Saturday, May 26, 2012

U5b Distribution in Northern Eurasian Populations

This table [1] shows the distribution of my U5b (motherline mitochondrial) mtDNA haplogroup among different northern Eurasian populations. Populations highlighted in yellow are among the exact matches on my own mtDNA results profile. Populations highlighted in blue are among the top matches on my (nuclear) autosomal STR DNA analysis results.

Interestingly, in this table, none of my top motherline and autosomal populations overlap. On my motherline map (previously posted), Scandivanian Iceland is an exact match. I'm still trying to figure out the Celtic-Nordic-Jewish connections of my ancestors, and how it all fits together. My autosomal STR results are highly Celtic-Nordic and Northwestern European, while my motherline results are highly central-eastern European. In the literature, it is noted that U5b originated in central-eastern Europe and migrated north (when the ice sheets retreated) into Scandinavia and northwestern Europe.

Germanic Teutonic peoples originally came from Scandinavia during the Bronze Age. Austria and Hungary have Teutonic roots. Spain and Russia also contain Teutonic elements. Prehistoric Poland may have been Slavic, although the truth of that is hotly debated among scientists, so it is not a certain fact. Prehistoric Romanians were Dacians (Getae, Thracians). "During the Middle Ages Romanians were mostly known as Vlachs, a blanket term ultimately of Germanic origin, from the word Walha, used by ancient Germanic peoples to refer to Romance-speaking and Celtic neighbours." So, Celts lived in Romania, as well as in Northwestern Europe.

It looks like my motherline may be largely of Teutonic and Celtic stock, even though my motherline map focuses on eastern central Europe, while my autosomal map focuses on Northwestern Europe, with splashes from other cultures having made their mark as well.

Also, the Nordic/Teutonic and Celtic peoples seem to be very closely related in my mind. Untangling the complexity of it all is going to be a job.

I'm anxious to get the results back from my full sequence mtDNA analysis to find out my subclade. At that point, maybe I can get a clearer picture of the migration path of my own ancestral mothers.

[1] Source - The Peopling of Europe from the Mitochondrial Haplogroup U5 Perspective

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