<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="65001"%> Haplogroup N (Y-DNA)

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Highest Frequencies: Yakuts 75%, Nenets 75%, Finns 60%, Saami 40%, Baltic States 45%

 

Haplogroup N is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, defined by the presence of the marker M231. The b2/b3 deletion in the AZFc region of the human Y-chromosome is a characteristic of Haplogroup N haplotypes. This deletion, however, appears to have occurred independently on four different occasions. Therefore this deletion should not be thought as a unique event polymorphism contributing to the definition of this branch of the Y-chromosome tree.

Origins: Haplogroup N is a descendant haplogroup of Haplogroup NO. Its emergence and the spread of its subclades are still not very well established. One research places the origins of this haplogroup arising from southeast Asia from over 30,000 years ago, and then migrating in a counter-clockwise path from modern day regions of Mongolia and northern China to as far as northeastern Europe. Other theories propose as points of origin North Eastern Europe, Ural mountains and Khakassia. Its age estimate varies from 10,000 to 20,000 years.

Mutations: Y-chromosomes that display the M231 mutation that defines Haplogroup N but do not display the LLY22g mutation that defines Haplogroup N1 are said to belong to Haplogroup N*. At present research, haplogroup N* Y-DNA has been found in 1.2% of a sample of 165 Han males from China.

Males carrying the marker apparently moved northwards as the climate warmed in the Holocene. The absence of haplogroup N in the Americas indicates that its spread across Asia happened after the submergence of the Bering land bridge.

Haplogroup N is the ancestral group for Haplogroup N1 (LLY22g) and its subclades, N1a, N1b, and N1c (formerly known as N1, N2, and N3, respectively).

Distribution: Haplogroup N has a wide geographic distribution throughout northern Eurasia, and it also has been observed occasionally in more southerly areas, including Southeast Asia, Nepal, Southwest Asia, and Southern Europe. Its highest frequency occurs among the Finnic and Baltic peoples of northern Europe, the Ob-Ugric and Northern Samoyedic peoples of western Siberia, and the Siberian Turkic-speaking Yakuts.

Subclades

Haplogroup N1: Y-chromosomes that display the M231 and LLY22g mutations that define Haplogroup N and Haplogroup N1 but do not display any of the downstream mutations that define the subclades N1a (M128), N1b (P43), and N1c (TAT) are said to belong to Haplogroup N1*.

Haplogroup N1* reaches a frequency of up to 30% (13/43) among the Yizu of Butuo County, Sichuan Province in southwestern China. Haplogroup N1* also has been found in samples of Han Chinese, but with widely varying frequency: 15.0% (6/40) Guangdong Han, 6.8% (3/44) Shaanxi Han, 3.6% (3/84) Taiwanese Han, 3.0% (5/166) Han. Other populations in which representatives of haplogroup N1* have been found include Hani (4/34 = 11.8%), Sibe (4/41 = 9.8%), Tujia (2/49 = 4.1%), Manchu (2/52 = 3.8% - 2/35 = 5.7%), Uyghur (2/70 = 2.9% - 2/67 = 3.0%), Tibetan (3/105 = 2.9% - 3/35 = 8.6%), Koreans (0/106 = 0.0% - 2/25 = 8%), Vietnamese (2/70 = 2.9%), Japanese (0/70 Tokushima - 2/26 = 7.7% Aomori), Manchurian Evenk (0/26 = 0.0% - 1/41 = 2.4%), Altaians (0/50 Northern to 5/96 = 5.2% Southern, or 0/43 Beshpeltir to 5/46 = 10.9% Kulada), Shorians (2/23 = 8.7%), Khakas (5/181 = 2.8%), Tuvinians (5/311 = 1.6%), southern Borneo (1/40 = 2.5%), Forest Nenets (1/89 = 1.1%), Fiji (1/107 = 0.9%), Yakuts (0/215 - 1/121 = 0.8%), and Turks (1/523 = 0.2%). In Turkey, the total of subclades of haplogroup N amounts to 4% of the male population. One individual who belongs either to N1*-LLY22g(xN1a-M128, N1b-P43, N1c-Tat) or to N*-M231(xN1-LLY22g) has been found in a sample of 77 males from Kathmandu, Nepal (1/77 = 1.3% N-M231(xN1a-M128, N1b-P43, N1c-Tat)).

 

Haplogroup N1a: This subclade is defined by the presence of the marker M128. It is found with low frequency among Manchu, Sibe, Manchurian Evenks, Koreans, northern Han Chinese, Buyei, and some Turkic peoples of Central Asia.

 

Haplogroup N1b: Haplogroup N1b is defined by the presence of the marker P43. It is a significantly younger subclade, perhaps only 6,000 to 8,000 years old, with a probable origin in Siberia. It is found frequently among Northern Samoyedic peoples; also found at low to moderate frequency among some other Uralic peoples, Turkic peoples, Mongolic peoples, Tungusic peoples, and Siberian Yupiks.

Haplogroup N1b forms two distinctive subclusters of STR haplotypes, Asian and European, the latter now mostly distributed in Uralic-speakers and related populations.

 

Haplogroup N1c: The mutations that define the subclade N1c (old name N3) are M46/Tat and P105. This is the most frequent subclade of N. It arose probably in the region of present day China, and subsequently experienced serial bottlenecks in Siberia and secondary expansions in eastern Europe. Haplogroup N1c is approximately 14,000 years old.

In Siberia, haplogroup N1c reaches a maximum frequency of approximately 90% among the Yakuts, a Turkic people who live mainly in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. However, it is practically non-existent among many of the Yakuts' neighboring ethnic groups, such as Tungusic speakers. It also has been detected in 2.4% (2/85) of a sample from Seoul, South Korea and in 1.4% (1/70) of a sample from Tokushima, Japan.

The haplogroup N1c has a low diversity among Yakuts suggestive of a population bottleneck or founder effect. This was confirmed by a study of ancient DNA which traced the origins of the male Yakut lineages to a small group of horse-riders from the Cis-Baïkal area.

Haplogroup N1c1: The subclade N1c1 is defined by the presence of markers M178 and P298. (It was previously known as N3a.) N1c1* has higher average frequency in Northern Europe than in Siberia, reaching frequencies of approximately 60% among Finns and approximately 40% among Latvians and Lithuanians. It's also more diverse in Northern Europe than in Siberia.

Miroslava Derenko and her colleagues noted that there are two subclusters within this haplogroup, both present in Siberia and Northern Europe, with different histories. The one that they labelled N3a1 first expanded in south Siberia (approximately 10,000 years ago on their calculated by the Zhivotovsky method) and spread into Northern Europe where its age they calculated as around 8,000 years ago. Meanwhile, the younger subcluster, which they labelled N3a2, originated in south Siberia (probably in the Baikal region) approximately 4,000 years ago.

 

Tree: This phylogenetic tree of haplogroup subclades is based on the ISOGG 2011

 

 

Haplogroup NO (Y-DNA)

Map of the Aral Sea

Haplogroup NO (M214) is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. Haplogroup NO is a descendant branch of the greater Haplogroup MNOPS and a phylogenetic sibling of Haplogroup M, Haplogroup P, and Haplogroup S.

Origins: The M214 mutation that defines Haplogroup NO occurred in a gamete of a man who belonged to Haplogroup MNOPS and who probably lived somewhere in Eurasia east of the Aral Sea about 30,000 to 40,000 years ago. This man has become the direct patrilineal ancestor of a very large percentage of present-day humans, as he is the forefather of both Haplogroup N and Haplogroup O, which together are overwhelmingly dominant in most populations of North and East Eurasia.

Distribution: No confirmed case of Haplogroup NO* has been found among the males of present-day human populations. However, NO-M214(xN1-LLY22g, O-M175), which potentially may belong either to Haplogroup NO* or to Haplogroup N*-M231(xN1-LLY22g), has been found in 5.7% (2/35) of a sample of Buyi and in 2.9% (6/210) of a pool of four samples of Japanese, particularly in Tokushima (4/70 = 5.7%). Haplogroup NO-M214(xN1-LLY22g, O-M175) Y-DNA also has been found sporadically in samples of Han Chinese, Yizu, Malays, Mongolians, Daurs, Manchurian Evenks, Hezhes, Huis, Yaos, and South Koreans; however, the two published Han Chinese cases of NO-M214(xN1-LLY22g, O-M175) subsequently have been found to belong to N*-M231(xN1-LLY22g).

Subclades: This phylogenetic tree of haplogroup subclades is based on the YCC 2008 tree and subsequent published research.

