Page links:
Homo sapiens
Out of Africa
3 types of DNA
My DNA tests
My Autosomal DNA
My Viking DNA
Doggerland
Doggerland videos
My Y-DNA
Notable Y-DNA connections
Ancient Y-DNA connections
Tollense battlefield 1300 BCE
My Neanderthaler DNA
Migration analysis
My mtDNA
Notable mtDNA connections
Ancient mtDNA connections
My mtDNA origins
My ticket to Mars
This is my personal “Out of Africa story”, my ancestral migration 200.000 thousand years ago from North East Africa to Western Europe and finally sending my name to Mars on the NASA Perseverance Rover, 18-02-2021.
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“Our own genomes carry the story of evolution, written in DNA, the language of molecular genetics and the narrative is unmistakable.
– Kenneth R. Miller –
Homo sapiens
The species that you and all other living human beings on this planet belong to is Homo sapiens. During a time of dramatic climate change 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens evolved in Africa. Like other early humans that were living at this time, they gathered and hunted food, and evolved behaviors that helped them respond to the challenges of survival in unstable environments.
Humans (Homo sapiens) are the most abundant and widespread species of primates, characterized by bipedality and large complex brains enabling the development of advanced tools, culture and language. Humans evolved from other hominins in Africa several million years ago.
In his book The history of the human brain, Bret Stetka writes: “By human, I don’t just mean Homo Sapiens, the species we belong to, but any other member of the genus Homo. We have gotten used to being the only human species on Earth, but in our not-so-distant past – probably a few hundred thousand years ago – there were at least nine of us running around. There was Homo habilis, or “the handy man” and Homo erectus, the first “pitcher”.
The Denisovans roamed Asia, while the more well-known Neanderthalers spread through Europe. But with the exception of Homo sapiens, they are all gone.”
Homo sapiens emerged around 300,000 years ago, evolving from Homo erectus and migrating out of Africa, gradually replacing local populations of archaic humans.
Early humans were hunter-gatherers, before settling in the Fertile Crescent and other parts of the Old World. Access to food surpluses led to the formation of permanent human settlements and the domestication of animals.
Out of Africa
In paleoanthropology, the recent African origin of modern humans, also called the “Out of Africa” theory (OOA), recent single-origin hypothesis (RSOH), replacement hypothesis, or recent African origin model (RAO), is the dominant model of the geographic origin and early migration of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens). It follows the early expansions of hominins out of Africa, accomplished by Homo erectus and then Homo neanderthalensis.
The model proposes a “single origin” of Homo sapiens in the taxonomic sense, precluding parallel evolution of traits considered anatomically modern in other regions, but not precluding multiple admixture between H. sapiens and archaic humans in Europe and Asia. H. sapiens most likely developed in the Horn of Africa between 300,000 and 200,000 years ago. The “recent African origin” model proposes that all modern non-African populations are substantially descended from populations of H. sapiens that left Africa after that time.
There were at least several “out-of-Africa” dispersals of modern humans, possibly beginning as early as 270,000 years ago, including 215,000 years ago to at least Greece,and certainly via northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula about 130,000 to 115,000 years ago. These early waves appear to have mostly died out or retreated by 80,000 years ago.
The most significant “recent” wave out of Africa took place about 70,000–50,000 years ago, via the so-called “Southern Route”, spreading rapidly along the coast of Asia and reaching Australia by around 65,000–50,000 years ago, while Europe was populated by an early offshoot which settled the Near East and Europe less than 55,000 years ago.
In the 2010s, studies in population genetics uncovered evidence of interbreeding that occurred between H. sapiens and archaic humans in Eurasia, Oceania and Africa indicating that modern population groups, while mostly derived from early H. sapiens, are to a lesser extent also descended from regional variants of archaic humans.
There are three types of DNA
- Y-DNA
Because Y-chromosomes are passed from father to son virtually unchanged, males can trace their patrilineal (male-line) ancestry by testing their Y-chromosome.
Since women don’t have Y-chromosomes, they can’t take Y-DNA tests (though their brother, father, paternal uncle, or paternal grandfather could). Y-chromosome testing uncovers a male’s Y-chromosome haplogroup, the ancient group of people from whom one’s patrilineage descends. Because only one’s male-line direct ancestors are traced by Y-DNA testing, no females (nor their male ancestors) from whom a male descends are encapsulated in the result.
- Autosomal DNA
Autosomal DNA tests trace a person’s autosomal chromosomes, which contain the segments of DNA the person shares with everyone to whom they’re related (maternally and paternally, both directly and indirectly.
The autosomal chromosomes gives you information that is most useful in looking back a couple of centuries.
Because everyone has autosomal chromosomes, people of all genders can take autosomal DNA tests, and the test is equally effective for people of any gender. With an autosomal test, your results won’t include information about haplogroups
- mtDNA
Mitochondrial DNA tests trace people’s matrilineal (mother-line) ancestry through their mitochondria, which are passed from mothers to their children.
Mitochondrial DNA testing uncovers a one’s mtDNA haplogroup, the ancient group of people from whom one’s matrilineage descends.
Because mitochondria are passed on only by women, no men (nor their ancestors) from whom one descends are encapsulated in the results.
Since everyone has mitochondria, people of all genders can take mtDNA tests.
What and where did I test and an explanation of some important used DNA concepts
I chose FamilyTreeDNA from Houston, Texas, USA, because they are considered the best option for dedicated mtDNA and Y-DNA testing. They’re the only company to offer dedicated mtDNA and Y-DNA testing. Established in 2000, they have a longer history of offering the service than most, and are highly regarded among the genealogy community. FamilyTreeDNA takes your privacy very seriously and will never share your test results with any other company. In fact, one of the reasons they are so popular is because they have a great track record of keeping your information safe, and of never sharing it
But remember, they are not cheap if you decide to go for the full package, as I did, but I think well worth the money.
Their Y-DNA testing has four levels based on how many markers you want to analyze: 37, 67, 111, and the BIG-Y with 700. You can easily upgrade without taking a new test. I started with the 37 marker test, but upgraded to the BIG-Y 700 text. FamilyTreeDNA has 2 different mtDNA tests; plus and full sequence. I decided to take the full sequence test.
So these are my tests:
* Family Ancestry – Autosomal DNA
* Paternal Ancestry – Y-DNA and
* Extended Paternal Ancestry – BIG Y-DNA
* Maternal Ancestry – full sequence mtDNA
Explore here which tests are best for you and learn more about your ancestry:
The result for the customer who takes the Big Y test is that the haplogroup predicted through STR testing is confirmed and generally several more branches and leaves are added to your own personal haplogroup tree.
Family Tree DNA very accurately predicts your branch haplogroup when you take an STR test, but it’s a major branch, near the tree, not a small branch and certainly not a leaf. Smaller branches can’t be accurately predicted nor larger branches confirmed without SNP testing. The most effective way to SNP test for already discovered haplogroups – plus new ones never before found – perhaps unique to your line – is to take the Big Y.
The Big Y:
- Confirms estimated haplogroups.
- Provides you with your haplogroup closest in time – meaning puts twigs and leaves on your branches.
- Helps to build the Y DNA tree, meaning you can contribute to science while learning about your own ancestors.
- Confirms that men who do match on the same STR markers really ARE in the same haplogroup.
