R1a and R1b are Y-DNA haplogroups most predominantly found in Europeans.
Where did people with these paternal genes originate, and how did they spread?
This is precisely what we are going to explore in this video.
First, let's find out the origin and diffusion process of R1a through a map.
It's coming up!
Before looking at the origins and spread of R1a,
let's look at some of the celebrities who belong to the paternal lineage R1a.
The map shows the global distribution of Y-DNA Haplogroup R1a-M420.
The frequency at which R1a is observed is divided into four intervals and expressed.
The legend is displayed at the bottom left of the screen.
R1a is frequently observed in Eastern Europe,
Central Asia,
Western Asia, and the Altai region.
In Europe
the frequency is higher than 50% in Poland,
western Belarus,
and the northwestern and northeastern regions of Ukraine.
In addition, R1a is observed at a high frequency of 50% or more in the Russian lands near the border of Ukraine and Belarus.
In South Asia, R1a is observed with a frequency between 25% and 50% throughout India.
In particular, in the southern region of Pakistan, which borders India, R1a is over 50%.
It is also observed in more than 50% of areas inhabited by Pashtuns in Afghanistan.
Among Central Asian countries, Kyrgyzstan accounts for more than 50%.
It is also highly observed in the border area between Kyrgyzstan and Xingang in China.
Another place where more than 50% is observed is near the Altai Mountains of Russia.
The exact origin of R1a is unknown.
The most likely place of origin of R1a is Central Asia or southern Siberia.
Some believe it may have originated in the Balkans
or around Pakistan and northwestern India.
This is because the genetic diversity found in this region is more significant.
However, the variability can be explained by other factors.
The Balkans have migrated from the Eurasian steppes for 5000 years,
bringing a new breed of R1a.
South Asia has had a much larger population than any other region for at least 10,000 years,
and a larger population brings more genetic diversity.
It may have originated between the southern Ural Mountains and the northern Aral Sea.
It's probably near the northern border of Kazakhstan.
Y-DNA Haplogroup is displayed at the top of the circle on the screen,
and the letter shown below is a representative SNP,
that is, single-nucleotide polymorphism.
Y-DNA haplogroups are defined as mutations in this SNP.
Numbers under the circle indicate when they were first formed and TMRCA,
or Most recent common ancestor.
R-M420 is believed to have first formed during the LGM,
the Last Glacial Maximum.
At that time, there were substantial ice sheets in Siberia and Europe.
Scientists' simulations show that the Caspian and Aral Seas were much larger lakes than they are today.
They lived in sub-arctic and steppe climates.
Average temperatures in the coldest months of the subarctic climate were below 0 °C (32 °F).
They may have lived in this area hunting mammoths.
So, where did they come from?
Their ancestors were Ancient North Eurasians who lived in the Altai and Baikal regions.
ANE ancestry spread across Eurasia and America in various migrations since the Paleolithic,
and today more than half of the world's population derives 5-40% of their genomes from ancient North Eurasians.
ANE ancestry can be found among indigenous peoples of the Americas as well as regions of Europe,
South Asia, Central Asia, and Siberia
The Y-DNA haplogroup of some of them was the paragroup R*.
This haplogroup was identified in the 24,000-year-old remains of the so-called Mal'ta boy in the Altai region.
The Mal'ta boy belongs to the Mal'ta-Buret culture.
The Mal'ta-Buret culture is an archaeological culture that arose in the upper reaches of the Angar River in the western part of Baikal.
Mal'ta boy has the SNP of M207.
According to a paper published in Nature in 2013, Mal'ta boy had ANE admixture of 60.7%,
Baikal_EN 16.7%, and Iran 10.9%.
It is speculated that descendants of M207 migrated west to form the M173 group 28,200 years ago,
and their descendants moved further west and were active in the southern Ural Mountains 22,800 years ago.
The direct ancestor of Haplogroup R-M207 is P-M45,
which formed in the ANE region 38,000 years ago.
These mammoth hunters who were active in the Ice Age likely migrated from the Iranian Highlands to Siberia along the mammoth migration path.
The ancestry of paternal line P goes back to haplogroup F.
F is descended from CF, the first human population to leave Africa.
So far, we have looked at the origin of R1a.
So when and where did R1a spread?
Let's take a look.
First, let's take a brief look at the Phylogeny of R1a-M420.
R1a-M420 Haplogroup formed the Paleolithic era in Northeast Europe and Siberia.
M420 splits into M459 and YP4141 around 18,200 years ago.
The subclades of YP4141 include YP4131 and YP5018.
The current Y-DNA haplogroup R1a is divergent from M459.
M459 has two subclades, M198 and YP1272
and M198 has subclades M417 and YP1051.
M417 was a man from the Mesolithic Age in Northeast Europe.
Currently, 90% of R1a belongs to subclades of M417.
Then, shall we estimate the migration path of the descendants of M420?
The continental ice sheets in Europe and Siberia began to melt slowly,
and M420, which lived east of the Ural Mountains, appears to have gradually moved west of the Ural Mountains.
M459 seems to have formed 18,200 years ago in the western Ural Mountains.
Another subclade of M420, YP4141, moved further around the same time.
It is estimated that they traveled more than 2000 km (1242 mi) and came to the lower Danube River in Romania.
YP5018, a direct descendant of YP4141, migrated to Arabia 12,300 years ago.
The movement year is indicated based on the time of formation.
Another direct descendant, YP4131, turned northwest at 4500 bp and moved east of the Alps.
Another direct descendant of M459, M198, appears to have moved further west and stayed around the Volga River.
14,000 years ago.
M459's subclade YP1272 was moved to the Balkans.
And one group of M198 subclades migrated to the upper Don River about 8,800 years ago,
and the other group moved near the present-day German-Poland border.
Their SNPs are M417 and YP1051.
Descendants of the M417, a group established in the upper Don River, spread across Europe.
As previously described, 90% of subclades of Y-DNA R1a belong to M417.
M417's descendants migrate in two directions.
One group moves northwest, and the other moves south toward the Caspian Sea.
This cohort belonged to the Z645 and CTS4385 SNPs, respectively.
Between 5000-5400 years ago.
Of the Z645 descendants, Z283 migrates north of the Carpathian Mountains,
while another descendant, Z93, moves south of the Mountains.
Another descendant, the L664, migrated southeast to present-day Romania.
The Z283, Z93, and L664 families play a key role in the spread of R1a.
Among the descendants of Z283, Z280 seems to have contributed to the spread of Eastern Corded Ware Culture in ancient Europe,
and Z284 seems to have contributed to the spread of Battle-Axe Culture.
The Z93 was also the star of Northeast Europe's Early Bronze Age.
L664 contributed to the early spread of the Bronze Age of Steppe in Europe.
The spread of these groups will be explored in detail in
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