 

 

* Y Chromosome Diversity, Human Expansion, Drift, and Cultural Evolution by Jacques Chiaronia, et al.

Y Chromosome Haplogroup N Geographic Frequency Distribution Map

 

Y Chromosome Haplogroup N Geographic Frequency Distribution Map

 

 

* Y Haplogroups of the World by J. D. McDonald

 

 

* Origins, Age, Spread and Ethnic Association of European Haplogroups and Subclades by eupedia.com

Map of Middle Bronze Age Cultures in Europe from Approximately 4,000 to 3,500 Years Ago

 

The Pit–Comb Ware culture aka Comb Ceramic culture was a northeast European culture of pottery-making hunter-gatherers. It existed from around 4200 BC to around 2000 BC. The name is derived from the most common type of decoration on its ceramics, which looks like the imprints of a comb.

The Corded Ware culture (ca. 2900–2450/2350 cal. BC), alternatively characterized as the Battle Axe culture or Single Grave culture is an enormous European archaeological horizon that begins in the late Neolithic (Stone Age), flourishes through the Copper Age and culminates in the early Bronze Age.

Corded Ware culture is associated with some of the Indo-European family of languages by many scholars and believed to be related to the Catacomb culture.

Around 2400 BC the people of the Corded Ware replaced their predecessors and expanded to Danubian and Nordic areas of western Germany. One related branch invaded Denmark and southern Sweden, while the mid-Danubian basin, though showing more continuity, shows also clear traits of new Indo-European elites (Vučedol culture).

 

 

* Haplogroup N (M231) by The Genographic Project

Excerpt: One of the men in a group of Eurasian Clan peoples who traveled north through the Pamir Knot region gave rise to the M231 marker, which defines haplogroup N. He was probably born in Siberia within the last several thousand years. This lineage has dispersed throughout the generations, and is now found in southern parts of Scandinavia as well as northeatern Eurasia. The cultures of uralic-speaking people are extremely diverse. The Saami, an indigenous people of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia, traditionally supported themselves with hunting and fishing, their movement dictated by the reindeer herds.

 

 

* Migration Waves to the Baltic Sea Region by T. Lappalainen, et al.

The Y-Chromosomal Haplogroup Frequencies (%) within the Populations, and Their Linguistic Affiliations

( Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Karelian, Finnish, Swedish)

 

Suggested Arrival Routes of the Most Important Y-Chromosomal Haplogroups in the Baltic Area, with the Dotted Arrows Denoting Less Certain Routes

 

 

* Y-Chromosome Haplogroup N Dispersals from South Siberia to Europe by Derenko M, et al.

Abstract: In order to reconstruct the history of Y-chromosome haplogroup (hg) N dispersals in north Eurasia, we have analyzed the diversity of microsatellite (STR) loci within two major hg N clades, N2 and N3, in a total sample of 1,438 males from 17 ethnic groups, mainly of Siberian and Eastern European origin. Based on STR variance analysis we observed that hg N3a is more diverse in Eastern Europe than in south Siberia. However, analysis of median networks showed that there are two STR subclusters of hg N3a, N3a1 and N3a2, that are characterized by different genetic histories. Age calculation of STR variation within subcluster N3a1 indicated that its first expansion occurred in south Siberia [approximately 10,000 years (ky)] and then this subcluster spread into Eastern Europe where its age is around 8 ky ago. Meanwhile, younger subcluster N3a2 originated in south Siberia (probably in the Baikal region) approximately 4 ky ago. Median network and variance analyses of STR haplotypes suggest that south Siberian N3a2 haplotypes spread further into Volga-Ural region undergoing serial bottlenecks. In addition, median network analysis of STR data demonstrates that haplogroup N2-A is represented by two subclusters, showing recent expansion times. The data obtained allow us to suggest Siberian origin of haplogroups N3 and N2 that are currently widespread in some populations of Eastern Europe.

 

 

Lake Baikal (meaning "nature lake") is the world's oldest and deepest lake at 30 million years old and with an average depth of 744.4 metres; it is the second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic. Lake Baikal was known as the "North Sea" in historical Chinese texts. It was situated in the then Xiongnu territory. Little was known to Europeans about the lake until Russia expanded into the area in the 17th century. The lake, called "the Pearl of Siberia", drew investors from the tourist industry as energy revenues sparked an economic boom.

 

 

* Genetic Features of Mongolian Ethnic Groups Revealed by Y-Chromosomal Analysis by Toru Katoh, et al.

Y-Chromosomal Diversity Values and Haplogroup Distribution.

 

 

* Y-Chromosomal Evidence for a Strong Reduction in Male Population Size of Yakuts by Brigitte Pakendorf, et al.

Abstract: The Yakuts, who live in northeast Siberia in the Republic Sakha (Yakutia), speak a Turkic language and are traditionally semi-nomadic horse- and cattle-breeders. Archaeological data suggests that they are an immigrant population stemming from southern Siberia (Alekseev 1996), whereas mtDNA analyses indicate that they are of admixed Siberian (Evenk) and Central Asian ancestry (Pakendorf B, Wiebe V, Tarskaia LA, Spitsyn VA, Soodyall H, Rodewald A, Stoneking M, manuscript submitted). To assess the paternal history of the Yakuts, we screened 35 male samples for the Y-chromosomal “Tat” biallelic marker, a phylogenetically recent T to C transition restricted to Eurasian populations (Zerjal et al. 1997). The frequency of the “Tat” C allele was very high, with 30 samples (86%) having this allele, in accordance with published data (Zerjal et al. 1997). The C allele is also found in high frequencies in most Finno-Ugric populations, Buryats, and northeastern Siberian populations, but is rare in Turkic-speaking populations and Mongols.

 

 

* Extended Y-Chromosome Investigation Suggests Post-Glacial Migrations of Modern Humans into East Asia Via the Northern Route by Hua Zhong, et al.

Abstract: Genetic diversity data, from Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA as well as recent genome-wide autosomal SNPs, suggested that mainland Southeast Asia was the major geographic source of East Asian populations. However, these studies also detected Central-South Asia- and/or West Eurasia-related genetic components in East Asia, implying either recent population admixture or ancient migrations via the proposed northern route. To trace the time period and geographic source of these Central-South Asia- and West Eurasia-related genetic components, we sampled 3,826 males (116 populations from China and one population from South Korea) and performed high-resolution genotyping according to the well-resolved Y-chromosome phylogeny. Our data, in combination with the published East Asian Y-haplogroup data, show that there are four dominant haplogroups (accounting for 92.87% of the East Asian Y chromosomes), O-M175, D-M174, C-M130 (not including C5-M356) and N-M231, in both southern and northern East Asian populations, which is consistent with the proposed southern route of modern human origin in East Asia. However, there are other haplogroups (6.79% in total) (E-SRY4064, C5-M356, G-M201, H-M69, I-M170, J-P209, L-M20, Q-M242, R-M207 and T-M70) detected primarily in northern East Asian populations, and were identified as Central-South Asian and/or West Eurasian origin based on the phylogeographic analysis. In particular, evidence of geographic distribution and Y-STR diversity indicate that haplogroup Q-M242 (the ancestral haplogroup of the native American-specific haplogroup Q1a3a-M3) and R-M207 probably migrated into East Asia via the northern route. The age estimation of Y-STR variation within haplogroups suggests the existence of post-Glacial (∼18 thousand years ago, kya) migrations via the northern route as well as recent (∼3 kya) population admixture. We propose that although the Paleolithic migrations via the southern route played a major role in modern human settlement in East Asia, there are ancient contributions, though limited, from western Eurasia which partly explain the genetic divergence between current southern and northern East Asian populations.


 

* Dual Origins of the Japanese: Common ground for hunter-gatherer and farmer Y chromosomes by Michael F. Hammer, et al.