- Shows matches further back in time than STRs can show.
- Maps the migration of the person’s Y line ancestors.

Attachment of HIV to a CD4+ T-helper cell: 1) the gp120 viral protein attaches to CD4. 2) gp120 variable loop attaches to a coreceptor, either CCR5 or CXCR4. 3) HIV enters the cell.
My CCR5 test results
- My FamilyTreeDNA CCR5 test showed that my delta 32 value was NORMAL, so there was no 32 base deletion.
CCR5 is a gene on chromosome 3, the CCR5 test is for a 32 base deletion (delta 32) that has been speculatively linked to survival during the Black Death and the Small Pox Plagues that decimated the population of Europe during the Middle Ages.
The mutation in CCR5 known as Delta 32 causes a change in the protein that makes it non-functional. Carrying two copies of the mutation protects most carriers from HIV. The delta 32 mutation is found in between 5% and 14% of Europeans and is rare in Asians and Africans. Because the CCR5-delta32 variant is found in such a clear geographical pattern, researchers believe that its prevalence has been shaped by the survival advantage it provided at one time. This mutation has not been found in people from African, East Asians descent thus far.
When confronted with a deadly disease, for example, a particular gene variant might give a survival advantage to those in the population that happen to have it. If most of those who do not have the variant die, a higher proportion of individuals in the next generation will have the gene variant.
- But since the CCR5-delta32 variant doesn’t adversely affect one’s health, why are researchers studying it?
Because the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) uses the CCR5 protein to infect immune cells. To put in in simple terms, it is a portal of entry for HIV virus to enter into the immune cells of the human body. Think of CCR5 as a door. The HIV virus uses it to enter into immune cells in the human body. Because of the mutation, it causes the “door” to be “locked” thus preventing HIV virus from entering the immune cell.
Generally, if you have a double mutation of the gene for CCR5, you have high resistance to HIV infection but it may not be absolute as there have been cases of persons with both mutated genes and yet became HIV infection.
The Black Death

Spread of the Black Death in Europe and the Near East (1346–1353)
Map made by O.J. Benedictow
Recent research has suggested plague first infected humans in Europe and Asia in the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age.Research in 2018 found evidence of Yersinia pestis in an ancient Swedish tomb, which may have been associated with the “Neolithic decline” around 3000 BCE, in which European populations fell significantly. This Y. pestis may have been different from more modern types, with bubonic plague transmissible by fleas first known from Bronze Age remains near Samara.
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Afro-Eurasia from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the death of 75–200 million people in Eurasia and North Africa, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. Bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, but it may also cause septicaemic or pneumonic plagues.
The Black Death was the beginning of the second plague pandemic. The plague created religious, social and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history.
The origin of the Black Death is disputed. The pandemic originated either in Central Asia or East Asia but its first definitive appearance was in Crimea in 1347.[6] From Crimea, it was most likely carried by fleas living on the black rats that travelled on Genoese slave ships, spreading through the Mediterranean Basin and reaching Africa, Western Asia and the rest of Europe via Constantinople, Sicily and the Italian Peninsula. There is evidence that once it came ashore, the Black Death was in large part spread by fleas – which cause pneumonic plague – and the person-to-person contact via aerosols which pneumonic plague enables, thus explaining the very fast inland spread of the epidemic, which was faster than would be expected if the primary vector was rat fleas causing bubonic plague.
The Black Death was the second great natural disaster to strike Europe during the Late Middle Ages (the first one being the Great Famine of 1315–1317) and is estimated to have killed 30 percent to 60 percent of the European population. The plague might have reduced the world population from c. 475 million to 350–375 million in the 14th century. There were further outbreaks throughout the Late Middle Ages and, with other contributing factors (the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages), the European population did not regain its level in 1300 until 1500. Outbreaks of the plague recurred around the world until the early 19th century.

This map shows the approximate location of the ice-free corridor and specific Paleoindian sites. Credit: Roblespepe, CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikipidea Commons
FamilyTree DNA also offers the D9S919 test, it is a test that gives you an indication if you have Native American ancestry. Of course in my case that is highly improbable, but just out of curiosity I decided to test it also.
D9S919 is a STR marker located on chromosome 9. It was previously known as D9S1120 and under this name it was reported that an allele value of 9 was only found in the Americas and far eastern Asia.
Three independent lines of genetic evidence support the claim (Shields et al. 1993) of an ancient gene pool that included the ancestors of the modern inhabitants of Western Beringia and the Americas. The presence of an allele value of 9 is therefore a strong indication of native American ancestry somewhere within a person’s pedigree.
- My allele value with the D9S919 test came out as 16-17, so what does that mean?
Well D9S919 is present in only around 30% of the Native Americans. So about 70% do not have it. However, since only about 30% of Native Americans have that count, the fact that you don’t have 9 for that marker means it’s inconclusive from that result whether you have Native American ancestry. You either don’t have Native American ancestry or you are part of the 70% of people with Native American ancestry who don’t have 9 for D9S919.
- Or as in my case, because I am 100 % European, I have no Native American ancestry
Y-DNA haplotype
A Y-DNA haplotype is a persons Y-STR profile. This includes the number of repeats at specific Y-STR markers. Y-DNA haplotypes are useful for tracing recent paternal lineages and connections. Haplotype is actually short for “haploid genotype” and refers to the combination of genetic markers in multiple locations in a single chromosome. If two people match exactly on all of the markers they have had tested, they share the same haplotype and are related.

World Map of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups – Dominant Haplogroups in Pre-Colonial Populations with Possible Migrations Route. Credit: Chakazul, Wikimedia Commons
What are Haplogroups
Y-DNA haplogroups are determined by testing Y-SNPs. Your Y-DNA haplogroup represents “deep ancestry” or ancient family group. A haplogroup is a series of mutations present in a chromosome. It is therefore detectable in an individual’s DNA and may vary from one population to another, or even from one person to another.
Every person belongs to a certain haplotype and therefore to a certain haplogroup, so it can be traced back to where a person’s origin lies on the basis of genography.
There is a male and a female haplogroup classification. The Y chromosome (Y DNA) is used to distinguish the male haplogroups (Y chromosome haplogroup) and the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to distinguish the female haplogroups (mitochondrial haplogroup). The X chromosome is not usable because the X chromosome is not recombining, but it is difficult to trace over several generations.
SNP’s
SNP’s (pronounced “snips”) is an abbreviation of single nucleotide polymorphisms, they are the most common type of genetic variation among people. Each SNP represents a difference in a single DNA building block, called a nucleotide. SNP’s occur normally throughout a person’s DNA. They occur almost once in every 1,000 nucleotides on average, which means there are roughly 4 to 5 million SNPs in a person’s genome. These variations may be unique or occur in many individuals; scientists have found more than 100 million SNP’s in populations around the world.
Once a SNP mutation occurs, it will typically be passed through subsequent generations and is unlikely to revert back to the default value. As such, SNP testing can be used to understand a genetic family tree (called a haplotree.) SNP tests, such as the BIG Y-700 test from FamilyTreeDNA (my yDNA test), provide details on haplotree branching, as well as much better estimates of time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) than STR tests do.
