Abbreviations In the GEDmatch Admixture Projects

When you start using GEDmatch, you will see plenty of abbreviations in the admixture projects.

This article starts with a summary of common abbreviations, followed by a detailed section on each one. If we’ve missed any, let us know in a comment.

Summary Of Abbreviations In Admixture Calculators

This article gives detailed descriptions of abbreviations used in the GEDmatch admixture projects. But first, here’s a summary:

• ANE    Ancient North Eurasian
• ASE     Ancient/Ancestral South Eurasian
• ASI      Ancient/Ancestral South Indian
• CHG    Caucuses Hunter Gatherers
• EHG    Eastern Hunter Gatherer
• ENF     Early Neolithic Farmer
• NAF     Neolithic Anatolian Farmer
• SEA     South East Asian
• SSA     Sub-Saharan African
• WHG   Western Hunter-Gatherer
• WHG-UHG      Western Hunter Gatherer – Unknown Hunter Gatherer

Read on for more details.

What Is ANE On GEDmatch?

ANE is an abbreviation for Ancient North Eurasian.

This genetic admixture was identified by research published in 2014 which analyzed ancient remains found in central Siberia.

The ancient remains of a young boy were discovered in the late 1920s near the village of Mal’ta in the Baikal region of Siberia. They have been carbon dated as being 24,000 years old.

Mal’ta Boy was one of nine archaic specimens that were DNA sequenced in 2012/2013. A scientific study compared the DNA results to thousands of modern European samples.

This uncovered a major new discovery in people of European descent.

Discovery of Ancient North Eurasian admixture

Up until this study, Europeans were considered to have two ancient components in their DNA from two waves of migration.

The Hunter Gatherers were the first wave. The second wave of 7,000 years ago came as the Early Farmers migrating from Anatolia.

The DNA study found that there was a third significant DNA component in modern Europeans that corresponded most closely to Mal’ta Boy.

This wave of migration continued into the Americas, and the DNA component is found in Native Americans.

This is now called Ancient North Eurasian or ANE.

Mal’ta Boy on GEDmatch

The Mal’ta Boy DNA results have been uploaded to GEDmatch. This means you can run a One To One Comparison report with your own kit! The archaic kit number is F999914.

If you need some help, we have a tutorial on researching archaic DNA matches on GEDmatch.

Personally, I don’t get matching segments with Mal’ta Boy. I have better luck with the archaic Irish specimens on GEDmatch.

ANE in the GEDmatch Admixture Calculators

Some of the older calculators were created before the published study that described Ancient North Eurasian.

However, some later calculators include an ANE component.

The Ancient Eurasia K6 calculator in the Gedrosia project is probably the best choice. It includes Mal’ta Boy as one of the reference samples, along with two other Upper Paleolithic specimens from the same area.

We have an in-depth article on using the Gedrosia calculator.

What Is ASE On GEDmatch?

ASE is an abbreviation for Ancient South Eurasian.

The label is used by some GEDmatch calculators, and its meaning is set by the project creator. Unlike ANE, this is not a commonly used term in archaeology and archaic genetic.

The ASE label is one of the components in the Gedrosia Ancient Eurasia K6 project.

To understand what it means, you need to look at the reference data for the project calculator. It shows the DNA samples that are grouped under the label.

I describe how to read the reference data in our article about the Gedrosia project.

In the case of ASE, the project creator has based the component on DNA samples found in these regions:

• Andamanese
• Australian (indigenous)
• Papuan

What Is ASI On GEDmatch?

ASI is an abbreviation for Ancient South Indian.

The label is used by some GEDmatch calculators. The meaning is set by the project creator, who uses the label to define a cluster of reference DNA samples.

The PuntDNAL K10 calculator uses the ASI label. However, if you read our article on the PuntDNAL project, you’ll see that we recommend you avoid this particular calculator.

There are other calculators in the project which the creator thinks are more reliable.

What Is CHG On GEDmatch?

CHG is an abbreviation for Caucasus Hunter Gatherer.

This genetic admixture is based on research published in 2015 that sequenced the genomes of Paleolithic and Mesolithic remains found in western Georgia (the Caucasus).

The CHG lineage is separate from European Hunter Gatherers. It dates back 25,000 years when a population split from the Early Anatolian Farmers.

CHG in the admixture calculators

The PuntDNAL K12 ancient calculator includes a CHG component.

Our article on GEDmatch PuntDNAL shows you how to check which DNA samples were used in each calculator.

