Article: What a DNA match really means

https://theconversation.com/dna-says-youre-related-to-a-viking-a-medieval-german-jew-or-a-1700s-enslaved-african-what-a-genetic-match-really-means-222833#:~:text=Despite%20your%20millions%20or%20more,ancestors%20from%20the%2012th%20century.

This is an interesting article about DNA.

Quote "

Where genealogy and genetics diverge

The first thing to understand is how many ancestors you have in each past generation. One generation back, you have two ancestors. Two generations back, that doubles to four. Then eight, and 16. By 30 generations ago, around the 12th century, you have over one billion ancestors.

unquote

 

There is a chart starting with one individual and a red line to each parent. By the time it reaches 11 generations, the lines converge to a solid red mass. 

 

The author, who has clearly studied the subject, says we can use DNA matches to identify ancestors back into the 1700's, but beyond that DNA matches are just random fragments of DNA.

 

The article should be of interest to anyone trying to find their ancestors thru DNA matches.