- SNPs are mutations that occur along the Y – Chromosome
- SNPs are the basis for Branches on the Haplotree
- Each Male Line has its own Unique set of SNPs
- SNPs occur on Average of once every 144 years
- Until a SNP is “named”, it is referred to as an “Unnamed Variant”
- After a BIG Y-700 is completed, Unnamed Variants are your most recent SNP
- Mutations – and will form new Branches below your “Terminal” SNP once theyare named
BIG Y – 700 is identifying more SNPs/Variants than previous BIG-Y Tests. All of these SNPs/Variants are not among your most recent mutations, but may be inserted anywhere along the Haplotree. Some SNPs/Variants may come from portions of the Y – Chromosome that are not used for Dating, and some (few) may be bad reads.
TMRCA
TMRCA (the most recent common ancestor) is the amount of time or number of generations since individuals have shared a common ancestor. Since mutations occur at random, the estimate of the TMRCA is not an exact number (i.e., seven generations) but rather a probability distribution. As more information is compared, the TMRCA estimate becomes more refined.
Terminal SNP
Y-DNA haplogroups are defined by the presence of a series of SNP markers on the Y chromosome. Subclades a term used to describe a subgroup of a subgenus or haplogroup) defined by a terminal SNP, the SNP furthest down in the Y chromosome phylogenetic tree.
Your “Terminal” SNP does not always represent your MRCA
- The term “Terminal” SNP is used to represent the most current SNP placed on your portion of the Haplotree.
- If you have Unnamed Variants, or a Block of Equivalents associated with your Bottom Step, your portion of the Haplotree is incomplete, and it does not represent your actual “Terminal SNP”.
- The Convergence Date of your Bottom Step is NOT always the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor.
The Gregorian calendar is the global standard for the measurement of dates. Despite originating in the Western Christian tradition, its use has spread throughout the world and now transcends religious, cultural and linguistic boundaries.
As most people are aware, the Gregorian calendar is based on the supposed birth date of Jesus Christ. Subsequent years count up from this event and are accompanied by either AD or CE, while preceding years count down from it and are accompanied by either BC or BCE.
- BC and AD
The idea to count years from the birth of Jesus Christ was first proposed in the year 525 by Dionysius Exiguus, a Christian monk. Standardized under the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the system spread throughout Europe and the Christian world during the centuries that followed. AD stands for Anno Domini, Latin for “in the year of the Lord”, while BC stands for “before Christ”. - BCE and CE
CE stands for “common (or current) era”, while BCE stands for “before the common (or current) era”. These abbreviations have a shorter history than BC and AD, although they still date from at least the early 1700s. They have been in frequent use by Jewish academics for more than 100 years, but became more widespread in the later part of the 20th century, replacing BC/AD in a number of fields, notably science and academia. - YBP and BP
This is a year designation alternative to the widely-used but Christian-oriented BC and AD and their secular equivalents BCE and CE. Before Present (BP) years, or “years before present” is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred before the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Because the “present” time changes, standard practice is to use 1 January 1950 as the commencement date (epoch) of the age scale.
Current Status and Recommendations
Most style guides do not express a preference for one system, although BC/AD still prevails in most journalistic contexts. Conversely, academic and scientific texts tend to use BCE/CE. Since there are compelling arguments for each system and both are in regular use, we do not recommend one over the other. Given the choice, writers are free to apply their own preference or that of their audience, although they should use their chosen system consistently, meaning BC and CE should not be used together, or vice versa. There are also some typographical conventions to consider:
- BC should appear after the numerical year, while AD should appear before it.
1100 BC, AD 1066 - BCE and CE should both appear after the numerical year.
1100 BCE, 1066 CE - As is the case with most initialisms, periods may be used after each letter.
1100 B.C., A.D. 1066, 1100 B.C.E., 1066 C.E. - Some style guides recommend writing BC, AD, BCE and CE in small caps.
AD 2017 - YBP and BP should both appear after the numerical year.
Formed 1400 YBP, TMRCA 325 YBP
Of course, writers often don’t need to make the choice at all. The BCE/CE (or BC/AD) distinction is usually unnecessary outside of historical contexts, and it is generally understood that when unspecified, the year in question is CE (or AD). As a result, dates that occurred within the last few centuries are rarely marked with CE (or AD).
My Autosomal DNA
If you look at the map, my Autosomal results indicate that my very early ancestors lived in geographic lands later occupied by Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, Danes, Vikings, Scandinavians and Normans. If you read on you will see that my Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups probably reconfirm these findings.
My paternal cousins (people you can trace to with only this male line) were probably among the first (re)settlers of Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia as the ice sheets receded.
The result of my Autosomal DNA analysis shows that my origins are 100% Western Europe.
Scandinavia 21%
From about 44,000 years ago, humans intermittently lived in the northwestern region of Europe between periods of glaciation due to the Ice Age. Around 13,000 BCE, they returned to the northwestern region of Europe including the British Isles via a land bridge connecting them.
Towards the end of the 4th millennium BCE, Hunter-Gatherers cultivated crops, domesticated animals, and made tools such as hand axes and pottery. The construction of large stone monuments, such as those found at Stonehenge, began by 3000 BCE.
Doggerland during the Anglian glaciation
Land bridge between the mainland and Britain – Doggerland and Dogger Bank. Comparison of the geographical situation in 2000 to the late years of the Vistula-Würm Glaciation. Map made by: Francis Lima“
Until the middle Pleistocene Great Britain was a peninsula of Europe, connected by the massive chalk Weald–Artois Anticline across the Straits of Dover. During the Anglian glaciation, about 450,000 years ago, an ice sheet filled much of the North Sea, with a large proglacial lake in the southern part fed by the Rhine, the Scheldt and the Thames.
Doggerland was an area of land, now submerged beneath the southern North Sea, that connected Great Britain to continental Europe. It was flooded by rising sea levels around 6500–6200 BCE. Geological surveys have suggested that it stretched from what is now the east coast of Great Britain to what are now the Netherlands, the western coast of Germany and the peninsula of Jutland. It was probably a rich habitat with human habitation in the Mesolithic period.
Around 7000 BC the Ice Age had ended and Mesolithic European hunter-gatherers had migrated from their refuges to recolonize the continent, including Doggerland which later submerged beneath the rising North Sea.
When scientists from Imperial College released a simulation of a tsunami, triggered by a vast undersea landslide at Storrega off the coast of Norway around 6000 BC, it probably came as a surprise to many in north-west Europe that their reassuringly safe part of the world had been subject to such a cataclysmic event.
The researchers suggest that this succession of destructive waves up to 14 metres high may have depopulated an area that is now in the middle of the North Sea, known as Doggerland. However, melting ice at the end of the last ice age around 18,000 years ago led to rising sea levels that inundated vast areas of continental shelves around the world. These landscapes, which had been home to populations of hunter gatherers for thousands of years were gradually overwhelmed by millions of tonnes of meltwater swelling the ocean. Doggerland, essentially an entire prehistoric European country, disappeared beneath the North Sea, its physical remains preserved beneath the marine silts but lost to memory.
The majority of western European males belonged to Y-haplogroup I and northeast Europeans to haplogroup R1a. Other minor male lineages such as R1b, G, J, T and E would also have been present in Europe, having migrated from the Asian Steppe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Anglosaxon migration.
Credit: Jones and Mattingly’s map
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain spans approximately the six centuries from 410-1066 AD. The period used to be known as the Dark Ages, mainly because written sources for the early years of Saxon invasion are scarce. However, most historians now prefer the terms ‘early middle ages’ or ‘early medieval period’.
