Central European I-M223 Co-Migrated With Scandinavian I-M253 Following Last Ice Age

I found this (Germanic Origins From the Perspective of the Y Chromosome, Michael Robert St. Clair, University of California, Berkeley, Spring 2012) while researching for information on my Dad's I2b1 (I-M223) Hg. On page 47, it says regarding my Dad's Hg:

The frequency of the I-M223 mutation peaks in Germany and the Netherlands, and is present in about 10% of men in both countries. Rootsi and others suggest that the the Central European I-Group (I-M223) co-migrated with the Scandinavian I-Group (I-M253) from an Iberian refuge area following the last ice age.

This paper further goes to report that Hg I (both I1 and I2 branches which are further subdivided into regional I-Groups - Scandinavian, Balkan, Sardinian and Central European) is found almost exclusively in Europe and has been in Europe since the Paleolithic. The paper discusses other major European Y-Hg's too.

I-M223-Cont1

Using this internet I-Hg subclade predictor and entering in the 37-marker values from FTDNA, my dad's Y-Hg prediction is I-M223-continental 1 with a greater than 97% probability. 

I'm speculating, but I bet the continental-1 descriptor might correspond to Germanic Anglo-Scandinavian tribes and to one the regions of Angeln or Saxony in Germany and/or to southern Sweden (southern Sweden is the location of my own autosomal DNA deep ancestry). 

"The Anglo-Saxons are a Scandinavian people from northern Germany, Denmark and the Frisian Islands, with some additional links to southern Sweden." 

I2b1 (I-M223) peaks in both Germany and Sweden, and can be found also in Anglo-Saxon England, Ireland and Scotland. Continental 1 probably refers to continental tribes possibly from one of the areas in Germany, Denmark or Sweden in contra-distinction to Anglo-Saxon England and the Frisian Islands which are NOT continental but islands. Supporting this idea, I've also read that continental I2b1's are unlikely to test positive for the downstream SNP marker M284 (the I2b1a subclade marker which is found almost exclusively in Britain).

So, my working hypothesis right now is that I-M223-cont1 refers to Germanic Anglo-Scandinavians. 

Testing for SNP P95 and SNP M379 Ordered

In follow-up to my previous post, all of the results for the 37 Y-DNA markers I had tested for my dad are in. His Y-Hg is I-M223 (I2b1*). His Y-DNA was not tested for these I-M223 subclade SNPs:

I2b1a - M284!, L126!
I2b1b - M379!
I2b1c - P78!
I2b1d - P95

In my dad's Haplotype Origins matches, he matches a few individuals in Poland who are confirmed I2b1d (formerly I1b2a4), so I have ordered the test to have have his Y-DNA tested for SNP P95.

According to this information on RootsWeb, the P95 haplotype is rare (but has some time depth to it and has been found in Holland, Germany and Poland). Testing for M284 and P78 may not yield positive results.

I've also ordered the test for SNP M379.

First Level Paternal Y-DNA Results In

Yay! The first level results (Y-DNA1-12, the first 12 markers) on my father's Y-DNA test are in. The 25-marker and 37-marker results are still pending, which may refine my dad's Y-haplogroup more specifically. Nevertheless, my dad's first level Y-DNA haplogroup is I2. His final Y-DNA haplogroup using current nomenclature is predicted by FTDNA scientists to be I-M223 (formerly known as I2b1, I2a2a and I1c in earlier phylosystems).

I2 is  generally considered a Anglo-Saxon-Germanic-Fennoscandia genetic haplogroup.

At this point, my dad has exact Y-DNA genetic matches in England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and another one of unknown origin.

So far, he has multiple genetic matches distance-1 to males (in order of frequency) in these countries:

unknown origin
Germany
Scotland
England
United Kingdom
Norway
Switzerland
Sweden
Denmark
United States

and 1 match each from these countries:

Belgium
Croatia
France
Ireland
Northern Ireland
Portugal
Poland

In the ancestral origins results, his top three exact country matches are (in order of frequency):

England/UK
Germany
Ireland

This is exactly what oral family tradition on my dad's side has passed down - that my paternal family most recently came from England, Germany and Ireland.

According to FTDNA scientists, "The I2b1 lineage likely has its roots in Northern France. Today it is found most frequently within Viking / Scandinavian populations in Northwest Europe and extends at low frequencies into Central and Eastern Europe."

Looks like my dad is a real Viking! and descends from Vikings who eventually settled in the British Isles.