Articles
3 articles on y-dna, ancient-DNA research written up for readers who want the evidence, not just the headline.
Y-DNA is the Y chromosome, passed from father to son with only mutation to change it, so its variants place a man on a single paternal-line tree of well over a hundred thousand named branches. A chip export from 23andMe, AncestryDNA or MyHeritage tests enough Y markers for a haplogroup call, though usually to a branch some way above the terminal one. Because it follows a single line, a Y haplogroup says little about overall ancestry and nothing about identity.
The articles explain what a Y-DNA haplogroup actually is, how to export a raw file from each testing company and get a free and honest paternal call from it, how to browse the complete paternal tree with defining variants, tester counts by country and search by haplogroup or SNP, and what the unusual paternal isolation, Bronze Age-linked lineages and medieval founder effects of 102 Deep Maniots in southern Greece show.
Get a free Y-DNA haplogroup call
What a Y-DNA haplogroup actually is, how to export the raw file from 23andMe, AncestryDNA or MyHeritage, how to get a free and honest paternal haplogroup call from it, and where to explore your branch afterwards.
Two new free tools: browse the complete paternal tree — over 109,000 named branches — and the full maternal tree, with defining variants, tester counts by country and search by haplogroup or SNP. No account needed.
A 2026 study of 102 Deep Maniots finds unusual paternal isolation, Bronze Age-linked lineages, medieval founder effects and diverse maternal ancestry.