It is speculated that Celtic languages arrived in Britain with the influx of the Bell Beaker culture from Central Europe, which was defined by bell-shaped vessels.Anglo-Saxons is the collective name for the various Germanic tribes that settled in England after the departure of the Romans in 407, in the course of the 5th century and later.
The later invading tribes came from northwestern Germany and the Netherlands (the Angles and the Saxons and also the Frisians) and from Denmark (the Jutes).
Climate change had an influence on the movement of the Anglo-Saxon invaders to Britain: in the centuries after 400 AD Europe’s average temperature was 1°C warmer than we have today, and in Britain grapes could be grown as far north as Tyneside. Warmer summers meant better crops and a rise in population in the countries of northern Europe.
At the same time melting polar ice caused more flooding in low areas, particularly in what is now Denmark, Holland and Belgium. These people eventually began looking for lands to settle in that were not so likely to flood. After the departure of the Roman legions, Britain was a defenceless and inviting prospect.
The Saxons settled in the south of the country, the Jutes in the southeast (Kent), the Angles occupied the largest area: the center and north. Around 840 the invasions of the Danes (also called Vikings or Normans) started and at the time of King Alfred the Great they controlled a large part of the country.
The attacks of the Normans ceased and the populations intermingled. At the end of the 10th century, the Danes resumed their attacks. Later Norman influence increased, culminating in the Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066.Low Countries and Vikings
Before the Netherlands was the Netherlands or even Holland, it was known as Frisia. According to historians, Vikings came to Friesland in the 9th century. They established control over all of Friesland.
During the last years of Charlemagne’s reign (768-814) the emperor took measures against the danger of Viking raids. He stationed fleets in the major rivers and organized coastal defenses. After 820, the defense system in the northern part of the Carolingian state collapsed. Between 834 and 837 the city of Dorestad (near present-day Wijk bij Duurstede, about 70 km from where I live, Dordrecht) was destroyed four times. Without much opposition, Walcheren in Zeeland (where the Kloosterman Family originated) was taken in 837.
Already before 840 the Danish Vikings Harald and Rorik became vassals of Lothar (grandson of Charlemagne) and received Walcheren and Dorestad as fiefs. This tactical move did not bring peace.Until 873 there are regular reports of Viking attacks and in 863 Dorestad was again destroyed. This time the city was not rebuilt, also because the river became sandy. Bishop Hunger of Utrecht fled in 858 to Roermond and later to Deventer. In 873, the Normans in Oostergoo,
Friesland (Friesland) were defeated by an army led by an immigrant Viking. In Flanders, the Vikings regularly sailed up the Scheldt from 851 to 864 and attacked the cities of Ghent and the districts of Mempiscus and Terwaan. countries from Denmark) turned their attention to England.
The impact of the raids on everyday life must have been great, but perhaps not as great as ecclesiastical sources suggest. Churches and monasteries were almost always visited, for the simple reason that they had valuable property. Of course, the clergy described the Vikings as fierce pagans who turned the coastal areas into ruins. Politically, the Vikings stimulated the further disintegration of the Carolingian Empire. Because they encountered little resistance, they preferred robbers to traders. As vassals they played a role in the conflicts between Lotharius and Charles the Bald (ca. 840) and later (ca. 870) between Charles the Bold and Louis the German.

Areas subjected to settlement and raids by Vikings and Normans (Max Naylor, public domain Wikipedia Commons)
After the victory of Alfred the Great of Wessex (878) the Vikings returned to the lowlands. This time they also fought as land soldiers and were equipped with horses. Flanders was particularly hard hit (Ghent, Terwaan, Atrecht, Kamerijk). Louis III defeated the Vikings in 881 at Saucourt on the River Somme. This battle was described in Ludwig’s Lied (Ludwigslied). According to the Fulda Annals, Louis’ army killed 9,000 Danes. As a result, the Vikings returned to Flanders and Dutch Limburg. From Asselt (north of Roermond) they attacked cities in Germany (Cologne, Bonn) and Limburg (Liège, Tongeren). In their attack on Trier they were opposed by the bishops Wala and Bertulf of Trier and by Count Adelhard of Metz. Following the example of Trier, other cities began to defend themselves effectively.
The new emperor Charles the Fat sent an army to Asselt. The two Viking leaders, Godfried and Siegfried, were forced to negotiate. Godfrey chose to stay. He became a vassal of the emperor and, after being baptized, married Gisela, daughter of Lothair II, the first king of Lorraine. Siegfried was paid off with 2,000 pounds of silver and gold and set out for the north with 200 ships. Emperor Charles felt threatened by Godfried and his (Godfried’s) brother-in-law Hugo (Gisela’s brother).
In June 885 Godfried was invited for talks in Spijk, near Lobith. This turned out to be a conspiracy and Godfrey was murdered. Hugo was blinded and transferred to the monastery of Prüm for the rest of his life. Here the monk Regino wrote the story of his downfall. In September 891 the Vikings lost a battle at the river Dyle, near Leuven against King Arnulf of Carinthia. The Fulda Annals tell us that the bodies of dead Vikings blocked the flow of the river. The poor harvest of 892 and the threat of famine caused the Vikings to move north again. After 892 their role in the low countries was limited to occasional raids (particularly in Nijmegen, Groningen, Stavoren, Tiel and Utrecht). After 1010 the raids came to an end.
The Viking era lasted from 789 CE to approximately 1066 CE and had an enduring impact upon the peoples of Europe.
The image of the Vikings that most of us have grown up with – the image in popular culture – is that of a tall, bearded, blond man on a longboat. Probably wearing a style of horned helmet, he’s a battle-hardened warrior heading out on a raiding mission to kill in and to steal from coastal towns or monasteries in the rest of Europe.
In truth, the stories of these terrifying Norsemen (men from the North) are mostly told by their survivors, as in their early years there was no written record kept by Scandinavian people themselves . This means that – until recently – we had to rely on the writings of people from outside of Scandinavia, people who might have had a vested interest in portraying Vikings in a negative light, and later on writings from towards the end of the Viking age after the introduction of Christianity into Scandinavia. These were written by people who – again – might have had an interest in showing the civilising effects of their new, more modern, ways.
While all Vikings were Norsemen, not all Norsemen were Vikings. These raiders were in fact only a subgroup of the Norse population; they all desired the opportunities and wealth that foreign lands could offer, whether through conquest or through trade and settlements for better farming and fishing.
I uploaded my DNA sample to LivingDNA. The test generates two pieces of information.
- My “Viking Index” (a score between 0 and 100%) and it represents the amount of DNA that I share with ancient Vikings and a “Viking Population Match” which identifies which of four Viking populations I most closely match.
- The four choices are Norwegian Vikings, Swedish and Danish Vikings, British and North Atlantic Vikings, and Eastern European Vikings.
According to LivingDNA my Viking index is 38% and I am most closely associated with the Vikings of Denmark and Sweden.

According to LivingDNA my Viking index is 38%. That means that I am most closely associated with the Vikings of Denmark and Sweden.
Viking Index
The Viking index represents the amount of DNA that I share with ancient Vikings. First, the genetic similarities between my DNA and the DNA obtained from ancient viking and non-viking samples are computed.
