Abstract

This article aims at reconstructing the history of R1b ancient migrations between 16,000 and 1500 years before present (ybp). Four thousand four hundred eight (4408) haplotypes of haplogroup R1b (with subclades) were considered in terms of base (ancestral) haplotypes of R1b populations and the calculated time to their common ancestors. The regions considered are from South Siberia/Central Asia in the east (where R1b haplogroup arose ~16,000 ybp) via the North Kazakhstan, South Ural to the Russian Plain and further west to Europe (the northern route entering Europe around 4500 ybp); from the Russian Plain south to the Caucasus (6000 ybp), Asia Minor (6000 ybp) and the Middle East (6000 - 5500 ybp) to the Balkans in Europe (the southern route, entering Europe around 4500 ybp); along North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea (5500 - 5000 ybp) via Egypt to the Atlantic, north to Iberia (the North African route with arrival to the Pyrenees 4800 ybp). The Arbins (bearers of R1b haplogroup) along their migration route to the Middle East and South Mesopotamia apparently have established the Sumer culture (and the state), moving westward to Europe (5000 - 4500 ybp) carrying mainly the R-M269 subclade and its downstream L23 subclade. This last subclade was nearly absent along the North African route, and/or did not survive the migration to Iberia or evidenced later. At the arrival to Iberia (4800 ybp) the M269 subclade split off M51 and soon thereafter the L11 downstream subclades. These populations became known as the Bell Beakers and moved north, along with the newly arisen subclades of P312 and L21 (which split off within a few centuries after P312). Those subclades and their downstream clades have effectively, without major interruptions, populated Europe (the smooth haplotype trees demonstrate the near non-stop proliferation of R1b haplotypes in Europe). They are evidenced from the Atlantic eastward to the Balkans, Carpathian Mountains, present day Poland to the western border of the Russian Plain and up to the Baltic Sea. The Isles had a different history of R1b migrations. The bearers of L11, P312 and L21 moved to the Isles by land and sea concurrently with those Arbins who were populating Europe between 4000 and 2500 ybp and formed the respective “local” subclades of P314, M222, L226, which largely populated the Isles. As a result, a significant part of the Isles is populated almost exclusively by the Arbins, whose frequency reaches 85% - 95% among the current population. In general, the frequency of Arbins in Western and Central Europe, reaches—albeit not uniformly—some 60% of the population. This study essentially presents an example of application of DNA genealogy in studying the history of mankind.