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Haplogroup R1b (DYS390=23)

The Atlantic Modal Haplotype has many variants. Any basic haplotype that differs from

the AMH values of 14-12-24-11-13-13 by a single step, on any marker, in any direction, is

still considered part of AMH. Most of the haplotypes below exhibit the basic marker

values 14-12-23-11-13-13, which puts them in that category.

The Heyer study of 1997 recorded a mutation rate of zero for DYS390 and DYS393.

Although the DYS390 marker has not exhibited a mutation rate as consistently low as

DYS393 in other studies, the results of the Heyer study suggest that it is a relatively

stable marker. As such, particular values of DYS390 may be acquired less often by

random mutation, and therefore may be more likely to reflect a shared ancestry among

the haplotypes that exhibit them.

Although the Atlantic Modal Haplotype unquestionably originated in Western Europe,

Western Europe is a large place notorious for its cultural diversity. Most scientists apply

Occam's Razor when speculating about the origin of R1b haplotypes found among

persons of British descent. They say that, since the original population of Britain was

most likely R1b, then a person of British descent with that haplotype is descended from

that population.

We think that is a simplistic approach. Also, since we are not scientists and have no

reputation to protect, we are free to speculate a little more adventurously. We have analyzed the

geographical match patterns of DYS390=23 haplotypes in the YSTR, and then compared them

with the geographical match patterns of more modal AMH variations.

We have reached the conclusion that, although DYS390=23 haplotypes may indeed still have

an origin among the aboriginal or "Celtic" natives of Britain, they are more likely than many other

AMH variations to have arrived in Britain from somewhere else. In this case, from the homeland

of the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes - in Denmark, the northern coast of The Netherlands, and

western and northern Germany. This is entirely feasible in view of the fact that up to 40 and 50

percent of the haplotypes found in these areas are R1b.

R1b DYS390=23 Haplotype #6

This haplotype differs from the most common AMH variant by three steps, and is not

particularly common at all. The top five frequencies include two in The Netherlands,

two in Scandinavia and one in Western Germany.

There are additional hits in Germany, Poland and Turkey. An Asiatic hit is rare for this sort of

haplotype. This haplotype may have been brought to Turkey by Varangians or other Germanic

groups, either through trade or military activity.

There are also a few hits in Portugal, the Pyrenees and Eastern Italy. This could

suggest a Celto-Iberian origin for this haplotype, but one must remember that the Visigoths

and Suevian tribes were active in Eastern Spain, Portugal and Northern Italy.

Our best guess for the origin of this haplotype in a person of British descent is either

Anglo-Saxon or Danish conquest, or Norse settlement of northern Britain.

19 389i 389ii 390 391 392 393 385a 385b
14 13 29 23 10 13 13 11 15

Geographical Locale

 %
Ostergotland Jonkoping, Sweden 2.38
Zeeland, Southwestern Netherlands 2.17
Groningen, Northern Netherlands 2.08
Eastern Norway 1.18
Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate .96
Marche, Eastern Italy .93
Hamburg, Northern Germany .88
Wroclaw, Western Poland .83
Brussels, Belgium .80
Pyrenees, Spain .76
Turkey .63
Central Portugal .54
Munich, Bavaria .39
Chemnitz, Saxony .37
Leipzig, Saxony .30

R1b DYS390=23 Haplotype #7

This partial haplotype is very rare, but strongly suggests a Viking or

Anglo-Saxon origin.

19 389i 389ii 390 391 392 393 385a 385b
14 12 27 23 10 13 13 - -

Geographical Locale

 %
Northern Norway 2.22
Greifswald, Pomerania .48
Chemnitz, Saxony .24

R1b DYS390=23 Haplotype #8

This haplotype exhibits its highest frequencies mostly in Denmark and Northern Germany,

with one glaring exception. There are two hits out of a sample of 90 in Asturias, in Northern Spain.

The northwestern corner of the Iberian peninsula is a difficult area to interpret genetically. The region

has a strong history of Celtic occupation, but it was also controlled for several centuries by the

Suevi and the Visigoths from Northeastern Germany. Moreover, even when the Moors conquered Iberia,

this region remained a stronghold of Christian Spain, with a population of mixed Germanic and

Celtic descent. Asturias, in particular, was the site of a Visigothic kingdom that defied the Moors.

There are also later reports of Vikings attacking Asturias.

Additional hits in German locales and Poland, as well as in Brazil, with its large Portuguese

population, may further reflect the spread of this haplotype with the Visigothic settlement of

Iberia. The only other Iberian sample is that in Colombia, which has the lowest frequency

in the table.

Although we cannot ignore the strong possibility that this haplotype may have a Celto-Iberian

origin, its origin may very well lie in Northern Germany and adjacent regions.