LivingDNA allows us to estimate how much DNA I share with each group. In order to then interpret and contextualise this calculation, they compare my value to that of all other Living DNA users. This yields my Viking Index score.
The Viking Index score allows you to see where your result falls in comparison to the whole range of Viking Indexes across the Living DNA user base. For example, if your Viking Index is 80%, this means that your DNA is more similar to Viking DNA than 80% of all Living DNA customers.
The Viking Population Match
The Viking Population match indicates which Viking population my DNA is most similar to. LivingDNA has identified 4 distinct Viking populations from their analysis of ancient DNA. These are Norwegian Vikings, Swedish and Danish Vikings, British and North Atlantic Vikings, and Eastern European Vikings. They compare my DNA data to genetic models describing the genetic similarity and variability of these populations in order to identify my closest match.
Ancient Viking DNA
A total of 446 Viking samples were used for the LivingDNA analysis. Ancient human remains from the Viking Age were excavated in a diverse set of 80 archaeological sites within the current borders of the United Kingdom (including mainland Great Britain and the Orkney Islands), Ireland, Iceland, Denmark (mainland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Ukraine, Poland and Russia.
Samples were excavated in the major areas of Viking influence and have been dated to between the late 8th and late 11th centuries CE. Human remains were excavated from burial sites. Most regions that were once inhabited by Vikings saw a gradual increase in the use of inhumation burials (opposite to cremation burials) during the Viking Age as a result of the adoption of Christian burial practices in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea area from the 10th century onwards.
This implies that there is a limited bioarcheological record of human remains from the Early Viking Age, whereas it is much richer for the latter stages of the Viking Age. It must be taken into account that the record of individuals given an archaeologically visible burial is highly skewed towards social elites, who maintained wider networks and enjoyed higher degrees of mobility than the average person – this is relevant when assessing population mobility and diversity.
Ancient human remains (mostly teeth or petrous bones) were processed and DNA was extracted and sequenced in order to be used to generate our Viking Index and Viking Population Match results. The Viking genetic data was retrieved from three scientific publications Margaryan et al., 2020, Krzewińska et al., 2018, Ebenesersdóttir et al., 2018.
Dupuytren’s contracture (also called Dupuytren’s disease, Morbus Dupuytren, Viking hand and Celtic hand) is a condition in which one or more fingers become permanently bent in a flexed position. The disease comes from Scandinavia, possibly brought here by the Vikings. It’s mainly of genetic origin and therefore often runs in families.
The condition caused the growth of new tissue in the hands and fingers. Since these tissues have a habit of contracting, the condition often results in flexion deformities of the fingers.Dupuytren’s disease is currently called a Viking disease on the assumption that the disease was spread to Europe and the British Isles during the Viking Age of the 9th to the 13th centuries. From a literature search, it is proposed that Dupuytren’s disease existed in Europe earlier than the Viking Age and originated much earlier in prehistory.
There is a strong genetic component, certain HLA haplotypes also appear to be associated with the disease. It is strongly associated with northern European ancestry, and could have arisen from a genetic mutation in the Viking population originally.
Researchers have also discovered a link between Neanderthal genetic material and Dupuytren’s disease (Viking’s disease). Neanderthals living 40,000 to 50,000 years ago undoubtedly suffered from some form of this condition. Through genetic mixing they passed this vulnerability on to humans living alongside them in Northern Europe.
Viking’s Disease’ Traced Back to Ancestral Neanderthals

Living reconstruction in the Neanderthal Museum (Erkrath, Mettmann) of a Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.
Researchers have discovered a link between Neanderthal genetic material and an unusual health disorder that affects modern humans. The disorder in question is Dupuytren’s disease, a.k.a. Viking’s disease, a hand condition that can cause some of a person’s fingers to become permanently bent at an angle.
Neanderthals living 40,000 to 50,000 years ago undoubtedly suffered from some form of this condition. Through genetic mixing they passed this vulnerability on to humans living alongside them in Northern Europe.
As explained in a new paper just published in Molecular Biology and Evolution , Dupuytren’s disease is far more common in people of Northern European descent than in those whose predecessors came from Africa. In fact, the name “Viking disease” comes from its predominance among descendants of the ancient Viking warriors who once ruled Scandinavia.
Highlighting the latter relationship, one study found that about 30 percent of Norwegians above the age of 60 experience the symptoms of Dupuytren’s disease, usually in their middle and/or ring fingers. “This is a case where the meeting with Neanderthals has affected who suffers from illness,” said the paper’s lead author, evolutionary geneticist Hugo Zeberg from the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden. Nonetheless, he emphasized that it is important not to overstate the connection between Vikings and Neanderthals.
Viking’s Disease: Then and Now
It was in Europe that much of the interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans occurred between 42,000 and 65,000 years ago. African populations lived separately from Neanderthals, who occupied Eurasia exclusively. As a result, people of African descent only possess traces of Neanderthal DNA today.
In 1999, a Danish study of twins determined that the development of Dupuytren’s disease is most heavily influenced by heredity, with its heritability factor estimated to be at 80 percent. While other risk factors for the condition have been identified, including age, alcohol use and diabetes, a genetic predisposition must always be present.
This means that Neanderthal genetic material absorbed into the human genome is, in a very real sense, the true cause of this condition. It was the prevalence of Dupuytren’s disease among Northern Europeans in particular that intrigued the scientists enough to motivate their study of the condition’s genetic origins.
To facilitate their research, the team of experts led by Hugo Zeberg analyzed data collected from 7,871 people with the disorder and 645,880 control subjects listed in the UK Biobank , the FinnGen R7 collection and the Michigan Genomics Initiative. Their purpose was to identify the presence of genetic variants that could be connected to Dupuytren’s disease.
Through extensive comparative analysis, scientists identified 61 genetic variants associated with Viking’s disease, with three of them known to originate from Neanderthals. Most significantly, the second and third most strongly associated variants came from the Neanderthals, suggesting that these extinct human cousins were particularly susceptible to Dupuytren’s disease.
The scientists taking part in the study believe that the widespread prevalence of this condition in present-day human populations would be highly unlikely without there having been contact and interbreeding with Neanderthal populations.
Neanderthal DNA: A Curse, a Blessing, or a Mixture of Both?
Studies have shown that about two percent of the human genome is comprised of DNA sourced from distant Neanderthal ancestors. Only trace amounts are found in those who are descended from people who lived in sub-Saharan Africa, based on the lack of Neanderthal penetration into that part of the world.
While it might not sound like all that much, human development has been significantly impacted by the presence of this genetic material. The study linking so-called Viking’s disease to Neanderthal genes is not particularly surprising, because other studies have found a clear connection between our Neanderthal generic inheritance and various human health conditions.
For example, comprehensive research published in 2014 found links between Neanderthal genes and type 2 diabetes , Crohn’s disease, biliary cirrhosis (an autoimmune disease of the liver) and incidence of depression. Recent studies have even suggested a link between Neanderthal genes and susceptibility to Covid-19 .
These genes didn’t necessarily introduce new types of ill health to the human gene pool. But they did increase the likelihood of certain disorders developing. Further research may indicate that other human health conditions are affected by Neanderthal DNA in the same way.
