The study of DNA from all peoples of the world indicates that all humans are descended from one woman who lived some 2,000 generations ago. If true, this means that she fills quite a few of the slots on your chart, about "1" followed by so many zeroes that it would be hard to even count the zeroes. The number of times she appears on your charts would be impossible to count. This conclusion is based on the genetic result that there is a DNA marker that is passed on by only the mother. We all have this marker. The diversity that exists in DNA among people today is less than one-tenth of one percent. That is, all humans are alike to the extent that 99.9 percent of their genes are the same. That the Common Mother lived about 40,000 years ago is indicated by the degree of diversity that exists today. DNA changes very slowly, and it is thought that it would take about 2,000 generations to develop the 0.1% difference that does exist.
There is a tribe of Africans, as dark as any tribe in Africa, that has claimed they descend from the Jews. They have even preserved some of the Jewish history and practices in their tribe. For a long time, no one believed the story, but DNA studies show that this African tribe does indeed possess a specific DNA marker that is only found among the Jews. This particular DNA trait is passed from father to son and has been found among a high percentage of the Jewish persons having the surnames Levy, Levine, Levi, Cohen, or Cantor, which are names derived from the ancient priesthood of Israel. Other populations in Asia claim descent from ancient Israel, and they too share the DNA trait. Thus we gain some insight into the migrations in the world, while appreciating that racial changes can occur and blur identities.
A mummified corpse found near the Cheddar Cliffs in England was found to be 4,000 years old. DNA taken from the mummy was compared with current residents of the area. A local man was discovered to be a direct descendant of the mummified remains. This shows that some populations were static and not moving. Other groups moved over the face of the earth.
The Common Mother is believed to have lived in Africa. Since some people have difficulty in accepting such an origin, arguments about the Common Mother are heated. The opponents have put forth an alternative hypothesis to explain the current DNA distribution.
In this century, perhaps not in my lifetime though, the genetic studies should shed light on our origins. It has already been ventured that Europe was initially populated by a group no larger than fifty people in number. In the future, it may be possible to determine whether one is descended from the people which are claimed as ancestors. Perhaps we should start saving some of our DNA so later generations can verify whether we are their ancestors.
This information comes from the
Mock Family Historian
for Fall 2001. Some of the Mock branches have Germanna ancestors including Harnsbergers, Fishers, and Blankenbakers.
(01 Dec 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.