Trace amounts of Sub-Saharan African on DNA test

[CenturySearching]

My family shows trace amounts of Sub-Saharan African on our 23andMe results. I get 0.1% Broadly Sub-Saharan African, my mother gets 0.1% Northeastern Africa (Ethiopia & Eritrean), and my sister gets 0.5% Sudanese (0.1% from mother, and the other 0.4% is apparently from our father, who is unavailable for testing)

I had always thought the SSA was just part of the North African DNA people of Sicilian descent have, but apparently it's something totally different and distinct? I was told it might be because of the trans-Saharan slave trade. I had always thought everyone with Sicilian ancestry had SSA, but that's apparently not true either? I would be curious to know how many others get trace SSA, what the percentage is, and what locations were assigned.

For reference, my mother's side is from Palermo and Santa Margherita di Belice, Sicily. Father's side is from Campania (Avellino, Benevento, Naples) and Sicily. One of the surnames on my mother's side is 'Mauro' which I just learned means 'dark-skinned' or 'of the Moors'. I wonder if there's a connection.

Thanks in advance for your comments and help.

[lyn1982]

I don't have any, but I have 2% lower central asia. I think the sites just can't tell sicllian dna very well. Is yours on multiple chromosomes, or just one? Ancestry labeled my whole one side of chromosome 17 as lower central asia. I've heard its 1 more recent ancestor if thats the case (and not mislabeled) vs several ancestors if its broken up into small pieces scattered about. And by recent ancestor I mean hundreds of years ago vs the other which would be thousands.

[darkerhorse]

My family shows trace amounts of Sub-Saharan African on our 23andMe results. I get 0.1% Broadly Sub-Saharan African, my mother gets 0.1% Northeastern Africa (Ethiopia & Eritrean), and my sister gets 0.5% Sudanese (0.1% from mother, and the other 0.4% is apparently from our father, who is unavailable for testing)

I had always thought the SSA was just part of the North African DNA people of Sicilian descent have, but apparently it's something totally different and distinct? I was told it might be because of the trans-Saharan slave trade. I had always thought everyone with Sicilian ancestry had SSA, but that's apparently not true either? I would be curious to know how many others get trace SSA, what the percentage is, and what locations were assigned.

For reference, my mother's side is from Palermo and Santa Margherita di Belice, Sicily. Father's side is from Campania (Avellino, Benevento, Naples) and Sicily. One of the surnames on my mother's side is 'Mauro' which I just learned means 'dark-skinned' or 'of the Moors'. I wonder if there's a connection.

Thanks in advance for your comments and help.

Those trace percentages seem rather small, at least they do to an amateur. Are any margins of error reported?

In my family tree, I have both Mauro as a common given name, and DiMauro as an occasional surname.

I think ethnicity estimates are supposed to capture as far back as 300 to 500 years ago, so slavery seems to be in play.