For the most part, Neanderthal genes are concentrated in areas that code for the creation of human skin and hair. Scientists believe this DNA was picked up and passed on because it had survival advantages: Neanderthal contributions would have given humans the ability to grow thicker hair and skin, which would have helped protect them from the colder climates they encountered in Eurasia once they’d left the African continent.
Given the assumptions behind this theory, the persistence of Neanderthal genes that increase disease risk seems surprising, since this DNA would reduce survival chances rather than increasing them. It’s possible that Neanderthal genes have survived in humans as a result of random chance, offering benefits in some cases and increasing vulnerability in others.
What all the research shows conclusively is that Neanderthal genes do have a significant impact on human health and development. In the context of Viking’s disease, Neanderthals introduced a genetic condition to the human gene pool that is unpleasant but does not pose a significant threat to survival. The majority of individuals affected by this disorder were likely unaware of their Neanderthal genetic heritage until now. However, with this recent scientific revelation, it is probable that they will never forget their newfound ancestral Neanderthal connection.
- Source and credit:
Article by By Nathan Falde, published in Ancient Origins. - Top image: My hand with Viking’s disease, a.k.a. Dupuytren’s contracture, a condition of the hand that can cause some of a person’s fingers to become permanently bent at an angle. Photo made by Cees Kloosterman
- Neanderthal hunters depicted in the Gallo-Romeins Museum Tongeren (Belgium), Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Well I have Dupuytren’s contracture and my father and grandfather, so this genetic mutation certainly runs in my family.
So were some of my early ancestors Viking?
Genetic ancestors shared by two individuals are detectable by regions of matching DNA. With every generation there is a chance that each region will be split by the shuffling, so they inevitably get shorter over time. By finding the length of the longest region shared by the two individuals, one can estimate the time passed since the most recent shared genetic ancestor.
The ubiquity of the term “Viking” masks a wide variety of constructions of Vikingism: the old northmen are merchant adventurers, mercenary soldiers, pioneering colonists, pitiless raiders, self-sufficient farmers, cutting-edge naval technologists, primitive democrats, psychopathic berserks, ardent lovers and complicated poets.
- Wow … that sounds just like me, so do I have some Viking in my DNA?
Well, considering that 56 % of my Autosomal DNA origins are from England, Wales and Scotland, 23 % from Scandinavia and that my main Y-DNA I-FGC151505 haplogroup is most commonly found in England and Denmark and that my LivingDNA Viking Index is 38% makes it an interesting idea and certainly not a far-fetched possibility.
Viking identity was not limited to people with Scandinavian genetic ancestry. The genetic history of Scandinavia was influenced by foreign genes from Asia and Southern Europe before the Viking Age. Many Vikings have high levels of non-Scandinavian ancestry, both within and outside Scandinavia, which suggest ongoing gene flow across Europe.”
- Maybe the answer to my Vikings ancestry should be, “Yes, we all are Vikings… and Romans, Huns and Slavs and we are also all Africans and Asians.
Historical and geographic information about my Autosomal DNA
From about 44,000 years ago, humans intermittently lived in the northwestern region of Europe between periods of glaciation due to the Ice Age. Around 13,000 BCE, they returned to the northwestern region of Europe including the British Isles via a land bridge connecting them.
Towards the end of the 4th millennium BCE, Hunter-Gatherers cultivated crops, domesticated animals, and made tools such as hand axes and pottery. The construction of large stone monuments, such as those found at Stonehenge, began by 3000 BCE. It is speculated that Celtic languages arrived in Britain with the influx of the Bell Beaker culture from Central Europe, which was defined by bell-shaped vessels.
Within the last 2,000 years, Britain has been subject to many migrations. In the 1st century CE, the Romans invaded and established settlements across what is now modern-day England and Wales. The Romans were besieged by attacks from local tribes, such as the Scots, Picts, and Iceni.
Other invading groups such as the Anglo-Saxons, who arrived on the east coast of Britain around the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, were also met with resistance from the many local tribes. However, over the next 200 years, Anglo-Saxon warrior lords divided the region into large Germanic kingdoms, assimilating or displacing Briton and Pictish inhabitants, and eradicated Roman culture.
By the 7th century CE, Christian monasteries were established, and a unified English language was formed. In the 8th and 9th centuries, Vikings from Scandinavia raided parts of the British coast and established colonies throughout modern-day Scotland and England.
In 843 CE, Kenneth MacAlpin united the Picts and Scots to form the nation of Alba, which is the Gaelic name for Scotland, although many Scottish islands remained under Scandinavian control until the 1400s. Welsh leaders in the 9th century united the kingdoms of Gwynedd, Morgannwg, and Powys and fought off Irish occupation of the region, although further attempts to unite the region were unsuccessful.
The first English kingdom was formed at the end of the 9th century when Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings in modern-day England. Within 200 years, the newly established English kingdom was lost to the invading French-Normans led by William the Conqueror. William’s soldiers were rewarded with land, titles, and power, and French-Norman rule and culture were imposed across England and Wales.
Since the French-Norman Conquest, the English peoples fought for several centuries to regain their lost rights. Despite numerous rebellions against French-Norman rulers and their descendants, all of Wales fell under the control of the English monarchy by the 13th century CE and remains part of Great Britain today. Scottish kings waged war with the French-Normans in England and continued to fight off English occupation for many years until Stewart King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne and united the two nations in the 16th century CE. While the foundation for conquests in the Americas was laid with his predecessor Queen Elizabeth I, King James I established the first successful British colonies in the Americas during the 17th century CE. The British Empire continued their conquest and expanded their rule and culture around the globe, colonizing large regions of North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
Around 40,000 years ago, much of Central Europe was occupied by Hunter-Gatherers of the Aurignacian culture who produced distinct stone blades, projectile points, and other tools made of bone. Beginning around 7,000 years ago, groups from the Middle East introduced farming and the practice of large-scale collective burials along with stonework architecture, such as the Carnac stones in Brittany, France.
In the late 4th millennium BCE, settlers from the Pontic steppe arrived in Central Europe. They brought a new social and economic order centered around horsemanship. This interaction influenced the formation of the Corded Ware culture throughout Europe, whose presence is marked by pottery with rope-like designs. The arrival of these Indo-European speakers from the Pontic steppe introduced language families like Germanic and Celtic to areas of modern-day Germany and France.
Beginning in 58 BCE, the Celtic and Germanic tribes of Gaul, which is now modern-day France, engaged in warfare with an invading Roman Empire. By 50 BCE, Rome was triumphant and integrated Gaul into their empire. As Roman power declined, the Germanic Goth and Vandal tribes from the unconquered Magna Germania, now modern-day Germany, invaded the lands Romans abandoned. When Roman power was effectively gone in the region, Gaul disbursed into many small states from which emerged the single powerful state of the Franks.
The Franks were a Germanic peoples who, as they spread across Gaul, integrated Gallo-Roman peoples into their young empire. The Franks embraced aspects of Gallo-Roman culture such as their Latin-based language and Christianity. The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne became a pivotal figure in the history of Western and Central Europe. His ever-growing empire which annexed territories throughout Europe led him to be named Holy Roman Emperor. As Holy Roman Emperor, he strove to revive the grandeur of the western Roman Empire in the 8th century. However, after the death of Charlemagne’s son Louis I a generation later, the Holy Roman Empire was divided into three kingdoms: the West Frankish, East Frankish, and Middle Kingdom. The East Frankish and Middle kingdoms eventually formed part of a reborn Holy Roman Empire centered in what is modern-day Germany.
