My Maternal Ancestor's Migration Path
My mitochondrial DNA which I inherited from my mother, demonstrates that I am a part of haplogroup T which means that I share a common ancestor with other people of European lineage.
evidence indicates origin in the Near East more than 45,000 years ago
Then entered Europe 10,000 years ago in the Neolithic period
Sub-lineages then spread out over the continent as the societal-molding effects of agriculture took hold of Europe
I am a part of the T2 sublineage haplogroup which is suspected to have been present in Europe even in the Late Upper Paleolithic period
Climate changes had a large impact on human migration. Warm, tropical weather encouraged migration whereas cold, dry weather stopped movement. This cycle ebbed and flowed.
Map of My Origin
My results are very similar to my parents' results from ancestry.com except I have evidence of Indian and possibly Turkish ancestry.
Percentages
Not shown is less than 2% Mizrahi Jewish, less than 1% Northern Indian, and less than 1% Southern Indian
By analyzing the overall percentages, I picked up on a few things. The first thing that I noticed was that I was indicated to be 60% Irish. My father's DNA test from Ancestry.com shows no indication of any European ancestry, especially such a large percentage that would increase my own ancestry by 10%. I attribute this to the estimation of percentages which FamilyTreeDNA acknowledges to be more of an imperfect range than an exact percentage.
Regional Ancestry
Iranian
Father's Country of Origin
My father and all his known ancestors are from Iran. 56% of the genetic makeup of the Iran originates in Southwest Asia and Persian Gulf which corresponds to my own origins in Anatolia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia. These results correspond greatly with the span of the Persian Empire which at its peak included North Africa as well as modern-day Turkey, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Interestingly, 24% of the genetic makeup corresponds with Southern Asia. This is in contrast with my own genetic makeup which is less than 1% Southern Indian and less than 1% Northern Indian.
Irish
Mother's Country of Origin
My mother has always assumed that her family was Irish, but she had no real "proof" especially considering so much of her family had been living in America for so many years. It is incredible that she demonstrates 100% Irish ancestry with not even British influences unlike the majority of Irish people who additionally have British and Scandinavian ancestry. It is also interesting that she has no Iberian or Southern European ancestry that would explain her dark hair. It is amazing that she has such singular genetic make up especially considering how far haplotype T traveled from Africa and all the possible deviations from the migratory path that could have been taken.
Regional Ancestry
Turkey and Eastern Caucasus
My father was surprised when I showed him my regional ancestry map to see that Turkey was highlighted. Apparently in Iran, there is slight racial prejudice against Turkish people. My father remarked that he wonders if such prejudices would exist if more Iranians tested their DNA to see that they may have similar origins to the Turkish people.
India
My father also found it interesting that my DNA results demonstrated slight Indian ancestry. When he first tested his DNA using Ancestry.com, he was reported to have small percentages of Indian and Italian ancestry. We attributed this to be possibly caused by one of his ancestors traveling along the Silk Roads to Eastern Asia. However, as time went on, Ancestry.com changed my father's results to not include any Indian or Italian ancestry presumably due to new information they gleaned from additional genetic information from other customers. Perhaps, their original assessment was correct and my father does have some Indian ancestry.