19 389i 389ii 390 391 392 393 385a 385b
14 12 28 23 11 13 13 11 14

Geographical Locale

 %
Denmark 3.17
Asturias, Northern Spain 2.22
Greifswald, Pomerania 1.92
Virginia [European-American] 1.64
Strasbourg, Alsace 1.01
Hamburg, Northern Germany .88
New York City [European-American] .65
Tuscany, Central Italy .46
Sao Paulo, Brazil [Europeans] .45
Tyrol, Western Austria .44
Warsaw, Central Poland .42
London, England .40
Munich, Bavaria .39
Gdansk, Nothern Poland .37
Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt .35
Antioquia, Colombia .24

R1b DYS390=23 Haplotype #9

This haplotype deviates from other DYS390=23 R1b haplotypes due to its DYS19 marker, which

has the rare value of 13. It does not have many matches in the YHRD database. What matches do

occur are concentrated in the Germanic interior of Europe, ranging from Saxony, down through

Austria, to the parts of Northern Italy that were invaded by the Lombards, Rugians and others

during the middle of the first millennium.

This haplotype has no hits in Denmark or The Netherlands, so the likelihood of an Anglo-Saxon

origin is less clear. Central Europe was the epicenter of Celtic culture, so it is possible that

this haplotype came to Britain with the Celts circa 500 B.C.E. It is also possible that this

haplotype arrived with Roman settlers or Germanic troops in the Roman army.

All we can say for sure is that this haplotype conforms with the bias towards Germanic

locales that we see with other DYS390=23 R1b haplotypes.

19 389i 389ii 390 391 392 393 385a 385b
13 13 29 23 11 13 13 11 14

Geographical Locale

 %
Missouri [European-American] 1.69
Vienna, Austria 1.52
Marche, Eastern Italy .93
Tuscany, Central Italy .46
Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt .35
Chemnitz, Saxony .24

R1b DYS390=23 Haplotype #10

This haplotype deviates from other DYS390=23 R1b haplotypes due to the DYS391 marker,

which has the rare value of 12. This is most likely a mutation from the modal value of 11.

Although the two top European frequencies are in The Netherlands, and two are in

Western or Northern Germany, the Celtic region of Cantabria also appears.

There are several other hits in Spain, one in the Pyrenees. This is another example of a

slightly deviant DYS390=23 R1b haplotype with an ambiguous match pattern.

It could be Anglo-Saxon or it could be Celtic.

19 389i 389ii 390 391 392 393 385a 385b
14 13 29 23 12 13 13 11 14

Geographical Locale

 %
Zeeland, Southwestern Netherlands 2.17
Connecticut [Hispanic-American] 1.92
Netherlands 1.15
Munster, Westphalia 1.02
Cantabria, Northern Spain .99
Berlin, Brandenburg .82
Pyrenees, Spain .76
Valencia, Eastern Spain .71
Leipzig, Saxony .61
Greifswald, Pomerania .48
Tuscany, Central Italy .46
Antioquia, Colombia .25
Sweden .25
Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemburg .23
Gdansk, Northern Poland .18
Chemnitz, Saxony .12

R1b DYS390=23 Haplotype #11

The highest European frequency by far falls in Groningen. Among the top ten

European frequencies, Northern Italy occurs twice, London is number four, Iberia

occurs three times, The Low Countries twice, and Germany twice.

There is a strong possibility that this is an Anglo-Saxon signature, which is

consistent with the match pattern of many DYS390=23 haplotypes.

Nonetheless, this haplotype may also be Norman, Celtic or Iberian.

It cannot really be "called" one way or another.

19 389i 389ii 390 391 392 393 385a 385b
14 14 30 23 11 13 13 11 14

Geographical Locale

 %
Groningen, Netherlands 6.25
Florida [European-American] 4.55
Louisiana [European-American] 3.23
Indiana [European-American] 2.94
Virginia [Hispanic-American] 2.17
Florida [African-American] 2.08
Umbria, Italy 1.96
Virginia [European-American] 1.64
Central Portugal 1.62
London, England 1.21
Lombardy, Italy 1.09
Cape Town, South Africa [European] 1.00
Cordoba, Argentina 1.00
Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate .96
Brussels, Belgium .80
Pyrenees, Spain .75
Madrid, Central-East Spain .68
Sao Paulo, Brazil [European] .67
Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemburg .65
Northern Spain [Basque] .59
Budapest, Hungary .51
Antioquia, Colombia [European] .49
Latium, Italy .45
Argentina [European] .33
Leipzig, Saxony .30
Sweden .25
Chemnitz, Saxony .24

R1b DYS390=23 Haplotype #12

This partial haplotype is close to AMH, and is therefore very common.  Nonetheless its match

pattern exhibits a particular bias. All of the top ten European frequencies fall in Denmark, The Low

Countries, Germany and the Rhineland. The only locales in this group that are not strictly Teutonic -

Lausanne, Belgium and Alsace - are directly adjacent to German-speaking areas.