Abstract: Historic Japanese culture evolved from at least two distinct migrations that originated on the Asian continent. Hunter-gatherers arrived before land bridges were submerged after the last glacial maximum (>12,000 years ago) and gave rise to the Jomon culture, and the Yayoi migration brought wet rice agriculture from Korea beginning approximately 2,300 years ago. A set of 81 Y chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was used to trace the origins of Paleolithic and Neolithic components of the Japanese paternal gene pool, and to determine the relative contribution of Jomon and Yayoi Y chromosome lineages to modern Japanese. Our global sample consisted of >2,500 males from 39 Asian populations, including six populations sampled from across the Japanese archipelago. Japanese populations were characterized by the presence of two major (D and O) and two minor (C and N) clades of Y chromosomes, each with several sub-lineages. Haplogroup D chromosomes were present at 34.7% and were distributed in a U-shaped pattern with the highest frequency in the northern Ainu and southern Ryukyuans. In contrast, haplogroup O lineages (51.8%) were distributed in an inverted U-shaped pattern with a maximum frequency on Kyushu. Coalescent analyses of Y chromosome short tandem repeat diversity indicated that haplogroups D and C began their expansions in Japan approximately 20,000 and approximately 12,000 years ago, respectively, while haplogroup O-47z began its expansion only approximately 4,000 years ago. We infer that these patterns result from separate and distinct genetic contributions from both the Jomon and the Yayoi cultures to modern Japanese, with varying levels of admixture between these two populations across the archipelago. The results also support the hypothesis of a Central Asian origin of Jomonese ancestors, and a Southeast Asian origin of the ancestors of the Yayoi, contra previous models based on morphological and genetic evidence.

 

Maximum-Parsimony Ttree of 44 Y Chromosome Hhaplogroups Together with Their
Frequencies in Japan and Five Asian Regions

 

Frequencies (%) of Japanese Haplogroups in Six Japanese Populations

(Ainu, Aomori, Shizuoka, Tokushima, Kyushu, Okinawa)

 

 

* A Counter-Clockwise Northern Route of the Y-Chromosome Haplogroup N from Southeast Asia Towards Europe by Siiri Rootsi, et al.

Abstract: A large part of Y chromosome lineages in East European and East Asian human populations belong to haplogroup (hg) NO, which is composed of two sister clades N-M231 and O-M175. The O-clade is relatively old (around 30 thousand years (ky)) and encompasses the vast majority of east and Southeast Asian male lineages, as well as significant proportion of those in Oceanian males. On the other hand, our detailed analysis of hg N suggests that its high frequency in east Europe is due to its more recent expansion westward on a counter-clock northern route from inner Asia/southern Siberia, approximately 12–14 ky ago. The widespread presence of hg N in Siberia, together with its absence in Native Americans, implies its spread happened after the founder event for the Americas. The most frequent subclade N3, arose probably in the region of present day China, and subsequently experienced serial bottlenecks in Siberia and secondary expansions in eastern Europe. Another branch, N2, forms two distinctive subclusters of STR haplotypes, Asian (N2-A) and European (N2-E), the latter now mostly distributed in Finno-Ugric and related populations. These phylogeographic patterns provide evidence consistent with male-mediated counter-clockwise late Pleistocene–Holocene migratory trajectories toward Northwestern Europe from an ancestral East Asian source of Paleolithic heritage.

 

Geographical Distribution of NO*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Male Demography in East Asia: A North–South Contrast in Human Population Expansion Times by Yali Xue, et al.

Populations Sampled

 

 

 

* Gene Pool DifferencesBbetween Northern and Southern Altaians Inferred from the Data on Y-Chromosomal Haplogroups by V. N. Kharkov, et al.

Abstract : Y-chromosomal haplogroups composition and frequencies were analyzed in Northern and Southern Altaians. In the gene pool of Altaians a total of 18 Y-chromosomal haplogroups were identified, including C3xM77, C3c, DxM15, E, F*, J2, I1a, I1b, K*, N*, N2, N3a, O3, P*, Q*, R1*, R1a1, and R1b3. The structuring nature of the Altaic gene pool is determined by the presence of the Caucasoid and Mongoloid components, along with the ancient genetic substratum, marked by the corresponding Western and Eastern Eurasian haplogroups. Haplogroup R1a1 prevailed in both ethnic groups, accounting for about 53 and 38% of paternal lineages in Southern and Northern Altaians, respectively. This haplogroup is thought to be associated with the eastward expansion of early Indo-Europeans, and marks Caucasoid element in the gene pools of South Siberian populations. Similarly to haplogroup K*, the second frequent haplogroup Q* represents paleo-Asiatic marker, probably associated with the Ket and Samoyedic contributions to the Altaic gene pool. The presence of lineages N2 and N3a can be explained as the contribution of Finno-Ugric tribes, assimilated by ancient Turks. The presence of haplogroups C3xM77, C3c, N*, and O3 reflects the contribution of Central Asian Mongoloid groups. These haplogroups, probably, mark the latest movements of Mongolian migrants from the territory of contemporary Tuva and Mongolia. The data of factor analysis, variance analysis, cluster analysis, and phylogenetic analysis point to substantial genetic differentiation of Northern and Southern Altaians. The differences between Northern and Southern Altaians in the haplogroup composition, as well as in the internal haplotype structure were demonstrated.

 

 

* The Himalayas as a Directional Barrier to Gene Flow by Tenzin Gayden, et al.

The Hierarchical Phylogenetic Relationships and Frequencies (in percentages) of the 24 Paternal Haplogroups Observed in Tibetan and Nepalese Populations

 

Geographic Distributions of Major Y-Chromosome Haplogroup Frequencies

 

 

* Genetic Evidence Supports Demic Diffusion of Han Culture by Bo Wen, et al.

NRY Haplogroup Distribution in Han Populations

N: Fujian 0%
Population n C* D/E D1 F* K* O3* O3d O3e O1* O1b O2a* O2a1 Q1 P*
    M130 YAP M15 M89 M9 M122 M7 M134 M119 M110 M95 M88 M120 M45
Northern Han
                              
Gansu
60
7
5
  
6
10
11
  
11
5
   1  
3
1
Hebei
14
      
2
1
3
  
7
1
          
Henan
50
2
    
2
11
16
  
10
4
      
4
1
Liaoning
48
1
1
  
11
8
13
  
9
2
  
1
  
2
  
Neimeng
60
12
3
  
4
8
13
  
16
1
  
1
  
2
  
Shandong 1
85
14
1
2
3
12
36
  
12
    
1
  
4
  
Shandong 2
100
4
    
11
13
32
  
30
6
  
1
  
3
  
Shannxi 1
63
2
3
  
4
11
16
  
22
1
  
1
  
1
2
Shannxi 2
27
      
3
9
5
  
8
1
      
1
  
Xinjiang
51
2
1
  
3
9
15
  
15
2
      
2
2
Southern Han
                              
Anhui
22
3
      
4
6
  
4
4
      
1
  
148
4
1
  
3
21
80
6
24
3
1
4
  
1
  
Guangdong
64
3
  
1
  
8
15
  
19
5
  
7
5
1
  
Guangxi
26
2
      
4
4
  
5
4
  
2
5
    
Hubei
18
1
      
2
5
1
6
3
          
Hunan
15
        
2
5
  
4
2
  
2
      
Jiangsu
100
6
2
  
3
19
25
2
19
18
  
4
  
2
  
Jiangxi
21
1
1
  
2
4
4
  
5
3
  
1
      
Shanghai
55
4
2
    
9
14
1
9
14
      
2
  
Sichuan
63
3
  
1
  
10
16
2
18
5
  
6
2
    
Yunnan 1
27
3
    
1
1
5
  
15
1
  
1
      
Yunnan 2
66
4
  
2
2
15
25
4
10
    
2
  
2
  
Zhejiang
106
10
      
6
26
  
28
29
  
5
  
2
  

 

 

* Partial Duplication at AZFc on the Y Chromosome Is a Risk Factor for Impaired Spermatogenesis in Han Chinese in Taiwan by Yi-Wen Lin, et al.

The Y Chromosome Haplogroups of Han Taiwanese

N*: 4.0%, N1 0.9%, N2 0%, N3 0.3%

 

 

* Y-DNA Haplogroups by Populations of East and Southeast Asia by wikipedia.org

N: Taiwan (Han) 0%, Taiwanese aborigines 0%

* Haplotype Frequencies of Nine Y-Chromosome STR Loci in the Taiwanese Han Population by Tsai LC, et al.
* A Predominantly Indigenous Paternal Heritage for the Austronesian-Speaking Peoples of Insular Southeast Asia and Oceania by Cristian Capelli, et al.

 

 

* Recent Anthropological Genetic Study of Taiwan Indigenous Populations by Shu-Juo Chen, et al.

Map Showing the Locations of the Studied Populations

 

Y-Chromosome Haplotype Frequency Distribution in Asian and Oceanic Populations

N: Taiwanese aborigines 0%, Taiwan Han Chinese: 0%

 

Markers in Su's Nomenclature System from A Nomenclature System for the Tree of Human Y-Chromosomal Binary Haplogroups by The Y Chromosome Consortium

 

* 臺灣原住民族的Y 染色體多樣性與華南史前文化的關連性 by 陳叔倬

N: Taiwanese aborigines 0%

__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Finno-Ugric Peoples

The Finno-Ugric Peoples are any of several peoples of Europe who speak languages of the proposed Finno-Ugric language family, such as the Finns, Estonians, Mordvins, and Hungarians. Their languages are part of the Uralic language family are not related to Indo-European languages such as Germanic, Slavic, and Romance.