By the 18th century CE, the Germanic states of Austria and Prussia emerged as dominant forces after the second Holy Roman Empire’s dissolution. By the 19th century, the Germanic states had formed a confederation that attempted economic and cultural integration, a precursor to the modern German state. In its western divisions, the fall of the Holy Roman Empire led to the formation of West Francia, the precursor to the kingdom of France.
Centralization of a French state was the main trend, but by the 1500s, a period of expansion began. In the 16th century, the kingdom of France conquered large portions of North and South America. Post-revolutionary France expanded further once again into Central Europe under Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in the first part of the 19th century. After his defeat, France turned its attention to conquering regions of West Africa and Southeast Asia. While Germany, after national unification in the 1870s, embraced imperialism, and within a few short years, conquered enough territory in Africa to become the third-largest empire of the day. Today, France is a multi-ethnic nation with many of its residents having come from former colonies. In Germany, the national psyche and economy have rebuilt themselves since World War II and the Cold War. Today, Germany plays a key role in the European Union. The history of colonialism and the many divisions and unifications in Central Europe sparks the everlasting question of what it means to be French and German.
As the ice sheets retreated toward the end of the last Ice Age in Europe, Hunter-Gatherers entered the southern region of Scandinavia around 11,7000 years ago. Scandinavia was one of the last places to be re-settled in Europe. Hunter-Gatherer groups arriving from continental Europe formed a culture known for their pitted earthenware.
About 6,000 years ago, Neolithic Farmers from Southern Europe established settlements throughout Scandinavia. Neolithic Farmers co-existed with Hunter-Gatherers for many hundreds of years; however, Farming groups eventually dominated the region. From 3000 BCE, Central Europe’s Corded Ware culture spread to southern Scandinavia, bringing their Indo-European languages with them. The Indo-European language branched into many languages, such as Proto-Germanic, which spread throughout this area.
Roman historians make few references to the peoples of Scandinavia as the Roman Empire, at its height in 117 CE, reached just south of Scandinavia. However, archaeological sites show that the Scandinavian region was composed of organized state-like groups with extensive trade networks into Central Europe.
The earliest preserved proto-Norse writings in the form of runestones appear around the 4th century. The most notable expansion of Scandinavian peoples occurred between the 9th and 11th centuries CE, which took place during the Viking era when ancient Norse peoples came to settle or raid parts of northern Western Europe and Eastern Europe. Notably, islands in the North Atlantic, like Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, were discovered by ancient Norse settlers. Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson also found and established a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland.
Various kingdoms have established unions with one another throughout Scandinavia. The three Scandinavian kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden were joined in 1387 as a result of the Kalmar Union under Queen Margaret I of Denmark. After the secession of Sweden from the Kalmar Union in 1397, the Scandinavian countries waged multiple wars against each other throughout the centuries. Control over the various nations changed hands many times and Sweden rose and fell as a Northern European power. Sweden had ruled Finland since the Second Swedish Crusade in the 13th century, and in 1809, they were forced to surrender the area to Russia after the Finnish War. After the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark and Norway’s union split, and Norway and Sweden formed a union until 1905. After World War II, Scandinavian countries along with Finland developed the Nordic model, which aims to combine an emphasis on public welfare with free-market capitalism.
Percentages of autosomal DNA that I still carry with me
The climate during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 mill – 11,700 YA) fluctuated between episodes of glaciation (or ice ages) and episodes of warming, during which glaciers would retreat. It is within this epoch that modern humans migrated into the European continent at around 45,000 years ago.
These Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) were organized into bands whose subsistence strategy relied on gathering local resources as well as hunting large herd animals as they travelled along their migration routes. Thus these ancient peoples are referred to as Hunter-Gatherers. The timing of the AMH migration into Europe happens to correspond with a warming trend on the European continent, a time when glaciers retreated and large herd animals expanded into newly available grasslands.
Evidence of hunter-gatherer habitation has been found throughout the European continent from Spain at the La Brana cave to Loschbour, Luxembourg and Motala, Sweden. The individuals found at the Loschbour and Motala sites have mitochondrial U5 or U2 haplogroups, which is typical of Hunter-Gatherers in Europe and Y-chromosome haplogroup I. These findings suggest that these maternally and paternally inherited haplogroups, respectively, were present in the population before farming populations gained dominance in the area.
Based on the DNA evidence gathered from these three sites, scientists are able to identify surviving genetic similarities between current day Northern European populations and the first AMH Hunter-Gatherers in Europe. The signal of genetic sharing between present-day populations and early Hunter-Gatherers, however, begins to become fainter as one moves further south in Europe. The hunter-gatherer subsistence strategy dominated the landscape of the European continent for thousands of years until populations that relied on farming and animal husbandry migrated into the area during the middle to late Neolithic Era around 8,000–7,000 years ago.
Roughly 8,000–7,000 years ago, after the last glaciation period (Ice Age), modern human farming populations began migrating into the European continent from the Near East. This migration marked the beginning of the Neolithic Era in Europe. The Neolithic Era, or New Stone Age, is aptly named as it followed the Paleolithic Era, or Old Stone Age.
Tool makers during the Neolithic Era had improved on the rudimentary “standard” of tools found during the Paleolithic Era and were now creating specialized stone tools that even show evidence of having been polished and reworked. The Neolithic Era is unique in that it is the first era in which modern humans practiced a more sedentary lifestyle as their subsistence strategies relied more on stationary farming and pastoralism, further allowing for the emergence of artisan practices such as pottery making.
Farming communities are believed to have migrated into the European continent via routes along Anatolia, thereby following the temperate weather patterns of the Mediterranean. These farming groups are known to have populated areas that span from modern day Hungary, Germany, and west into Spain.
Remains of the unique pottery styles and burial practices from these farming communities are found within these regions and can be attributed, in part, to artisans from the Funnel Beaker and Linear Pottery cultures. Ötzi (the Tyrolean Iceman), the well-preserved natural mummy that was found in the Alps on the Italian/Austrian border and who lived around 3,300 BCE, is even thought to have belonged to a farming culture similar to these. However, there was not enough evidence found with him to accurately suggest to which culture he may have belonged.
Although farming populations were dispersed across the European continent, they all show clear evidence of close genetic relatedness. Evidence suggests that these farming peoples did not yet carry a tolerance for lactose in high frequencies (as the Yamnaya peoples of the later Bronze Age did); however, they did carry a salivary amylase gene, which may have allowed them to break down starches more efficiently than their hunter-gatherer forebears.
Further DNA analysis has found that the Y-chromosome haplogroup G2a and mitochondrial haplogroup N1a were frequently found within the European continent during the early Neolithic Era.
Following the Neolithic Era (New Stone Age), the Bronze Age (3,000–1,000 BCE) is defined by a further iteration in tool making technology. Improving on the stone tools from the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras, tool makers of the early Bronze Age relied heavily on the use of copper tools, incorporating other metals such as bronze and tin later in the era. The third major wave of migration into the European continent is comprised of peoples from this Bronze Age; specifically, Nomadic herding cultures from the Eurasian steppes found north of the Black Sea. These migrants were closely related to the people of the Black Sea region known as the Yamnaya.