Of the next ten highest European frequencies, five fall in Germany, and one each falls in Norway,

Switzerland, Austria and The Netherlands.

Only one locale in the top twenty European areas falls in Iberia, and that is Northern Portugal,

which has a history of Germanic settlement by Suevi and Visigoths - in addition to a native Celtic past.

Of the top ten non-European samples, six are European-American (mostly in Southern or Western states),

one is South African European (most likely of British or Dutch descent), and one is Greenland Inuit

(although this, too, most likely reflects Danish admixture).

Only one non-European sample was Hispanic.

Iberian, Italian, Eastern European and Scandinavian locales do show up as well, but at much

lower frequencies.

This haplotype could have come to Britain from multiple sources, but probably came most

often with the Danes and the Anglo-Saxons.

19 389i 389ii 390 391 392 393 385a 385b
14 13 29 23 11 13 13 - -

Geographical Locale

 %
Louisiana [European-American] 9.68
Denmark 9.52
Oregon [European-American] 8.57
Netherlands 8.05
Cologne, Westphalia 7.41
Leiden, Netherlands 7.29
Strasbourg, Alsace 7.07
Friesland, Netherlands 6.82
Texas [European-American] 6.41
Brussels, Belgium 6.40
Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemburg 5.81
Lausanne, Switzerland 5.56
Chemnitz, Saxony 5.49
Northern Portugal 5.49
Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemburg 5.08
Dusseldorf, Westphalia 4.67
Munster, Westphalia 4.59
Cajun [European-American] 4.55
Florida [European-American] 4.55
Greenland [Inuit] 4.35
Zeeland, Netherlands 4.35
Switzerland 4.03
Berlin, Brandenburg 4.01
Cape Town, South Africa [European] 4.00
Southern Norway 4.00
Tyrol, Austria 3.93
Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt 3.89
New York City [European-American] 3.87
Connecticut [Hispanic-American] 3.85
Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate 3.85
Central Portugal 3.78
London, England 3.64
Munich, Bavaria 3.59
Missouri [African-American] 3.57
Southern Portugal 3.57
Valencia, Spain 3.57
Missouri [European-American] 3.39
Madrid, Spain 3.38
Veneto, Italy 3.33
Bern, Switzerland 3.30
Virginia [European-American] 3.28
Lyon, France 3.20
Maryland [European-American] 3.13
Pennsylvania [Hispanic-American] 3.13
Graz, Austria 3.08
Pyrenees, Spain 3.01
Cordoba, Argentina 3.00
Rostock, Mecklenburg 2.96
Texas [African-American] 2.90
Ireland 2.80
Sao Paulo, Brazil [European] 2.46
Gotland, Sweden 2.44
Vasterbotten, Sweden 2.44
Blekinge, Sweden 2.38
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [European] 2.38
Eastern Norway 2.35
Pennsylvania [African-American] 2.33
Varmland, Sweden 2.33
Leipzig, Saxony 2.27
Asturias, Northern Spain 2.22
Northern Norway 2.22
Lombardy, Italy 2.20
Oregon [African-American] 2.13
Skaraborg, Sweden 2.13
Florida [African-American] 2.08
Groningen, Netherlands 2.08
Zagreb, Croatia 2.00
Bologna, Italy 1.96
Santiago de Compostela, Galicia 1.94
Marche, Italy 1.85
Barcelona, Catalonia 1.79
Wroclaw, Poland 1.65
Western Norway 1.56
Budapest, Hungary 1.52
Vienna, Austria 1.52
Pennsylvania [European-American] 1.49
Argentina [Guarani Amerindian] 1.47
Greifswald, Pomerania 1.44
Puglia, Italy 1.43
Tuscany, Italy 1.38
Maryland [African-American] 1.37
Bogota, Colombia [European] 1.36
Latium, Italy 1.35
Andulacia, Southern Spain 1.27
Warsaw, Poland 1.25
Antioquia, Colombia [European] 1.23
Sweden 1.23
Northern Spain [Basque] 1.19
Emilia Romagna, Italy 1.12
Caceres, Spain 1.10
Madeira, Portugal 1.02
Transylvania, Romania [Szekely] 1.02
Guinea 1.01
Szeged, Hungary 1.00
Krakow, Poland .93
Gdansk, Northern Poland .92
Hamburg, Northern Germany .88
London, England [Afro-Caribbean] .85
Ljubljana, Slovenia .83
Zaragoza, Aragon .83
Macedonia .67
New York City [African-American] .67
New York City [Hispanic-American] .67
Argentina [European] .66
Vilnius, Lithuania .64
Turkey .63
Bydgoszcz, Northern Poland .60