The K12 calculator includes “Satsurbia SATP”, which is a 13,000year-old sample found in the Caucasus.

What Is EHG On GEDmatch?

EHG is an abbreviation for Eastern Hunter Gatherer.

Archaeologists give the name to a Mesolithic population that covered an area from the Pontic-Caspian steppe up to the Urals.

EHG in the admixture calculators

You’ll find an EHG component in one of the MDLP calculators.

My article on the MDLP project on GEDmatch notes that the K11 Modern calculator has an odd name, given that it covers the Mesolithic period.

What Is ENF On GEDmatch?

ENF is an abbreviation for Early Neolithic Farmer.

The prior Mesolithic period was populated by Hunter Gatherers. Farming populations emerged in the Neolithic era in a Near East region known as the Fertile Crescent. These were the early Neolithic farmers.

ENF in the admixture calculators

The PuntDNAL project uses archaic samples from this period.

You can read more about the Early Farmers in our article on the PuntDNAL calculators. We also advise on which calculators in this project are the best to use.

What Is NAF On GEDmatch?

NAF is an abbreviation for Neolithic Anatolian Farmer.

This is an alternative abbreviation to ENF, which I describe in the prior section.

What Is SEA on GEDmatch?

SEA is an abbreviation for South East Asian.

The label is used by some GEDmatch calculators. The meaning is set by the project creator, who uses the label to define a cluster of reference DNA samples.

SEA in the admixture calculators

The K13 Global calculator in the PuntDNAL project has a component labeled “SE_Asia”.

We have an article on the PuntDNAL calculators. The section on using the calculator spreadsheet will show you how to see which DNA samples were used to define this category.

What Is SSA On GEDmatch?

SSA is an abbreviation for Sub-Saharan African. Geographically, this is the vast area of the continent that is south of the Sahara.

Our round-up review of the GEDmatch calculators has a section on which is best for African heritage.

What Is WHG On GEDmatch?

WHG is an abbreviation for Western Hunter Gatherer.

The term is commonly used in archaeology for a Mesolithic population that resided across a region that covered the British Isles to the Carpathians.

Several of the GEDmatch projects use archaic DNA samples of WHG specimens in their reference groups.

WHG in the admixture calculators

We have detailed articles on the MDLP project and the PuntDNAL project. Both have calculators that include a WHG component.

What Is WHG-UHG On GEDmatch?

WHG-UHG is an abbreviation for Western Hunter Gatherer-Unknown Hunter Gatherer.

WHG-UHG in the admixture calculators

The Eurogenes ANE K7 calculator has a WHG-UHG component. Unfortunately, this calculator doesn’t have an Oracle.

Country Abbreviations In GEDmatch Admixture Projects

When you’re reviewing the calculator spreadsheets, you’ll see several abbreviations for different countries.

This is a list of the most common two-letter acronyms:

• AT       Austria
• DK       Denmark
• ES       Spain
• FR       France
• HU       Hungary
• IE         Ireland
• NL       Netherlands    
• NO       Norway
• PT       Portugal
• RO       Romania

Abbreviations From The 1,000 Genomes Study

Some of the calculators use DNA samples from the 1,000 Genomes research study.

Here is a list of the three-letter acronyms.

• ACB African Caribbeans in Barbados
• ASW Americans of African Ancestry in Southwest USA
• BEB Bengali from Bangladesh
• CDX Chinese Dai in Xishuangbanna, China
• CEU Utah Residents with Northern and Western European ancestry
• CHB Han Chinese in Bejing, China
• CHS Southern Han Chinese
• CLM Colombians from Medellin, Colombia
• ESN Esan in Nigeria
• FIN Finnish in Finland
• GBR British in England and Scotland
• GIH Gujarati Indian from Houston, Texas
• GWD Gambian in Western Divisons in The Gambia
• IBS Iberian population in Spain
• ITU Indian Telugu from the United Kingdom
• JPT Japanese in Tokyo, Japan
• KHV Kinh in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• LWK Luhya in Webuye, Kenya
• MSL Mende in Sierra Leone
• MXL Mexican Ancestry from Los Angeles
• xPEL Peruvians from Lima, Peru
• PJL Punjabi from Lahore, Pakistan
• ITU Indian Telugu from the United Kingdom 
• STU Sri Lankan Tamil from the United Kingdom
• TSI Tuscany in Italy
• YRI Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigera