Origin of M173 (Eu18) in Europe...

From "The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans: A Y Chromosome Perspective

"Of the 22 haplotypes that constitute the phylogeny in Fig. 1 (top), Eu18 and Eu19 characterize
about 50% of the European Y chromosomes. Although they share M173, the two haplotypes show contrasting geographic distribution. The frequency of Eu18 decreases from west to east, being most frequent in Basques (Fig. 1, bottom, and Table 1). This lineage includes the previously described proto-European lineage that is characterized by the 49a,f haplotype 15 (10). In contrast, haplotype Eu19, which is derived from the M173 lineage and is distinguished by M17, is virtually absent in Western Europe. Its frequency increases eastward and reaches a maximum in Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine, where Eu18 in turn is virtually absent. Both haplotypes Eu18 and Eu19 share the derived M45 allele. The lineage characterized by M3, common in Native Americans (12) and a few Siberian populations (15), is also a derivative of M45. This observation suggests that M173 is an ancient Eurasiatic marker that was brought by or arose in the group of Homo sapiens sapiens who entered Europe and diffused from east to west about 40,000 to 35,000 years ago (16, 17), spreading the Aurignac culture. This culture also appeared almost simultaneously in Siberia (17), from which some groups eventually migrated to the Americas."

Haplogroup R1a

The haplogroup HG3 (or in the new nomenclature, R1a1) is seen more frequently on the eastern side of Europe – for example, 9% of the population of Turkey is of this type. But this line is also common in Scandinavia, and is said by some to be indicative of "Viking blood" when seen in paternal lines originating in the British Isles. The forefather of this line is thought to have been born in the Ukraine during the last Ice Age about 15,000 years ago.

The three groups of humans had taken refuge for so long that their DNA had naturally picked up mutations, and consequently can be defined into different haplogroups. As they spread from these refuges, Haplogroups R1b, I and R1a propagated across Europe.

- Haplogroup R1b is common on the western Atlantic coast as far as Scotland.
- Haplogroup I is common across central Europe and up into Scandinavia.
- Haplogroup R1a is common in eastern Europe and has also spread across into central Asia and as far as India and Pakistan.

These three major haplogroups account for approx 80% of Europe's present-day population.

Around 8,000 years ago (Map 3), the Neolithic peoples of the Middle East that had developed the new technology of agriculture began moving into Europe. There were several haplogroups involved, mainly E3b, F, J2 and G2.

Haplogroup R1a

The fabled haplogroup R1a - or, more precisely, its subclade R1a1 - is said to indicate a "Viking origin"

when it is found among men of British descent. This is the haplogroup that will earn you a "Viking" certificate

from Oxford Ancestors, and its presence was the main focus of the Capelli study "A Y Chromosome

Census of The British Isles".

It is believed to have originated among the Kurgan culture of western Asia, which is often credited

with spreading the Indo-European languages to northwestern Europe. The Kurgans were nomads with a

pastoral economy, and to this day their descendants bear the genetic traces of a dependence on livestock and

animal products. The incidence of milk tolerance among the Swedes, for instance, is among the highest

in the world.

The Scandinavians have long believed that their ancestors originated in Asia. The Icelandic sagas claim

descent for the Jarls of Norway from the warriors of Troy, and the anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl - the author of

the classic "Kon Tiki" - spent his final years attempting to trace the human originals of Wodin and the Aesir

back to Azerbaijan in the Caucasus. There may be an element of truth to these speculations, since individuals with

R1a haplotypes often score matches with Indians, Siberians, Chinese and other Asians - even when they score no

matches with persons from Europe. The recent discovery of fair-haired mummies in the Takla Makan desert of western

China has revived interest in the long forgotten Indo-Iranian tribe, the Tocharians, their possible role in the economy

of the Silk Road, and their relationship with the people of Europe. Haplogroup R1a is also, implicitly, the "Aryan"

haplogroup, and perhaps the less said about that, the better.

A person who does not belong to haplogroup R1a may, in fact, have a "deep ancestry" in Scandinavia.

R1a accounts for only about 30% of the men of Norway. The various subclades of Haplogroup I account for

about 35%, and even R1b accounts for as much as 28%. Conversely, a person who does belong to R1a does

not necessarily have Scandinavian ancestors - even if his people are from Britain.

Suppose you take three Britons - one whose grandfather was a Pakistani immigrant, another whose grandfather

was a Polish pilot with the RAF, and the third a Scot descended from one of the Hungarian noblemen who

accompanied Margaret Atheling to the court of Malcolm Canmore - and who, perhaps, bears the name

Drummond, Borthwick or Crichton.

All three gentlemen could easily be R1a, but that doesn't make them Vikings.

However, some DNA genealogists have asserted not only that R1a was "Viking", but that only R1a was truly Viking -

and that all the occurrence of R1b in the Norwegian population is due to the importation of Celtic slaves. This is a

curiously Anglo-Centric argument. Vikings took slaves from many foreign lands, and sold most of them to

other foreign lands. Most of the slaves in Norway were, in fact, the descendants of prisoners captured in wars

with other Vikings. Even those foreign slaves who were imported to Norway were more likely to be Slavic

than Celtic, as Slavs comprised the largest number of the slaves the Vikings bought and sold. Slavs had been

common victims of the "peculiar institution" since Roman times.

R1a is, in fact, far more prevalent in Poland and Hungary than in Norway. One could actually mount a

counterargument that it was not R1b, but R1a, whose incidence in Scandinavia was artificially enhanced by slavery.

R1a could also have entered Britain with the Goths, who served with the Roman Army in Britain. Many

Visigoths also settled in France, and some of their descendants accompanied the Normans to England. The De Vaux

family of Dirleton Castle, for instance, came from Normandy. Before that, however, they were reputedly descended

from a Visigothic family that obtained lands in Roman Gaul.

Indo-Iranian nomads like the Alans and the Sarmatians also probably carried R1a, and they found their

way to Britain as well.

Viking DNA Among The Border Rivers

Many of the Border River families are rumored to have Viking origin. That is a reasonable assumption in view of the

fact that Cumbria - the heart of the "Debateable Lands" - offers abundance evidence of Viking settlement, from place

names and Norse dialect, to archaeological finds of Viking artifacts and "hogback" style tombstones. Most of

these Vikings were actually Hiberno-Norse, which means that their forebears had resided in Ireland for generations

and had intermarried with the Irish Gaels. From the start of the wars in Dublin in the early tenth century, up until Brian

Boru finally ejected the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, there was a steady stream of refugees to the Isle

of Man, the Wirral (near Chester) and the sparsely populated areas of Galloway and Cumbria.

Penrith, which is in Cumbria, showed the highest proportion of R1a haplotypes of any place tested in England -

about 8 percent, according to the

Haut du formulaire

Family Finder:

Bas du formulaire