A study of Population Genetics of Finno-Ugric speaking humans in North Eurasia carried out between 2002– 2008 in the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Helsinki showed most of the Finno-Ugric speaking populations possess amalgamation of West and East Eurasian gene pools supporting the idea of mixed origins in these populations. North Eurasian Finno-Ugric-speaking populations were found to be genetically a heterogeneous group showing lower haplotype diversities compared to more southern populations.

Finno-Ugric Identity: In Finnic- and Ugric-speaking countries such as Finland, Estonia and Hungary, which find themselves surrounded by unrelated tongues, language origins and language history have long been relevant to national identity. At the same time, nationalist ideologies in Hungary have been hostile to historical linguistics for demonstrating the close relationship between Hungarians and the Ugric peoples of central Russia, the Khanty and Mansi subsistence hunters and fishermen. Hungarian nationalists envision Hungarian kinship with more "prestigious" peoples such as the Sumerians, and the discovery of the Finno-Ugric linguistic links was a "psychological blow", as Hungarians had long prided themselves in their supposed Scythian origins, and indeed many Hungarians refuse to accept linguistic findings even today. Thus Finno-Ugric is not an ethnic group based on common culture or identity, but rather a discovery of linguistics:

[The] affinity of the Finno-Ugric peoples is based solely on the linguistic affinity of these nationalities, and often no other fact can be presented to prove it. [...] linguistic affinity is really a proof of cultural affinity, but only of the far distant past when the structure of the culture was far different from that which we investigate today. The common features of primitive culture are often found spread over very extensive areas and in several different language families.
—Gustav Ränk, p. 2

The peoples, or rather their linguistic ancestors, have a hypothetical common history based on linguistic reconstruction. However, they do not necessarily share a common ancestry, since entire peoples may change their language. In addition, while the Finnic and Ugric languages are undoubtedly related to each other, there is some debate over whether they are closer to each other than they are to the third branch of Uralic languages, Samoyedic, and thus whether Finno-Ugric is a valid genealogical group , or merely a geographic one. Linguistic ancestry may not necessarily correspond to biological ancestry, and genetic studies have so far been unable to demonstrate a relationship between the various Finno-Ugric peoples.

Location: The four largest Finno-Ugric peoples are Hungarians (14,000,000-15,000,000), Finns (6,500,000), Mordvins (850,000), and Estonians (1,100,000). Three of them (Hungarians, Finns, and Estonians) have their independent states – Hungary, Finland, and Estonia. The traditional area of the indigenous Sámi people is in Northern Fenno-Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula in Northwest Russia and is known as Sápmi. Some other Finno-Ugric peoples have autonomous republics in Russia: Karelians (Republic of Karelia), Komi (Komi Republic), Udmurts (Udmurt Republic), Mari (Mari El Republic), and Mordvins (Moksha and Erzya; Republic of Mordovia). Khanty and Mansi peoples live in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Russia, while Komi-Permyaks live in Komi-Permyak Okrug, which formerly was an autonomous okrug of Russia, but today is a territory with special status within Perm Krai.

Mythology: Shamanism has had a historically important influence on the mythologies of Siberian peoples, including the Finnic, Ugric, Scandinavian, Yeniseian, Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, and other northern Eurasia and Central Asian peoples. Central concepts in their cosmologies is the myth that the world was created from an egg, myths about the Milky Way, ideas about the existence of the World tree or pillar, and the idea that asterisms represent animal spirits. Myth about a bird floating on the primary ocean and dives for the ground is a central Finno-Ugric (Uralic, and even North-Eurasian) cosmogonic myth.

Population Genetics: The proposal of a Finno-Ugric language family has led to the postulation not just of an ancient Proto–Finno-Ugric people, but that the modern Finno-Ugric–speaking peoples are ethnically related. Such hypotheses are based on the assumption that heredity can be traced though linguistic relatedness. However, Finno-Ugric has not been reconstructed linguistically; attempts to do so have been indistinguishable from Proto-Uralic. Like in any other human population, individual groups within the Finno-Ugric language family have a diverse array of cultural, environmental, and genetic influences. However, modern genetic studies have shown that the Y-chromosome haplogroup N3, and sometimes N2, having branched from haplogroup N, which, itself, probably spread north, then west and east from Northern China about 12,000–14,000 years ago from father haplogroup NO (haplogroup O being the most common Y-chromosome haplogroup in Southeast Asia), is almost a specific trait, though certainly not restricted, to Uralic- or Finno-Ugric-speaking populations, especially as high frequency or primary paternal haplogroup.

List of Peoples

Finnic peoples:

Ugric peoples:

 

 

* Extreme mtDNA Homogeneity in Continental Asian Populations by Hiroki Oota, et al.

Population Tree, Showing mtDNA Homogeneity in Asia

Tw (Taiwan Han Chinese) Ca (Cantonese) - Finns - Kirghiz Lowlander - British - Kazakh - Turks - Basques - Sardinian
Tw (Taiwan Han Chinese) Ca (Cantonese) - Finns - Indian - Ainu - Aboriginal Australian - Anatolia Turks - Borneo
Tw (Taiwan Han Chinese) Ca (Cantonese) - Korean - Philippines - Uighurs - Changsha - Taiwanese (aborigines) - Vietnamese - Vanuata - Indonesian - PNG
Tw (Taiwan Han Chinese) Ca (Cantonese) - Xi'an - Tottori (Japanese) - Kirghiz Highlander - Mongolian - Ngoebe - Altai of Siberia - Amerind - Argentina - Siberians

 

 

* Intergenic DNA Sequences from the Human X Chromosome Reveal High Rates of Global Gene Flow by Murray P Cox, et al.

Geographic Representation of Population Migration Rates Nm

 

 

Seima-Turbino Phenomenon

(Map of the Atay Mountains, Krasnoyarsk, and Mongolia)

The Altai Mountains (阿爾泰山脈) are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh, Ob and Yenisei have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples' birthplace. The proposed Altaic language family (include the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Korean, and Japonic languages) takes its name from the mountain range.

The population during the Copper Age has been described as paleomongolid in the east of what is now Mongolia, and as Europid in the west.

The Altai Mountains in what is now southern Russia and central China have been identified as the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the Seima-Turbino Phenomenon. It is conjectured that climatic problems in this region around the start of the second millennium BC created ecological, economic and political changes which triggered a rapid and massive migration of peoples westward into northeast Europe and eastward into southeast China, Vietnam and Thailand across a frontier of some 4,000 miles. This migration took place in just five to six generations and led to peoples from Finland in the west to Thailand in the east employing the same metal working technology and, in some areas, horse breeding and riding. It is further conjectured that this phenomenon may have been the medium through which the Uralic group of languages spread across Europe and Asia, ultimately producing 39 modern languages including Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian and Lappish.

* Videos: Altai Mountains • Russia, Altaic Peoples, TURAN: Epic of Identity, Scythians or Huns?

 

 

* Ancient DNA Provides New Insights into the History of South Siberian Kurgan People by C. Keyser, et al.

Abstract: To help unravel some of the early Eurasian steppe migration movements, we determined the Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial haplotypes and haplogroups of 26 ancient human specimens from the Krasnoyarsk area dated from between the middle of the second millennium BC. to the fourth century AD. In order to go further in the search of the geographic origin and physical traits of these south Siberian specimens, we also typed phenotype-informative single nucleotide polymorphisms. Our autosomal, Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA analyses reveal that whereas few specimens seem to be related matrilineally or patrilineally, nearly all subjects belong to haplogroup R1a1-M17 which is thought to mark the eastward migration of the early Indo-Europeans. Our results also confirm that at the Bronze and Iron Ages, south Siberia was a region of overwhelmingly predominant European settlement, suggesting an eastward migration of Kurgan people across the Russo-Kazakh steppe. Finally, our data indicate that at the Bronze and Iron Age time frame, south Siberians were blue (or green)-eyed, fair-skinned and light-haired people and that they might have played a role in the early development of the Tarim Basin civilization. To the best of our knowledge, no equivalent molecular analysis has been undertaken so far.

 

 

* The Distribution and Most Recent Common Ancestor of the 17q21 Inversion in Humans by Michael P. Donnelly, et al.

