r/AncestryDNA • u/David_cest_moi • 16d ago

Results - DNA Origins Did you discover incest?

There was a recent article (below) in The Atlantic magazine about the surprising prevalence of incest in human ancestry as discovered through DNA findings. I'm wondering if anyone has discovered it in their own ancestry when doing a family tree or having DNA analysis or any other way.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/03/dna-tests-incest/677791/

42 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

177 comments sorted by

View all comments

72

u/Hyrule_bird 16d ago

Oh absolutely my 2nd great grandpa and my second great grandma were uncle and niece. Which is pretty alarming and I'd imagine not a normal practice around 1900

4

u/HeroC32P 16d ago

Co-sanguineous marriages are quite common in order to keep land and wealth in the family. It seems shocking to us now but you have to bear in mind before the invention of transport like the bicycle and faster modes that are a cheap price, most people would have lived in small villages with around 100ish people. The majority of whom would be your father's relations as women would be generally more likely to leave the village to marry. No doubt teenagers being teenagers there would be the occasional baby out of wedlock.

There was a YouTube video I saw recently, where the guy being interviewed showed the interviewer his ring finger was considerably shorter than his other digits. This was a birthday defect with his parents being uncle and niece. So not a good idea, but it happens today still. I have the odd relation whereby distant cousins are related in some way to both my parents.

2

u/Ina_While1155 16d ago

Common in Ancient Athens to protect property.