looked like a northern European or a Norman. And yes, there are Germanic/Frankish-sounding surnames like Klementzos, Frentzas and Loumbardias. There are also surnames like Goutos and Toudos, whatever their origins. My maternal grandmother's name is Frangos, which is a generic name for Westerner.

I've tried to study the history of central Arcadia, and I've read that it was invaded by Slavs, that it was depopulated and that it was invaded by Ottomans and settled by Arvanites. The village of Daras was allegedly founded by Arvanites.Does history provide evidence of this populations modern genetic signatures? I'm slowly and
singlehandedly trying to find out. What role do the indigenous Greeks, whose genetic signatures are apparent in studies and who are believed to be descendants of ancient Greeks, play in this area? Genetic evidence seems to show that the ancient Greeks survived quite well in their modern descendants. But did they survive in this small region of central Arcadia, the villages that surround Tripolis, formerly Tripolitsa? And again, the olive-skinned types, who are interspersed among the light-pigmented, what's their story? Within this group is my dad's brother, my uncle John, who as a younger person looked quite dark, as opposed to most of his siblings.

[Artemidoros]

The word gasmoulos is of French origin from garcon=boy and Latin mulus=bastard, mule. Moulari is also from mulus through the Byzantine moularion.
The gasmouloi were the offspring of Norman fathers and Greek mothers in the Peloponnese during the 13th and 14th centuries. They were numerous, as the Normans who came to Greece did not bring any women along. The term was probably extended to include any west European/Greek mixture in late Byzantine times but it started off in the Principality of Achaea (Morea). In other parts of the empire they were quite rare, even in ports and islands controlled by the Venetians. It is practically impossible to find anything about them on the net and I haven't got any books. This is just what I remember reading years ago.
What is interesting about them is that they sided with the Greeks in the wars to recover the Peloponnese. Usually the offspring of invader overlords and natives side with the former, as it happened with the Turks. The difference here was the racist and discriminative attitude of the Normans towards their own children, while the Greeks were far more tolerant.
Along with the also Peloponnesian Tzakones, the gasmouloi formed elite units of the Byzantine army. They are even mentioned in the service of the Ottomans in the early years of the Ottoman empire. The Turks were racially tolerant like the Greeks and they cleverly absorbed the best Armenian, Greek and Slavic military personnel they could find.
The other possibility is that one of your ancestors was simply illegitimate.
I doubt very much that a Slavic/Greek or Albanian/Greek would have been described as a moulos since those populations were Orthodox Christian "Romans" like the Greeks.
From what I know there was some Albanian settlement in Arcadia and the rest of the Peloponnese but it was sporadic, with the exception of parts of Corinthia and Argolis.
The effect of the Slavic migration in Arcadia I think was far more serious but who can say exactly what the effect was. The fact they were easily assimilated after they were christianised, despite settling some isolated areas, IMO means they were not as numerous as some believe.

[Dean]

Artemidoros said:

The word gasmoulos is of French origin from garcon=boy and Latin mulus=bastard, mule. Moulari is also from mulus through the Byzantine moularion.
The gasmouloi were the offspring of Norman fathers and Greek mothers in the Peloponnese during the 13th and 14th centuries. They were numerous, as the Normans who came to Greece did not bring any women along. The term was probably extended to include any west European/Greek mixture in late Byzantine times but it started off in the Principality of Achaea (Morea). In other parts of the empire they were quite rare, even in ports and islands controlled by the Venetians. It is practically impossible to find anything about them on the net and I haven't got any books. This is just what I remember reading years ago.
What is interesting about them is that they sided with the Greeks in the wars to recover the Peloponnese. Usually the offspring of invader overlords and natives side with the former, as it happened with the Turks. The difference here was the racist and discriminative attitude of the Normans towards their own children, while the Greeks were far more tolerant.
Along with the also Peloponnesian Tzakones, the gasmouloi formed elite units of the Byzantine army. They are even mentioned in the service of the Ottomans in the early years of the Ottoman empire. The Turks were racially tolerant like the Greeks and they cleverly absorbed the best Armenian, Greek and Slavic military personnel they could find.
The other possibility is that one of your ancestors was simply illegitimate.
I doubt very much that a Slavic/Greek or Albanian/Greek would have been described as a moulos since those populations were Orthodox Christian "Romans" like the Greeks.
From what I know there was some Albanian settlement in Arcadia and the rest of the Peloponnese but it was sporadic, with the exception of parts of Corinthia and Argolis.
The effect of the Slavic migration in Arcadia I think was far more serious but who can say exactly what the effect was. The fact they were easily assimilated after they were christianised, despite settling some isolated areas, IMO means they were not as numerous as some believe.

Thanks for the info on gasmouli. As you probably know, AncestryByDNA found that Mediterraneans and Middle Easterners show genetic affinity with Native Americans. ABD says that almost all Greeks show low levels of Native American and/or Sub-Saharan African admixture. They cite a study of mtDNA Haplogroup X2, which is found in these people and in Native Americans. What they don't show is the numbers of Greeks tested. How many Greeks were tested? A few? Dozens? Hundreds? I wrote to them a few times, seeking some answers, but they never responded. Since I'm a return customer and laid a little coin on them, I'm hoping my requests carry a little weight. I also understand that they may be very busy and don't have the time to respond. I think we'll get some answers in the future, as intriguing results prod more research.