Abstract: The polymorphic inversion on 17q21, sometimes called the microtubular associated protein tau (MAPT) inversion, is an approximately 900 kb inversion found primarily in Europeans and Southwest Asians. We have identified 21 SNPs that act as markers of the inverted, i.e., H2, haplotype. The inversion is found at the highest frequencies in Southwest Asia and Southern Europe (frequencies of approximately 30%); elsewhere in Europe, frequencies vary from < 5%, in Finns, to 28%, in Orcadians. The H2 inversion haplotype also occurs at low frequencies in Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, and the Americas, though the East Asian and Amerindian alleles may be due to recent gene flow from Europe. Molecular evolution analyses indicate that the H2 haplotype originally arose in Africa or Southwest Asia. Though the H2 inversion has many fixed differences across the approximately 900 kb, short tandem repeat polymorphism data indicate a very recent date for the most recent common ancestor, with dates ranging from 13,600 to 108,400 years, depending on assumptions and estimation methods. This estimate range is much more recent than the 3 million year age estimated by Stefansson et al. in 2005.

 

Global Distribution of the MAPT Inversion

 

MAPT Inversion Frequencies in East Asia

(MLY-Malaysians, LAO-Laos, CBD-Cambodian, CHS-Chinese San Francisco, CHT-Chinese Taiwan, HAK-Hakka, MNG-Mongol, MNC-Manchu, LOL-Lolo, HMG-Hmong, KOR-Korean, JPN-Japanese, AMI-Ami, ATL-Atayal)

 

 

Mongols

The name Mongol (蒙古族) specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in modern Mongolia, China, and in Russia with China having the majority Mongol population. There are in total approximately 11 million people of Mongol descent populating these countries.

Based on Chinese historical texts the ancestry of the Mongol peoples can be traced back to the Donghu, a nomadic confederation occupying eastern Mongolia and Manchuria. The identity of the Xiongnu is still debated today. Although some scholars maintain that they were proto-Mongols, the fact that Chinese histories trace certain Turkic tribes from the Xiongnu complicates the issue. The Donghu, however, can be much more easily labeled proto-Mongol since the Chinese histories trace all the subsequent Mongolic tribes and kingdoms (mainly Xianbei peoples) from them, although some historical texts claim a mixed Xiongnu-Donghu ancestry for some tribes (e.g. the Khitan).

Physical Characteristics: In terms of physical characteristics, Mongols exhibit a variety of features, with typical Mongoloid features being most noticeable. Epicanthic folds of the eyes exist on almost all Mongols along with high and pronounced cheekbones. The vast majority of Mongols have black hair and brown eyes, although a certain number of Mongols, particularly in western Mongolia tend to exhibit lighter features such as fair skin, blue or green eyes, varying shades of brown hair, and sometimes even red or blonde hair. This trend is more prevalent into the Uyghur population, some Mongols today have Caucasoid features likely due to historical intermixing with Iranian and Tocharian peoples.

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Xiongnu

The Xiongnu (匈奴) were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation that rivaled the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources. What little is known of their titles and names comes from Chinese transliterations of their language.

The identity of the ethnic core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses, because only a few words, mainly titles and personal names, were preserved in the Chinese sources. Proposals by scholars include Mongolic, Turkic, Iranian, Yeniseian, Tocharian, and Uralic. The name Xiongnu may be cognate to the name Huns, but the evidence for this is controversial.

Chinese sources from the 3rd century BC report them as having created an empire under Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 BC. This empire stretched beyond the borders of modern-day Mongolia. After defeating the previously dominant Yuezhi in the 2nd century BC, Xiongnu became the dominant power on the steppes of eastern Asia. They were active in southern Siberia, Mongolia, western Manchuria, and the Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang. Relations between early Chinese dynasties and the Xiongnu were complex, with repeated periods of military conflict and intrigue alternating with exchanges of tribute, trade, and marriage treaties.

Archaeology and Genetics: In the 1920s, Pyotr Kozlov's excavations of the royal tombs at Noin-Ula in northern Mongolia that date to around the first century AD, provided a glimpse into the lost world of the Xiongnu. Other archaeological sites have been unearthed in Inner Mongolia and elsewhere; they represent the Neolithic and historical periods of the Xiongnu's history. Those included the Ordos culture, many of them had been identified as the Xiongnu cultures. The region was occupied predominantly by peoples showing Mongoloid features, known from their skeletal remains and artifacts. Portraits found in the Noin-Ula excavations demonstrate other cultural evidences and influences, showing that Chinese and Xiongnu art have influenced each other mutually. Some of these embroidered portraits in the Noin-Ula kurgans also depict the Xiongnu with long braided hair with wide ribbons, which are seen to be identical with the Turkic Ashina clan hair-style.

Geographic Location & Xiongnu Genetics: The original geographic location of Xiongnu is generally placed at the Ordos. A study based on mitochondrial DNA analysis of human remains interred in the Egyin Gol Valley of Mongolia concluded that the Turkic peoples originated from the same area and therefore are possibly related.

A majority (89%) of the Xiongnu mtDNA sequences can be classified as belonging to Asian haplogroups, and nearly 11% belong to European haplogroups. This finding indicates that the contacts between European and Asian populations were anterior to the Xiongnu culture, and it confirms results reported for two samples from an early 3rd century BC. Scytho-Siberian population (Clisson et al. 2002).

Another study from 2004 screened ancient samples from the Egyin Gol necropolis for the Y-DNA Tat marker. The Egyin Gol necropolis, located in northern Mongolia in the region of Lake Baikal, is ~2300 years old and belongs to the Xiongnu culture. This Tat-polymorphism is a biallelic marker - that defines the N1c (N3-Tat) Y-DNA haplogroup - what has so far been observed only in populations from Asia and northern Europe. It reaches its highest frequency in Yakuts and northern Uralic peoples, with significant parts also in Buryats and northeastern Siberian populations. Opinions differ about whether the geographic origin of the T-C mutation lies in Asia or northern Eurasia. Zerjal et al. suggested that this mutation first arose in the populations of Central Asia; they proposed Mongolia as a candidate location for the origin of the T-C polymorphism. In contrast, for Lahermo et al. the wide distribution of the mutation in north Eurasian populations suggests that it arose in northern Eurasia. According to them, the estimated time of the C mutation is ~2400–4440 years ago. (According to some more recent researches of the Y-DNA Hg N the presence of N1c and N1b in modern Siberian and other Eurasian populations is considered to reflect an ancient substratum, probably speaking Uralic languages. Haplogroup N). Concerning the Xiongnu people, two of them from the oldest section harboured the mutation, confirming that the Tat polymorphism already existed in Mongolia 2300 years ago. The next archaeogenetical occurrence of this N-Tat ancient DNA was found in Hungary among the so-called Homeconqueror Hungarians. Also three Yakuts' aDNA from the 15th century, and of two from the late 18th century were this haplogroup. Additionally two mtDNA sequence matches revealed in this work suggest that the Xiongnu tribe under study may have been composed of some of the ancestors of the present-day Yakut population.

Another study of 2006 aimed at the contacts between Siberian and steppe peoples with the analysis of a Siberian grave of Pokrovsk recently discovered near the Lena River and dated from 2,400 to 2,200 years B.P., and proved the existence of previous contacts between autochthonous hunters of Siberia and the nomadic horse breeders from the Altai-Baikal area (Mongolia and Buryatia). Indeed, the stone arrowhead and the harpoons relate this Pokrovsk man to the traditional hunters of the Taiga. Some artifacts made of horse bone and the pieces of armor, however, are related to the tribes of Mongolia and Buryatia of the Xiongnu period (3rd century BC). This affinity has been confirmed by the match of the mitochondrial haplotype of this subject with a woman of the Egyin Gol necropolis (2nd/3rd century AD). This haplotype was attributed to the mtDNA D haplogroup. The paternal lineage of the Pokrovsk subject seems to differ from the lineages found in the modern local population. The mtDNA sequence was compared with databases and the haplotype matched two Buryats from the Baikal area, two West Siberians, two Mansis, one Evenk, one older and two modern Yakuts, and one female from the Egyin Gol necropolis. This mitochondrial haplotype is not found in Koryaks, Chukchi, Itelmen, or Yukaghirs, sometimes considered "Paleo-Asiatic" ethnic groups, or in Central Asian populations. The similarity of the mitochondrial haplotype of the Pokrovsk subject with Buryats and a skeleton from the Egyin Gol necropolis, located 2,000 km to the south, confirms the occurrence of ancient contacts between the Altai-Baikal region and Oriental Siberia before the end of the Xiong Nu period (3rd century BC to 2nd century AD). Some female ancestors of this Pokrovsk hunter may originate from the First Empire of the Steppes, well known for its military expansion to the south (China) and to the west. However, the man of the Pokrovsk grave shows that these nomadic people may have also tried to explore the north by diffusion along the rivers. The match of the sequence with two Mansis from the Ural Mountains and two western Siberians could be related to an extensive gene flow along the Ienissei River (Starikovskaya et al. 2005). Considering the important frequency of Asian haplogroups present in the Mansi (Derbeneva et al. 2002), this similarity may stem from the wide expansion of the nomadic tribes from the southern steppe to the Ural Mountains. Thus the gene flow seems to have affected autochthonous populations from Oriental and Occidental Siberia during the Xiong Nu period since the 3rd century BC. The analysis of the Pokrovsk grave corroborates the great influence of the Xiongnu Empire over the Siberian populations and early admixture between populations from the southern steppe and Central Siberia aboriginals.

