Presenter: Rachel Unkefer
Format: Download MP4 video file of Slides with synchronized audio

When men of Ashkenazi descent from Eastern Europe tested their Y-chromosome DNA and were identified as belonging to haplogroup I2a, a predominantly Slavic haplogroup, the prevailing theory was that their lineage was the result of a Jewish woman being raped by a Cossack. Recent results from Next Generation Sequencing have shown this theory to be extremely unlikely, because the Ashkenazi men share a paternal ancestor 2,000 years ago with a group of non-Jewish men of unexpected ethnicity. This talk will demonstrate methods for tracing Jewish migration across the ancient world and tying DNA to Jewish history.