mtdna

Mt-haplogroup T2 is a relatively widespread, yet mysterious haplogroup. Its distribution doesn't give much hint regarding its origin. The frequency of T2 varies widely within linguistic families or countries that otherwise share similar ancestry, and even between regions of a same country. The...

Here comes the map of haplogroup HV, the mother of H and V, which appears to have originated in the Middle East. HV peaks in Mesopotamia and Iran. In Europe it reflects the establishment of some Neolithic farmers (esp. between Bulgaria and southern Belarus), which may correspond to Y-haplogroups...

X is one of the rarest mitochondrial haplogroups in terms of frequency, yet one of the most widespread geographically. It is found throughout Europe, North Africa, the Near/Middle East, in most of Central Asia, parts of North Asia, and among Native North Americans (X2a). X is currently divided...

There are now about 100 identified subclades of mt-haplogroup H. Most mitochondrial studies just test H, without mentioning subclades. Fortunately there was one major study on H subclades focusing especially on the two major western and northern European subclades H1 and H3. As these two occur...

Here is the distribution map of mt-haplogroup J. Although it hasn't been found yet in Mesolithic or Palaeolithic Europe, it is possible that J was already in Europe before the Neolithic, especially for J2a1 and J1c, which are rare outside Europe. Samples have been identified J samples...

Here is the map of mt-haplogroup W, a lineage with strongly connected to Balto-Slavic people. The maximum frequencies of W are observed in Finland (9.6%), Hungary (5.2%), Latvia (4.1%), Macedonia (4%) and Belarus (3.7%, but over 5% if we exclude the south). The Finns and the Hungarians are both...

Here is the new map of mt-haplogroup I. It's impossible to attribute an ethnic origin to the whole of haplogroup I as it is divided in 6 main branches and many subclades, which have a very different geographic distribution. Subclades - I1a is found in Central and Eastern Europe, in the...

Here is the distribution map of the rarest of the nine subclades of haplogroup U in Europe and the Middle East. The origins of U are still very uncertain. Almost all European U2 fits into the U2e subclade, with only a small minority of U2d. All the other subclades are usually found in South...

Let's continue the series of mtDNA maps. Here comes U3, a haplogroup with strong Near Eastern affinities. U3 was was almost certainly propagated by some (Levantine ?) Neolithic farmers in Europe, especially haplogroups E1b1b, J1(xP58) and T. U3 reflects partially the Southwest Asian admixture...

Here is another mtDNA map. Haplogroup U4 in particularly common in Balto-Slavic and to a lower extent also in other Y-DNA R1a populations (including Turkic and Altaic). The highest percentages of U4 are observed among the Chuvash (16.4%) and Bashkirs (14.8%) of the Volga-Ural region, who have...

After the map of U5 here comes the other major maternal lineage of the Saami, the Basques and the Cantabrians: haplogroup V (including HV0, aka pre-V). V is also well represented among the Berbers from the Maghreb and Libya. HV0 may actually have originated in Northwest Africa during the...

Haplogroup U5 was the most common maternal lineage among European hunter-gatherers, not just during the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, but until much later in North and Northeast Europe, notably with the Sami people. U5 is absent from Southwest Asia and very low in most of the Middle East, where...

I have revised all the mtDNA frequencies and added 20 new populations. This now permits me to create mtDNA maps. Ideally I would need more detailed regional data for central and southern Spain, all Germany, Ukraine and European Russia (except the Caucasus, which is well covered). I have got...

A new paper by Costa et al. analysed in detail the deep mitochondrial subclades of the Jewish population and compared them with European and Near Eastern sequences. Their conclusion is that over 80% of Jewish maternal lineages may be of European origin, and only 8.3% of clear Near Eastern...

Brandt et al. analysed 364 ancient mtDNA samples from the Early Neolithic (Linear Pottery culture) to the Early Bronze Age (Unetice culture), mostly around Germany, Bohemia and Poland. I believe that this is the largest study on ancient mtDNA to date. Although the article is behind a paywall...

I've come across this article from BBC News : Warning of three-person IVF 'risks' The debate was launched by scientists from the University of Sheffield and the University of Sussex in England, and Monash University in Australia. Here is what it is about. I completely agree with the Human...

As already reported in Haplogroups of European kings and queens, Knight et al. (2004) tested the DNA Czar Nicholas II of Russia, who was identified as a member of Y-DNA haplogroup R1b and mtDNA haplogroup T2. Far from being Russian, the czar's matrilineal lineage is overwhelmingly Germanic...

As already reported in Haplogroups of European kings and queens, Malmström et al. (2011) tested the mtDNA King Valdemar I of Sweden (1239–1302) and his brother, King Magnus III of Sweden (1240-1290). Both were found to belong to Y-DNA haplogroup I1 and mtDNA haplogroup Z1a. The two kings were...

It's all over the news. Prince William, the heir to the British throne, has some Indian blood, inherited through his his great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Eliza Newark. She was the housekeeper of Theodore Forbes (1788-1820), a Scot who worked for the East India Company in the port city...

Just released: A European population in Minoan Bronze Age Crete, by Hughey et al. Abstract The first advanced Bronze Age civilization of Europe was established by the Minoans about 5,000 years before present. Since Sir Arthur Evans exposed the Minoan civic centre of Knossos, archaeologists...