Another 2006 study observed genetic similarity among Mongolian samples from different periods and geographic areas including 2,300-year-old Xiongnu population of the Egyin Gol Valley. This results supports the hypothesis that the succession over time of different Turkic and Mongolian tribes in the current territory of Mongolia resulted in cultural rather than genetic exchanges. Furthermore, it appears that the Yakuts probably did not find their origin among the Xiongnu tribes as previously hypothesised.

A research study of 2006 focused on Y-DNAs of the Egyin Gol site, and besides the confirmation of the above mentioned two N3-Tats, it also identified a Q haplogroup from the middle period and a C haplogroup from the later (2nd century AD). The Q is one of the haplogroups of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (though this is not this subclade), and a minor in Siberia and Central Asia. Only two groups in the Old World are high majority Q groups. These are the Samoyedic Selkups and the Yeniseian Kets. They live in western and middle Siberia, together with the Ugric Khantys. The Kets originally lived in southern Siberia. The Uralic-Samoyedics were an old people of the Sayan-Baikal region, migrated northwest around the 1st/2nd century AD. According to the Uralistic literature the swift migration and disjunction of the Samoyedic peoples might be connected to a heavy warring in the region, probably due to the dissolution of the Xiongnu Empire in the period of the Battle of Ikh Bayan. The mutation defining this haplogroup C, is restrained in North and Eastern-Asia and in America (Bergen et al. 1998. 1999.) (Lell et al. 2002.). The highest frequencies of Haplogroup C3 are found among the populations of Mongolia and the Russian Far East, where it is generally the modal haplogroup. Haplogroup C3 is the only variety of Haplogroup C to be found among Native Americans, among whom it reaches its highest frequency in Na-Dené populations.

A research project of 2007 (Yi Chuan, 2007) was aimed at the genetic affinities between Tuoba Xianbei and Xiongnu populations. Some mtDNA sequences from Tuoba Xianbei remains in Dong Han period were analyzed. Comparing with the published data of Xiongnu, the results indicated that the Tuoba Xianbei presented some close affinities to the Xiongnu, which implied that there was a gene flow between Tuoba Xianbei and Xiongnu during the 2 southward migrations.

A recent examination in a Xiongnu cemetery in Duurlig Nars revealed a Western Eurasian male with maternal U2e1 and paternal R1a1 haplogroups and two other DNAs: a female with mtDNA haplogroup D4 and a male with Y-haplogroup C3 and mtDNA haplogroup D4.

A study of 2010 analysed six human remains of a nomadic group, excavated from Pengyang, Northern China. From the mtDNA, six haplotypes were identified as three haplogroups: C, D4 and M10. The analyses revealed that these individuals were closely associated with the ancient Xiongnu and modern northern Asians. The analysis of Y chromosomes from four male samples that were typed as haplogroup Q indicated that these people had originated in Siberia.

 

 

Homeconqueror Hungarians

The Magyars lead by Árpád are crossing the Carpathians - a detail of Árpád Feszty and assistants' canvas

Homeconqueror Hungarians: In 895/896, under the leadership of Árpád, some Hungarians crossed the Carpathians and entered the Carpathian Basin. The tribe called Megyer was the leading tribe of the Hungarian alliance that conquered the centre of the basin. At the same time (c.895), due to their involvement in the 894–896 Bulgaro-Byzantine war, Magyars in Etelköz were attacked by Bulgaria and then by their old enemies the Pechenegs. It is uncertain whether or not those conflicts were the cause of the Hungarian departure from Etelköz.

From the upper Tisza region of the Carpathian Basin, the Hungarians intensified their looting raids across continental Europe. In 900, they moved from the upper Tisza river to Transdanubia (Pannonia), which later became the core of the arising Hungarian state. At the time of the Hungarian migration, the land was inhabited only by a sparse population of Slavs, numbering about 200,000, who were either assimilated or enslaved by the Hungarians.

After the battle of Augsburg (955), the Hungarians stopped their raids against Western Europe.

Many of the Hungarians, however, remained to the north of the Carpathians after 895/896, as archaeological findings suggest (e.g. Polish Przemyśl). They seem to have joined the other Hungarians in 900. There is also a consistent Hungarian population in Transylvania, the Székelys, comprise 40% of the Hungarians in Romania. The Székely people's origin, and in particular the time of their settlement in Transylvania, is a matter of historical controversy.

Ethnic Affiliations and Genetic Origins: The origin of the Hungarian people is somewhat disputed. The most widely accepted theory of origin from the late 19th century is based primarily on linguistic and ethnographical arguments, i.e. that the modern-day Hungarian people are descendants of Uralic ethnic groups, due to their Uralic linguistic nature. Contesting these, the theory is criticized as relying too much on August Schleicher's Stammbaumtheorie of historical linguistics, and some cite that Uralic-speaking peoples have a wide range of cultural, ethnic and genetic variation. It should also be noted that though modern-day Hungarians have a predominantly European genetic makeup, Guglielimino and Beres (1996) states that about 13% of the population have retained the other Uralic language speakers' genes, while Tomary, et al. (2007) sees no genetic continuity in the current population, but does see a genetic connection in ancient DNA between the small proportion of the population comprising the ruling class that is linked to Uralic populations ca. 1000 AD (around the time of the formation of the first Hungarian state).

The Hungarian population belongs linguistically to the Uralic family. The Tat C allele is an interesting marker in the Uralic context, distributed in all the Uralic-speaking populations, except for Hungarians. The new Hungarian genetic researches established that Hungarians had mostly European origin in the age of St. Stephen's Hungary. According to the conclusion of these new researches, Hungarians of 10-11th centuries had mostly European genetic origin and there are no relevant genetic difference between Hungarian 'leader' population and the 'common' people. Those have same percent European (about 85-90 %, main European Haplogroups occur there) and Asian haplogroups ratios (however the composition of markers are different: B and M Asian haplogroups have dissimilar ratios, 'leader' population has bigger Europid U, X and N1a haplogroup ratios, 'common' population has bigger Europid preV, I, H and T ratios, but both of them have those recited groups, except X, N1a because these were just among 'leader people' and preV, I were just among 'common' people). Moreover, the researchers detected EU19, R1a1 and Tat-C haplogroups in the samples. The anthropological researches support these results (16 percent of the population had Mongolid, Europo-Mongoloid origin in the 10-11th centuries). It might be determined, the conqueror Hungarians had mostly Europid anthropological composition. According to Lipták cca 40 % of the modern Hungarians are brown-eyed and ca 40% are blue/grey-eyed. The rest have mixed colours.

There are also other theories proposing that the Hungarians are (partial) descendants of Scythians, Huns and/or Avars.

The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic family of languages. The most closely related languages are the Khanty language (or Ostyak) and the Mansi language (or Vogul), but this may be more of an areal than a genealogical connection.

According to a genetic study published in 2000 in the American academic journal Science, the ancestors of Hungarians appeared in Europe around 40,000 years ago and genetically, the most closely related ethnic groups are Poles, Croats and Ukrainians. However, linguist András Róna-Tas notes that no historic conclusions may be drawn yet based on genetic research.

Based on the Kosztolnyik's research, not so long ago, historical research concluded the term "magyar" derived from the name of (prince) Muageris (also known as Mugel), by arguing that "Muageris" had to be a personal name taken from the descriptive designation of a people. It presented the hypothesis that the Huns in the Crimea were the Onogurs, and the names of the two princes mentioned by Malalas (Grodas and Muageris – Hunnic rulers) as living in the region of Maeotian Lake (Sea of Azov) and of the Kuban stream during the earlier half of the 6th century, referred to people under the rule of the Magyar (Muageris) tribe.

