More than 60 per cent of males in modern-day Europe descend from three Bronze Age leaders.

Genetic researchers estimate that three families in particular, which originated around 5,000 years ago, rapidly expanded across the continent.

And the study suggests that the spread of modern populations across Europe occurred much later than had originally been thought.

The researchers found three distinct recent mutations that occurred in 63% of the men tested - I1, R1a and R1b - as shown in the diagram (a) above. The map marked (b) shows the populations the scientists tested and the proportion of their DNA that is made up from each of the mutations shown in the diagram marked a

Rather than occurring during the Palaeolithic period as hunter-gatherers moved across the continent, it appears that most modern populations appear to have settled in Europe after the spread of farming during the Neolithic.

Professor Mark Jobling, a geneticist at the University of Leicester who led the research, said it was likely the forefathers of the three main paternal lineages detected were powerful Early Bronze Age tribe leaders.

THE 11 FATHERS OF ASIA More than 800 million men living today are descended from just eleven men, including the ruthless Mongolian leader Genghis Khan, according to new research. Geneticists have been able to find eleven distinctive sequences in Y-chromosomes - the chunk of DNA that is only carried by men - that are persistent in modern populations in Asia. These are thought to originate from the Middle East to Southeast Asia between 2100BC and 1100AD. They found that 37.8 per cent of the 5,000 men they tested belonged to one of these eleven lineages. If this is reflected in the entire Asian population, then it could mean around 830 million men living in Asia currently owe their Y-chromosomes to one of these eleven men. Among them is a lineage that has previously been attributed to a Chinese ruler called Giocangga, who died in 1583 and whose grandson founded the Qing Dynasty that ruled China between 1644 and 1912. Giocangga is thought to have had many children with his wives and concubines and is the direct male ancestor of more than 1.5 million men. The researchers also found that another of the lineages appears to have population clusters that are concentrated along the Silk Road trading route and date back to around 850AD. This suggests they may have their origins among the powerful rulers who dominated the steppes where the route passed - the Khitan, Tangut Xia, Juchin, Kara-Khitan and Mongol empires. Advertisement

He said: 'The population expansion falls within the Bronze Age, which involved changes in burial practices, the spread of horse-riding and developments in weaponry.

'Dominant males linked with these cultures could be responsible for the Y chromosome patterns we see today.'

The researchers, whose work is published in the journal Nature Communications, analysed the DNA sequences from the Y chromosomes of 334 men from 17 populations across Europe and the Middle East.

These included men from England, Bavaria, Orkney, Turkey, Greece, Norway, and Hungary.

They searched for mutations on the Y chromosome that are only carried by men, and so can be used to trace paternal lines through families.

By comparing the DNA from each of the populations they were able to trace key mutations in the genomes and work out when they may have occurred.

They found one mutation appears to have originated around 4,750 to 7,340 years ago and is prevalent in Norwegian and Orkadian populations.

Another mutation seems to have occurred between 3,700 and 6,500 years ago and has spread throughout Spain, Italy, France, England and Ireland.

A third mutation seems to have occurred in a man who lived between 3,470 and 5,070 years ago and is prominent in the Sami in Lapland, Norwegian, Danish, Frisia populations in the Netherlands, but can also be found in France, Hungary, Serbia and Bavaria.

Together, the scientists estimate from their findings, that these three paternal lines account for 63 per cent of the European men currently living.

In 2013 there were approximately 742.5 million people living in Europe, and if this had an equal gender split, would leave 371.25 million males.

Two thirds of this works out at around 233 million people being descendants of this trio - however, this is an estimate due to the fact it is not known how many of these people originated in Europe.

While it is unclear exactly who the men were that first fathered these paternal lines, it is likely that they were influential or powerful individuals.

The pie-charts show the frequencies of Y-chromosome groups across regions. One mutation was found to be prevalent in Norwegian and Orkadian populations. Another mutation spread throughSpain, Italy, France, England and Ireland, and a third is prominent in the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Serbia and Bavaria

Stonehenge (above) is thought to have been built by Neolithic inhabitants of Britain but the new research suggests they were largely replaced by the descendants of Bronze Age leaders who spread through Europe

This is because people in positions of power tend to travel more widely and father far more children than their inferiors.

Recent research suggested that 16 million men across the world could be related to Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader who died in 1227.

The study traced a cluster of extremely similar Y chromosome DNA back to a single ancestor who lived in Mongolia around 800 years ago.

The Mongolian warlord is thought to have been the only man with the opportunity to father enough children for the genes to have spread.

Genghis Khan is thought to have fathered hundreds of children as his armies conquered much of Asia while his sons also continued to spread his Y-chromosome around the world as they expanded the Mongol empire

Dr Chiara Batini a geneticist at the University of Leicester who was co-authored the Bronze Age study, said further research could help scientists and historians understand what led to the spread of the three Bronze Age families across Europe.

She said: 'Given the cultural complexity of the Bronze Age, it's difficult to link a particular event to the population growth that we infer.

'But Y-chromosome DNA sequences from skeletal remains are becoming available, and this will help us to understand what happened, and when.'

She added that other research has suggested some of the lineages appear to have originally migrated from the steppe near to the Black Sea.

She added that the social structure in the early Bronze Age would have allowed the lineages of powerful individuals to become dominant.

'We think that a social structure in which resources and power are more easily accessible to only some men may allow for a few paternal lineages to become very frequent in a short amount of time.'