Tag Your It

Recent changes in the classifications of my haplotype, R1b1b to R1b1a2, made for some interesting additional questions. What in the world does this mean!?...was the first. I had spent a fair amount of time shifting through the data on R1b1b. It pointed me to Wales. What does this change do?

The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) and Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) seemed to have a slightly different view. Apparently it was FTDNA that first made the changes in their haplotype classification. [Where I had my DNA tested.] This was based upon the identification (clarification) of a specific sub-group [called "sub-clade"] of R1b. This sub-group demonstrated (dominated by) a specific genetic marker tagged R-m412. It was found on those who carried the R1b1b marker tagged R-m269. This sub-group [sub-clade ] was found in Wales 92.3 % of the 65 people studied! Wow, I made it home! This change in classification showed that my genealogy work of more than 50 years was again supported. My genes exposed. Another change is possible before all this gets straighten out. Tag your it!

Where in the World?

My Jones surname DNA had 26 exact 12 marker matches. Where in the world are they? An exact 12 marker test showed that our most recent common ancestor (MRCA) was some 29 generations ago! [95% chance] Who in this world has their genealogy traced back 29 generations?

Being an exception to the rule, my years of genealogy research [now 51 years], has traced my family's line back 53 generations. Given in a series of previous posts, starting with "The Beginnings (generations 1-5)" [March 23, 2011] and ending with "Finally There (generation 45 - "Pap paw" [April 29, 2011], the generations are presented. My 29th generation grandfather is Ynyr ap Gadforch (JB-1). This would take our common ancestor back to around 900 A.D.! He was the father of Tudor Trevor (JC- 1) who is given credit for "founding" our tribe.

Of the 26 exact 12 marker test the following was found:

Scotland = 5 matches

England = 4 matches

Germany = 3 matches

France, Ireland, Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom = 2 match each

Wales, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Albania = 1 match each.

Wow, what a number of countries that share my 12 marker test. Ynyr ap Gadforch descendants sure got around!

Now there were many, many more who matched 11/12 markers. This would go back to generation 47. In my family tree this would be Enid (Jq-1) going back to the early days of Roman occupation! [ca. 150 - 200 A.D.] From this ancestor, there were 168 "1-step" in Ireland, 156 in England, 122 in Scotland, 88 United Kingdom, 66 Germany, 36 Netherlands, 36 France, 22 Wales, 19 Spain, 13 Italy, and 11 Switzerland.

My R1b1b2 [now classified R1b1a2]...it is definitely in the world.

R1b1b

The launching pad, around the Black Sea, placed many of my R1b1b(s) around the world as it existed in the ice ages. For my Y-DNA, it would be the Welsh that clusters most of my recent family, even before the Romans arrived to the island. But, where did all the other R(s) go? The following table list the present day distribution of the R1b1b haplogroup. My Welsh homeland is at the top of the list with 89%! What a deal! After 50 years of doing my JONES family's genealogy, I had ended up in Wales before all this DNA stuff even got started. The first number in the table is the percent of those studied who had the R1b1b haplogroup. The second number is the total people used in the study. You will see that there are a number of groups that have a small amount of folks being studied. [The smaller the number in the group, the less reliable is the findings.]

R1b1b DNA:

Welsh (Anglesey) 89% 88
Basque (French/Spanish) 88% 67
Bashkirs 86% 43 [Turkic people- south Ural mountains]
Irish 82% 222
Scots 77% 61
Spanish(Minorca) 73% 37
Dutch(Germanic West) 70% 27
British(Germanic West) 69% 32
Spanish(Italic) 68% 126
Bagvalins(Caucesians) 68% 28
Orcadians(Germanic West) 66% 71
Spanish(Majorca) 66% 62
Spanish(south) 65% 162
Spanish(Valencia) 64% 73
Belgians(Germanic/Italic) 63% 92
English(Central) 62% 215
Portuguese(North Italic) 62% 328
Italians 62% 50
Italians(North Central) 62% 50
Spanish(Ibiza) 57% 54
Portuguese(south/Italic) 56% 57
Frisians(Germanic West) 56% 94
French(Italic) 52% 23
Bavarians(Germanic West) 50% 80
Germans(Germanic West) 48% 48
Morovins (Erzya) 46% 39

Wow! What a launching pad. Any readers from these areas? Please identify yourself.

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.

The Rift Valley

Our human ancestors are believed to have followed the herds of animals up the Rift Valley to the new lands of the Middle East. This was the corridor out of Africa, leading to the migration of the DNA that becomes my haplogroup. The Rift Valley was then believed to be an open plain where long grasses beckoned the animals to feed. In turn, these animals beckoned our ancestors to feed on them. I suspect that it was this migrating food supply that offered some advantage to the survival of my particular DNA. The picture to the right shows this not so fertile plain as it exists today. From the valley floor where I took this picture, the mountains rise fairly quickly to around 5,000 feet. It certainly would have looked different some 50,000 years ago!

My JONES haplogroup is R1b1b2. It would have the following "Gene Tree":

> 60,000 years ago - haplogroup A,

50,000 years ago - haplogroup B - to - haplogroup C at 50,000 years ago,

45,000 years ago - haplogroup F;

40,000 years ago - haplogroup K;

35,000 years ago - haplogroup P;

30,000 years ago - haplogroup R - to - haplogroup R1

25,000 years ago - haplogroup R1b

10,000 years ago - haplogroup R1b1b2 which is my Celtic roots.

Imagine that...I stood where my ancestors stood some 50,000 years ago!