 

 

* Probable Ancestors of Hungarian Ethnic Groups: An Admixture Analysis by C. R. Guglielmino, et al.

Hungarians and Their Ancestors

 

 

* Migration Rates and Genetic Structure of Two Hungarian Ethnic Groups in Transylvania, Romania by A. Brandstätter

Excerpt: Our results describe the genetic relationships between the two Hungarian ethnic groups, the Csángó and Székely, whose native lands lie outside the present borders of Hungary. Both populations claim to be Hungarian although they live in Transylvania, a historical region of Romania. Different hypotheses exist on the historical origin of the Hungarians in Romania, including putative Eurasian Avar, Gepid, Bulgar-Turk, and Hunnish ancestors. In an attempt to validate these hypotheses we calculated the correlation of genetic and geographic distances between the Transylvanian Hungarians, selected west Eurasian countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Greece, Macedonia, Poland and Finland), selected central-east Asian populations (from Japan, Altai/Russia, Iran and Pakistan), and selected European Russian populations (Saratov/Russia and Stavropol/Russia). Both the Csángó and Székely were generally found to be genetically closest to west Eurasian populations. However, the degree of genetic similarity between certain west Eurasian populations and the Székely was one order of magnitude greater than between west Eurasians and the Csángó, thus further underlining the genetic distinction of the Csángó population. Both populations showed genetic affiliations with certain central Asian and European Russian populations, in particular with people from Iran and Stavropol/Russia. These findings could support theories about a partial Asian origin of Hungarian populations, as people from Iran arrived shortly after the Magyars in the Carpathian basin. Finns seem to have, on average, genetically less in common with the Hungarian groups, even though they too speak a non-Indo-European Finno-Ugric language. Overall, the Csángó and Székely seem to have a similar genetic pool which includes central Asian genes.

Excerpt: The influence of Asian invasion into Eastern Europe can clearly be detected in the Székely. The relatively high proportion of Asian mitochondrial haplogroups A, B, C, G and Y, that sum up to 7.9% altogether, could be an indicator of an Asian nomad influx into medieval Székely populations.

 

Mitochondrial Haplogroup Distributions in the Csángó and the Székely

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Highest Frequencies: Yakuts 75%, Nenets 75%, Finns 60%, Saami 40%, Baltic States 45%

 

Yakuts

Yakuts, self-designation: Sakha, are a Turkic people associated with the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.

The Yakut or Sakha language belongs to the Northern branch of the Turkic family of languages. There are about 456,000 speakers (Russian census, 2002) mainly in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the Russian Federation, with some extending to the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin regions, and the Taymyr and Evenki Autonomous Districts. Out of all population in Yakutia 422,000 are Yakuts or about 39% of the population in Yakutia; their share lowered during Soviet rule due to forced immigration, and other relocation policies, but has slightly increased since.

The Yakuts are divided into two basic groups based on geography and economics. Yakuts in the north are historically semi-nomadic hunters, fishermen, yak and reindeer breeders, while southern Yakuts engage in animal husbandry focusing on horses and cattle.

Yakuts originally migrated from Olkhon and the region of Lake Baikal to the basins of the Middle Lena, the Aldan and Vilyuy rivers, where they mixed with other northern indigenous peoples of Russia such as the Evens and Evenks.

The northern Yakuts were largely hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, while the southern Yakut raised cattle and horses. Both groups lived in yurts and led a semi-nomadic life moving from winter to summer camps each year.

Traditions of Ossetians, Pashtuns, the Turkic Kazakhs and Yakuts (whose endoethnonym is "Sakha"), and Parthians (whose homelands laid to the east of the Caspian Sea and thought to have come there from north of the Caspian), were possible descendants of a Scythian groups. Their physical features, and big stature, which is very evident from their coins etc., link them to the Scythians.

* Videos: Yakut Song, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

 

 

Nenets

The Nenets are an indigenous people in Russia. According to the latest census in 2002, there are 41,302 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them living in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Nenets Autonomous Okrug. They speak either the Tundra or Forest varieties of Nenets.

There are two distinct groups based on their economy: the Tundra Nenets (living far to the north) and the Khandeyar or Forest Nenets. The third group Kominized Nenets (Yaran people) has emerged as a result of intermarriages between Nenets and the Izhma tribe of the Komi peoples.

The Samoyedic languages form a branch of the Uralic language family. They moved (from farther south in Siberia) to the northernmost part of what later became Russia before the 12th century.

They ended up between the Kanin and Taymyr peninsulas, around the Ob and Yenisey rivers, with only a few of them settling into small communities like Kolva. Their main subsistence comes from hunting and reindeer herding. Using reindeer as a draft animal throughout the year enables to cover great distances. Large-scale reindeer herding emerged in the 18th century. They bred the Samoyed dog to help herd their reindeer and pull their sleds, and European explorers later used those dogs for polar expeditions, because they have adapted so well to the arctic conditions. Tundra wolves can be a source of considerable economic loss, as they prey on the reindeer herds which are the livelihood of some Nenets families. Alongside with reindeer meat, fish is a major component in the Nenets' diet.

 

 

Sami

The Sámi people, (also known as Lapps, although this term is considered derogatory) are the indigenous people of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Their ancestral lands span an area the size of Sweden in the Nordic countries. The Sámi people are among the largest indigenous ethnic groups in Europe. Their traditional languages are the Sámi languages, which are classified as members of the Finno-Lappic group of the Uralic language family.

Autosomal DNA in Sami Populations: In the early years of genetic research the Sami people caught scientists' interest because of the Sami's unusual blood group distribution (Boyd 1939, Mourant 1952, Ryttinger 1957). In later years, the use of classic chromosomal marker variation did not enlighten any further the origin of the Sami. Extensive Caucasoid and Mongoloid admixture were suggested (Cavelli-Sforza 1994), however not all studies supported the idea of extensive admixture (Beckman 1996, Niskanen 2002). The classical markers genetic distance showed the Sami to have no close relatives in any populations, but a closer affinitity to neighbouring populations (Cavelli-Sforza 1994, Niskanen 2002). The Sami are not more closely related to Siberian and Mongol populations than other European populations, even their Scandinavian neighbours (Niskanen 2002), this in contrast to the historically held view that the Sami are of Siberian-Asiatic origin.

MtDNA Haplogroups in Sami Populations: As with all other Central and Northern European populations, the mitochondrial (mtDNA) lineage of the indigenous Sami peoples stems largely from a hunter-gatherer population that resided in southwestern Europe during the late Upper Paleolithic (Torroni 1996, Achilli 2004). However, the distribution and frequency of mtDNA haplogroups in Sami populations varies from the distribution patterns of other European and world populations (Tambets 2004).

mtDNA haplogroups V and U (via restricted sequence subsets of its subgroup U5b) represent 89.2% of the averaged total mtDNA haplogroups. mtDNA haplogroup H (which resided in Europe and the Middle East during the Upper Paleolithic) and mtDNA haplogroups D5 and Z (which resided in Asia during the Upper Paleolithic) represent most of the remaining averaged total mtDNA haplogroups. (Local frequencies vary according to region or population.) Of these, the Haplogroups V and U5b have maximums in occurrence in Northern Europe in Sami regions (Tambets 2004).

Restricted mtDNA sequence variations (and subsets in the case of haplogroup U) of wider mitochondrial lineages that stemmed from Southwest Europe and that are today found elsewhere at low and moderate frequencies throughout Europe characterize the strongly outlying nature of the Sami peoples' mtDNA profile and are the result of genetic drift and founder effects (Cavelli-Sforza 1994, Sajantila 1996, Tambets 2004).

Y-DNA Haplogroups in Sami Populations: Sami Y chromosomes haplogroup distribution is similar to the Finns and Estonians with haplogroup N3, I1a and R1a as major haplogroups (Tambets 2004). Haplogroup I1a is common among all neighbouring populations (Dupuy 2005, Karlsson 2006, Lappalainen 2006, Tambets 2004). Haplogroup N3a is common among the Finns, while haplogroup R1a is common among all the neighbours except the Finns (Lappalainen 2006). Haplogroup R1a in Sami is mostly seen in the Swedish Sami and Kola Sami populations (Tambets 2004). However, an analysis of the microsatellite substructure of haplogroup I1a and N3a among the East Sami reveals that Finns and Estonians are an unlikely source of recent contributions (Raitio 2001), while the Jokkmokk Saami in Sweden have similar structure as among Swedes and Finns for haplogroup I1a and N3 (Karlsson 2006).

