— Ch. 1 · Origins And Ancient Lineage —
Haplogroup R1b.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
The first known carrier of this paternal lineage lived in the Cismon valley of modern Veneto, Italy. Villabruna 1 was a Western Hunter-Gatherer who died around 14000 years before present. This individual belonged to the Epigravettian culture and carried the R1b1a subclade. Geneticists estimate that the parent group R1 emerged between 12500 and 25700 years ago. Most researchers believe it appeared roughly 18500 years ago. The earliest confirmed example dates to approximately 14000 BP. Several males from the Iron Gates Mesolithic period in the Balkans also carried R1b1a1a. These men were buried between 11200 and 8200 BP. They possessed largely Western Hunter-Gatherer ancestry with slight Eastern Hunter-Gatherer admixture. Other carriers appear in Latvia within the Zvejnieki burial ground. These individuals lived between 9500 and 6000 BP during the Kunda or Narva cultures. A male from Ostrovul Corbului in Romania dated to 8700 BP held the R1b1c marker. Men buried at Lepenski Vir in Serbia between 8200 and 7900 BP carried R1b1a. An Early Holocene sample near Samara, Russia from 7500 BP showed R1b1a1a. Eneolithic remains from Khvalynsk, Russia spanning 7200 to 6000 BP contained R1b1a. Neolithic burials in Spain around 7178 to 7066 BP revealed R1b1. Copper Age males in Cannas di Sotto, Sardinia dating to 6450 BP carried R1b1b2. The Botai culture in Central Asia produced a carrier circa 5500 BP who belonged to R1b-M478.
The Pontic Steppe Expansion
Seven men tested from the Yamnaya culture all possessed the M269 subclade of haplogroup R1b. This group expanded from the West Eurasian Steppe alongside Proto-Indo-European speakers during the Bronze Age. Ancient DNA studies support the Kurgan hypothesis proposed by Marija Gimbutas regarding the Proto-Indo-European homeland. Three genetic studies published in 2015 confirmed that R1b-M269 and R1a lineages spread from this region. These migrations brought paternal lineages along with Indo-European languages into Europe. Olalde et al. traced the arrival of R1b-M269 in western Europe to the Beaker culture. A sudden appearance of many R1b-M269 groups occurred between 5000 and 4500 years before present. No males belonging to R1b-M269 were found in early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture settlements. The oldest samples classified as R1b-M269 appear in Eastern Europe and the Pontic-Caspian steppe rather than Western Asia. Analysis of ancient Y-DNA shows a dearth of this lineage in Europe before the Bronze Age. Distribution patterns within Europe are substantially due to various migrations of the Bronze and Iron Ages.