A Segment-ology TIDBIT

I have long been a proponent of segment Triangulation (and Triangulated Groups (TGs)) and also Shared Match Clusters. Both of these are powerful tools. Both TGs and Clusters group your DNA Matches who share the same Common Ancestor (CA) with you.

But this is just a means to an end. By themselves these groups (TGs and Clusters) do not magically name an Ancestor, they point to a specific, but unnamed, Ancestor. They are just groups of Matches. We must also use genealogy!

By analyzing the Trees of Matches in a TG or Cluster, we can often find a consensus Ancestor. This Ancestor may be a known ancestor, and the Matches’ Trees may provide additional information for our research. Alternatively, this Ancestor may be a new Ancestor for us – a bio-Ancestor, a Brick Wall Ancestor, or even a “floating” Ancestor (unknown connection to our Tree). Or perhaps a fluke, a coincidence, a curve ball from our DNA Matches.  Although a fluke is possible, as you research this new “ancestor” more, it either becomes more and more probable as your Ancestor, or less and less likely. In my experience, the evidence usually starts to mount . In only one instance for me did it pretty quickly fall flat (and in that case, I found a “secondary” consensus Ancestor in the group which worked out). As usual, treat this “consensus Ancestor” as a good clue.

Another way to frame this is: TGs and Clusters are good tools – more genealogy work is needed to make them useful – to find out more about your Tree.

The point of this TIDBIT, is that forming TGs and Clusters are good processes, but they are only a means to an end. IMO, they are definitely a step in the right direction, but the research journey is not over with that step. We need to take the next, genealogy, steps of analyzing the groups to find the CA and then integrating that information into our own genealogy.

BOTTOM LINE: TGs and Clusters are a good step – analyzing these groups is an essential next step.

[22BU] Segment-ology: A Means To An End TIDBIT by Jim Bartlett 20230611