On Up The Valley

You might expect that a valley would collect water. A set of parallel mountain ridges would certainly direct the flow of rain water. Grass, water, and ultimately salt, would provide a draw for all those needing life's provisions. At the equator, the sun would bear down, tend to dry things up, and make a return trip less attractive. Besides, that melting snow and ice, would offer a cooler climate, greener grasses, and lots of water. The picture to the right is another of the Rift Valley. The water collected on the floor of the valley is shown. Imagine yourself walking along, following the water''s edge. North, to the headwaters of the Nile. Then to the narrow land bridge between the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea bringing you to the salt deposits now known as the Dead Sea. As the ice melted, migration farther north would bring you to the area where my R haplotype is thought to have emerged...the Black Sea. It was around this Black Sea that a split and spread of this R haplogroup is thought to have happened. Some to the northwest, some to the southeast, and some to the west, each to carry this R haplotype. The Caucasian mountains, the Mordvinian and near by Bashkirian mountains, and what was to be called Anatolia.