Step 8: Connect the Trees

Find where the trees of different common ancestors collide and build those trees forward. Be on the look out for surprises. Most couples are married but sometimes they aren’t.  In the example below, you found that a Stark from the blue cluster and a Targaryen from the yellow cluster had married.

Build the connected branches forward to identify possible candidates. Use non-ID and official documents as well as ‘information from those that know,’ to guide you. Consider target testing of individuals to validate or disprove possible relationships. Remember, you may fit a generation or two closer or further away.

This is the point where you have likely “Found” who you are looking for. 

More details on how to conduct Pedigree Triangulation and use tools to help find the MRCA more easily are in our Intro and Applied Classes.  We also cover a number of other techniques not mentioned here including: Using Ethnicity Estimates to separate ancestral lines and matches, Segment Triangulation, Using the X Chromosome, Charting, and Y-DNA in searches. See our class page for the class schedule.