Refining Your Haplogroup
To obtain more specific information about their haplotype, R1b and R1b1b2 participants can order a deep clade test through their personal page at FTDNA following the link for "Haplotree" in the left menu. Sometimes new markers (SNPs) are made available for testing as new branches are identified. Any further testing options currently available to refine your haplogroup will always show at your personal page under "Haplotree."
"DNA haplogroup R is believed to have arisen approximately 27,000 years ago in Asia. The two currently defined major subclades are R1 and R2.
"Haplogroup R1 is estimated to have arisen during the height of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), about 18,500 years ago, most likely in southwestern Asia. The two most common descendant clades of haplogroup R1 are R1a and R1b. R1a is believed to have arisen on the Eurasian Steppe, and today is most frequently observed in eastern Europe and in western and central Asia. R1b is believed to have arisen in southwest Asia and today is most frequently observed in Europe and especially in western Europe, which it entered after the LGM largely in the form of R1b1b2. The Atlantic Modal Haplotype, or AMH, is the most common STR haplotype in haplogroup R1b1b2a.
"R2 is most often observed in Asia, especially on the Indian sub-continent and in central Asia." [1]
"Most of the present-day European males with the M343 marker also have the P25 and M269 markers. These markers define the R1b1b2 subclade. This subgroup, previously believed to have existed before the last Ice Age, is now seen as much younger. A revised estimate for R1b1b2 arising is around 5,000 to 8,000 years ago." [2]
"R1b [are] direct descendants of the Cro-Magnon people who dominated the human expansion into Europe and heralded the demise of the Neanderthals." [3]
History of R1b from the Ice Age origins to the beginning of the Hallstatt period - Map showing approximate times of R1b subclade origins.
[4]
Haplogroup R1b Distribution
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[This section is quoted with permission from an email by Tibor Feher, the R1b Project co-administrator at FTDNA.]
The most notable subgroups of R1b are as follows:
R1b1* (P25*) - quite rare, occurs at low frequency in the Middle East, also among Jews
R1b1a (V88) - occurs at low frequency around the Mediterrenean and high frequency in Northern Cameroon and Hausa speakers in Nigeria
R1b1b1 (M73) - occurs at low frequency in the Mediterranean and is quite common among several Turkic tribes in Central Asia
R1b1b2 (M269) - the most common R1b subgroup, often used synonymously, nearly all European R1b is M269 positive.
R-L23 - Those who are positive for SNP L23, but negative for L51 and P310, are called shorthand R-L23. The highest frequency of this group is reached in Armenia and Anatolia, thus it is also called Armenian Modal Haplotype. It occurs from Iraq and Iran up to Central Europe in low frequencies.
R-L51 - There is a special group who are negative for P310 but positive for L51 and L23. This group is under research, occurs mostly in Central Europe.
R-L11 (also defined with P310 and P311): Those belong here, who are positive for L11/P311, but negative for the big P312 and U106 subgroup. Under research.
The above groups are rather rare compared to the following big subgroups, which belong to the WAMH (West Atlantic Modal Haplotype). WAMH makes up more than 50% of the population of Western Europe (UK, Ireland, Low Countries, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Portugal) and around 1/3 of Scandinavia, Czech Rep. and Hungary. Its biggest subgroups are the following:
R1b1b2a1a (U106) - usually connected to Germanic speakers, however, connection is under research. Highest frequency reported in the Low Countries and Austria. It has three big subgroups: U198 (specific for the British Isles), L1 (null value at 439) and the most common group L48.
R1b1b2a1b (P312) - usually connected to Italo-Celtic speakers, connection under research. In its P312* form widely distributed in Europe (second common British subgroup)
R1b1b2a1b2 (M153) - specific for Northern Iberia, especially Basques.
R1b1b2a1b3 (M167)** - usually connected to Northern Iberia and Southern France, but also occurs from the Rhineland to Britain. [General British Isles]
R1b1b2a1b4 (U152) - most common in and around the Western Alps (Alsace, Upper Rhineland, North Italy)
R1b1b2a1b5 (L21)** - the most common British subgroup, the overwhelming majority of Irish, Welsh and Scottish people belongs here. It occurs also in Rhineland and Northern France. Niall of the Nine Hostages (M222) haplotype is also a subclade of L21.
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Subclade to be determined (R-L226) - an SNP expected to be accepted in 2010 as delineating "Irish Type 3" from Northern Ireland. At that time it will be associated with a specific subclade. See The Irish Type III Website.
** Verified and accepted by The Y Chromosome Consortium and therefore acknowledged by Family Tree DNA. Not to be confused with a plethora of subclades seen here and on the internet with attributed geographic origins, but not yet accepted by the more conservative scientists at the Consortium. That's not to say some of the others won't be adopted in the future.
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1. International Society of Genetic Genealogy (2010). Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree 2010, Version: 5.00, Date: 1 January 2010, http://www.isogg.org/tree/ 4 January 2010.
2. Wikipedia on R1b.
3. Telegraph.co.uk.
4. Need cite.