Genetic History of The British Isles - Y DNA

Y DNA

In 2007, Bryan Sykes produced an analysis of 6000 samples from the OGAP project in his book Blood of the Isles. designating five main Y-DNA haplogroups for various regions of the Isles. As with mitochondrial haplogroups not only Sykes but also Stephen Oppenheimer chose to popularize the concept by giving them "clan names". The following gives their normal scientific names.

• Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA). Oisin (Sykes), Ruisko (Oppenheimer). Oppenheimer attempted to divide this in 16 clusters.
• Haplogroup I (Y-DNA). Wodan (Sykes), Ivan (Oppenheimer). Oppenheimer was able to divide this into 3 clear clusters. The two most important were

• I1 (Ian)
• I2 (Ingert), now known as I2b

• Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA). Sigurd (Sykes), Rostov (Oppenheimer)
• Haplogroup E1b1b (Y-DNA). Eshu (Sykes)
• Haplogroup J (Y-DNA). Re (Sykes)

The larger Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) is dominant in Western Europe, not only Britain and Ireland. While it was once seen as a lineage connecting the British Isles to Iberia (where it is also common) opinions concerning its origins have changed, with estimates of age tending to go down from Palaeolithic to Neolithic or even younger and analysis of the branching within this line now being seen to support the view that at least concerning the majority of R1b in Europe, it has its roots in the Middle East and has spread northwestward from there. The R1b types found in Britain and Ireland are dominated by R-P312, which on the continent is found mainly west of the Rhine but at least in England there is also a significant presence of R-U106, which is found east of the Rhine and also in North Sea areas such as Denmark and the Netherlands.

There are various smaller and geographically well defined Y-DNA Haplogroups under R1b in Western Europe.

Haplogroup I is a grouping of several quite distantly related lineages. These may be the only pre-Neolithic Y lineages left in Europe. Looking at the three main clusters, according to Rootsi et al., with up-dated nomenclature according ISOGG:-

• I1a in Rootsi et al., now known as I1, is mainly associated with Scandinavia in modern populations and is common in several parts of England.
• I1b in Rootsi et al., now known as I2a is associated with the Balkans and are not common in Britain and Ireland.
• I1c in Rootsi et al., now known as I2b is less clearly associated with any particular part of Europe.

Haplogroup R1a, a distant cousin of R1b, is most common from Eastern Europe to India. In Britain it is associated with probable Scandinavian immigration during periods of Viking settlement.

Haplogroups E1b1b and J in Europe are regarded as markers of movements from southeastern Europe to northwestern and therefore as a potential markers of introduced technology such as farming.