 

 

Finns

The terms Finns and Finnish people are used in English to mean "a native or inhabitant of Finland". They are also used to refer to the ethnic group historically associated with Finland or Fennoscandia

Linguistically, Finnish, spoken by most Finns, is most closely related to the other Baltic-Finnic languages Estonian and Karelian. Finnish has loanwords from Swedish, other Germanic and broader Indo-European languages in different chronological layers.

Genetically, Finns seem to be a fairly homogeneous group with a genetic heritage mostly in common with the other European ethnicities.

History: With regard to the ancestry of the Finnish people, the modern view emphasizes the overall continuity in Finland's archeological finds and (earlier more obvious) linguistic surroundings. Archeological data suggest the spreading of at least cultural influences from many sources ranging from the south-east to the south-west following gradual developments rather than clear-cut migrations.

Just as uncertain are the possible mediators and the timelines for the development of the Uralic majority language of the Finns. On the basis of comparative linguistics, it has been suggested that the separation of the Baltic-Finnic and the Sami languages took place during the 2nd millennium BC, and that the proto-Uralic roots of the entire language group date from about the 6th to the 8th millennium BC. When the Uralic or Finno-Ugric languages were first spoken in the area of contemporary Finland is debated but current opinion leans towards the Stone Age.

Because the Finnish language itself reached a written form only in the 16th century, little primary data remains of early Finnish life. For example, the origins of such cultural icons as the sauna, the kantele (a harp-like musical instrument), and the Kalevala (national epic) have remained rather obscure.

Koistinen concert kantele with 38 strings

Kantele is the oldest Finnish traditional plucked string instrument. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle, the Lithuanian kanklės and the Estonian kannel. Its more distant relatives are the Japanese koto, Chinese gu zheng, American autoharp, Armenian kanun and others.

The oldest forms of kantele have 5 or 6 horsehair strings and a wooden body carved from one piece; more modern instruments have metal strings and often a body made from several pieces. Modern concert kanteles can have up to 40 strings. Modern instruments with 15 or fewer strings are generally more closely modelled on traditional shapes than the concert kantele, and form a separate category of instrument known as small kantele.

A modern guzheng

The guzheng (古箏) or zheng (箏) (gu-, 古 means "ancient") is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It belongs to the zither family of string instruments.

The guzheng is the parent instrument of the Japanese koto, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum, and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The parent instrument of the guzheng is the se.

The se (瑟) is an ancient Chinese plucked zither (string instrument). The history of the se extends back to early Chinese history. It is one of the most important stringed instruments to be created in China, other than guqin and guzheng. Surviving specimens have been excavated from places such as the Hubei and Hunan provinces, and the Jiangnan region of China. Other places include Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Liaoning. In Hubei, the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (in the late 400's BC) was a treasure trove of ancient Chinese instruments, including a complete set of bianzhong (bronze bells), se, guqin (plucked zither), stone chimes, and a drum. His musical entourage of 21 girls and women were also buried with him. The state of Zeng was a client state to the state of Chu.

According to legend, Fuxi created the se. It is also believed that by the Xia dynasty the se already came into being. It is said that the word for music, yue (樂), is composed of the characters si for silk and mu for wood, and that it is a representation of the instrument.

There are also many mentions in Chinese literature, such as Shijing and Lunyu. The se could have been used to entertain guests, as well as for ritual performance and hunting rituals.

Finland's Swedish speakers descend from peasants and fishermen who settled coastal Finland ca. 1000–1250, from the subsequent immigration during Swedish sovereignty over Finland, and from Finns and immigrants who adopted the Swedish language.

Genetics: Recently, mitochondrial (female lineage) and Y-chromosomal (male lineage) DNA-markers have been started to use in tracing back the history of human populations. For the paternal and maternal genetic lineages of Finnish people and other peoples, see, e.g., the National Geographic Genographic Project and the Suomi DNA-projekti. In essence, the types of mtDNA markers of Finnish people do not differ from those of other European ethnicities. For example, Haplogroup U5 is estimated to be the oldest mtDNA haplogroup in Europe and is found in the whole of Europe at a low frequency, but seems to be found in significantly higher levels among Finns, Estonians and the Sami.

With regard to the Y-chromosome, the most common haplogroups of the Finns are N3 (58%), I (29%), R1a (7.5%) and R1b (3.5%). Haplogroup N3, which is found only in a few countries in Europe (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden and Russia), is a subgroup of the haplogroup N (Y-DNA) distributed across northern Eurasia and estimated in a recent study to be 10,000–20,000 years old and suggested to have entered Europe about 12,000–14,000 years ago from Asia.

According to an earlier study conducted by four scientists, including Cavalli-Sforza LL:

Principal coordinate analysis shows that Lapps/Sami are almost exactly intermediate between people located geographically near the Ural mountains and speaking Uralic languages, and central and northern Europeans. Hungarians and Finns are definitely closer to Europeans. An analysis of genetic admixture between Uralic and European ancestors shows that Lapps/Sami are slightly more than 50% European, Hungarians are 87% European, and Finns are 90% European. There is basic agreement between these conclusions and historical data on Hungary. Less is known about Finns and very little about Lapps/Sami.

According to recent autosomal (genomewide, 10,000 markers instead of few looked at Y-DNA and mtDNA-studies) give distinct picture of Finnish genes. Finns are a genetic isolate. It could be said that all other Europeans have Finnish genes but Finns don't have all the genes found in other Europeans. Finns show very little if any Mediterranean and African genes but on the other hand almost 10% Finnish genes seem to be shared with some Siberian populations. Nevertheless more than 80% of Finnish genes are from single ancient North-European population, while most Europeans are a mixture of 3 or more principal components.

Theories of the Origin of Finns: In the 19th century, the Finnish researcher Matthias Castrén prevailed with the theory that "the original home of Finns" was in west-central Siberia. But later, it was considered more credible that an ancient homeland of all Finno-Ugric speaking peoples situated in a region between the Volga and Kama rivers in the European part of Russia.

Until the 1970s, most linguists believed that Finns arrived in Finland as late as the first centuries AD. But accumulating archaeological data suggested that the area of contemporary Finland had been inhabited continuously since the ice-age, contrary to the earlier idea that the area had experienced long uninhabited intervals. One conclusion was that the ancestors of the Finns arrived in their present territory thousands of years ago, perhaps in many successive waves of immigration. During this immigration, the possible linguistic and cultural ancestors of the hunting-gathering Sami were pushed into the more remote northern regions.

A recent and controversial theory is that the ancestors of the Finns lived during the Ice Age in one of three habitable areas of southern Europe, so-called refugia, while the other two habitable areas were occupied by the speakers of Indo-European and Basque languages. This was proposed in the 1990s by Kalevi Wiik, a professor emeritus of phonetics at the University of Turku. According to this theory, Finno-Ugric speakers spread north as the ice melted. They populated central and northern Europe, while Basque speakers populated western Europe. As agriculture spread from the south-east into Europe, the Indo-European languages spread among the hunter-gatherers. In this process, both the hunter-gatherers speaking Finno-Ugric and those speaking Basque learned how to cultivate land and became Indo-Europeanized. According to Wiik, this is how the Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, and Baltic languages were formed. The linguistic ancestors of modern Finns did not switch their language due to their isolated location. The main supporters of Wiik's theory are Ago Künnap, Kyösti Julku and Angela Marcanio. But some other scholars have strongly criticized the theory. Especially Raimo Anttila, Petri Kallio and brothers Ante and Aslak Aikio have renounced Wiik's theory with strong words, even hinting on right-wing tendencies among Wiik's supporters. The most heated debate took place in the Finnish journal Kaltio during autumn 2002. Since then, the debate has calmed, each side retaining their positions.

 

 

Baltic States

(Map by Hayden120)

The Baltic states (also Baltic nations or Baltic countries):

The languages of Baltic nations belong to two distinct language families. The Latvian and Lithuanian languages make up the group of Baltic languages which belongs to the Indo-European language family. The Estonian language and the nearly-extinct Livonian language, on the other hand, are not Indo-European languages and instead they belong to the Baltic-Finnic subgroup of the Finno-Ugric languages, sharing close ethnic and historical ties with the Finnish language and people.

At 8000–5000 BC mesolithic hunter-gatherer communities of the Kunda culture at the southern shores of the Mastogloia Sea may have witnessed its transfiguration into Littorina Sea and finally to what is the Baltic Sea now. Traces of Comb Ceramic Culture found on these territories date back to the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, and of the Corded Ware culture (pottery with corded decoration and well-polished boat-shape stone axes) to the beginning of the Late Neolithic Period. Fossils of the Bronze Age show the separation between the Finnic peoples and the Balts.