The Delta of the Danube

The R haplogroup migrating westward from around the north or south of the Black Sea, would meet at the delta of the Danube. This mouth would open the front door to more than 1700 miles of a branching, dense, deep water river network. The end of the road (water highway) would be the gorge in the Austrian Alps and the Western Carpathian Mountains. It was here that the family seemed to have its Celtic beginnings called by the experts the "La Tene culture". It would also be where the northern group moved along the Vistula, the Oder, the Elbe, and the Rhine to make that other R haplogroup, R1a. The R1a(s) would come to haunt us many, many years later.

As the La Tene culture expanded, it found the salt deposits to be especially helpful. At Hallstatt, meaning salt, the culture took its second stage of development called the "Hallstatt period". At this time, the family began to expand through France to the Iberian Peninsula, and to our yet to be homeland, the British Isles. By this time, the R1b1 folks would have clustered, bringing with them their Celtic roots, in language, family, society, and culture. What a trip to get to the land yet to become our home.