This migration of Bronze Age nomads into the temperate regions further west changed culture and life on the European continent in a multitude of ways. Not only did the people of the Yamnaya culture bring their domesticated horses, wheeled vehicles, and metal tools; they are also credited for delivering changes to the social and genetic makeup of the region. By 2,800 BCE, evidence of new Bronze Age cultures, such as the Bell Beaker and Corded Ware, were emerging throughout much of Western and Central Europe. In the East around the Urals, a group referred to as the Sintashta emerged, expanding east of the Caspian Sea bringing with them chariots and trained horses around 4,000 years ago.
These new cultures formed through admixture between the local European farming cultures and the newly arrived Yamnaya peoples. Research into the influence the Yamnaya culture had on the European continent has also challenged previously held linguistic theories of the origins of Indo-European language. Previous paradigms argued that the Indo-European languages originated from populations from Anatolia; however, present research into the Yamnaya cultures has caused a paradigm shift and linguists now claim the Indo-European languages are rooted with the Yamnaya peoples.
By the Bronze Age, the Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b was quickly gaining dominance in Western Europe (as we see today) with high frequencies of individuals belonging to the M269 subclade. Ancient DNA evidence supports the hypothesis that the R1b was introduced into mainland Europe by the Bronze Age invaders coming from the Black Sea region. Further DNA evidence suggests that a lactose tolerance originated from the Yamnaya or another closely tied steppe group. Current day populations in Northern Europe typically show a higher frequency of relatedness to Yamnaya populations, as well as earlier populations of Western European Hunter-Gatherer societies.
My Y-DNA
Out of Africa migration to Western Europe of my Haplogroup I-FGC15105

FTDNA Globe trekker EUROPE view of the lineages through time and place and to uncover the modern history of my (I-FGC15105) direct paternal surname line and the ancient history of my shared ancestors. In addition to my own (I-FGC15105) ancestral line (thick red line), the thin red lines shows lineages that went other ways and the migration paths leading up to my Ancient Connections.

The Bab-el-Mandeb, meaning “Gate of Tears” in Arabic, is a strait between Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, Djibouti, and Eritrea, north of Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, connecting the Red Sea to the Guardafui channel and the Gulf of Aden. It is also called Mandab Street in English language.
4 -6 million years BCE
Humans split off from their common ancestor with the chimpanzees and gorillas between 4 million and 6 million years ago. All of humanity may be descended from a small tribe of about 10,000 people, some of whom migrated out of Africa within the past 200,000 years or so.
As of 2010, there are two main accepted dispersal routes for the out-of-Africa migration of early anatomically modern humans, the “Northern Route” (via Nile Valley and Sinai) and the “Southern Route” starting in middle Africa and leaving Africa via the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.
230.000 years BCE / A-PR2921
Globetrekker FTDNA places the earliest Y-ADAM DNA (A-PR2921) in the south-eastern part of Nigeria, now known as the Gashaka Gumti National Park. The “out-of-Africa” dispersals of modern humans, possibly started as early as 230,000 years ago in this region
150.000 – 60.000 years BCE / A-L1090 > A-V168 > A-V221 > BT-M42 > CT-M168 > CF-P143
They travelled first to the north-east corner of present day Nigeria (125.000 BCE) around Nikwa (A-V168) and then went south-east into Chad. They traversed Chad (120.000 BCE), crossed the tip of the Central African Republic and followed the northern border of the (BT-M42) Sudan (85.0000 BCE). Then into (CT-M168) Ethiopia to Djibouti and crossed the Red Sea (63.000 BCE) at the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.
Today at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, the Red Sea is about 20 kilometers’ (12 mi) wide, but 50,000 years ago sea levels were 70 m (230 ft) lower (owing to glaciation) and the water channel was much narrower.
60.000 – 33.000 years BCE / F-M89 > GHIJK-F1329 > HIJK-PF3494 > IJK-L15 > IJ-P214 > I-L758
By following the southern coastline of Jemen into Oman they reached the north-eastern corner of Oman (F-M89) around Masqat (46.000 BCE).
They went south-west, still in Oman to Al-Jibal, then north-west through Abu Dhabi, into Saoudi Arabia (IJ-P124) and reached (46.000 BCE) the border of Iran (IJK-L15). Then westwards, passing north of Kuwait (40.000 BCE) into Iraq, north-west through Syria into Turkey to present-day Mersin.
They followed the southern and then the western coastal route of Turkey, reaching Izmir (36.000 BCE), then north to Istanbul, along the western coast of the Black Sea into Ukraine. Further to the northern border of Ukraine with Belarus and turning south-west into the Czech Republic (33.000 BCE).

EUROPE view of my (I-FGC15105) lineages through time and place and the history of my shared paternal ancestor lines.
33.000 – 20.000 years BCE / M170 > I-P215 > I-CTS2257 > I-L460
Entering Austria via the north-east corner, on to (I-L758) Vienna (32.000 BCE) and travelled on through western Hungary, turning west into the Steiermark region (I-M170) of Austria (25.000 BCE).
Then south-west to northern Slovenia (24.000 BCE), westwards into the (I-P215) Swiss alps (22.000 BCE), south-east into Italy, passing Pordenone and Treviso, north into the Italian alps (21.000 BCE), then back south in the direction of the north of Venice, then east through Slovenia, crossing the southern border of Hungary.
Then they turned north to the Austrian Border and on to the west (I-L460) of south Bayern, Germany (20.000 BCE).
20.000 – 9900 years BCE / I-P214 > I-M223 > I-P222 > I-CTS616
Then they travelled through Bayern in the direction of the north-west border (3150 BCE) and around present-day Regensburg they turned back again in the direction of Baden Wurttemberg (I-M223) in Germany (14.000 BCE).
Then east again to the north-western border of Austria (12.000 BCE) and on to the north border of the Steiermark region (10.500 BCE) and Burgenland, Austria (9900 BCE).
9900 -2450 years BCE / I-FGC15071 > I-BY1003 > I-L1229 > I-Z2069 > I-Z2059 > I-Z2068
Then into the Czech Republic (9700 BCE) to Brno, on to Wroclaw in south-west Poland, west into Germany and reaching the eastern coast of the Netherlands around 9600 BCE. Then turning to south-east (I-FGC15071) into (9550BCE) Germany, passing Cologne, through Hessen into Bayern (8000 BCE).
Then east to the south-west border of the (Czech Republic (7000 BCE) reaching Prachatice, then west again to the south-eastern border of the Rhineland Pfalz (4000 BCE), north-west into (I-L1229) Belgium, passing Liege (2700 BCE), through Flemish Brabant, East Flanders, West Flanders, reaching the coast of the English Channel (2450 BCE).
Around that time the Wessex culture was the predominant prehistoric culture of central and southern England. The global sea level was still about 7 meters lower than today. During the Bronze Age, many people crossed the sea from mainland Europe to England.
They traveled in long wooden boats propelled by oarsmen. The boats transported people, animals and trade goods. They were loaded with metal from mines, sword precious, pots and jewellery.
Boats were very useful for transporting heavy materials such as stone. A prehistory boat found in Dover in September 1992 required 18 people to row! It dates to 1575–1520 BC, which may make it one of the oldest substantially intact boat in the world (older boat finds are small fragments, some less than a metre square) – though much older ships exist, such as the Khufu ship from 2500 BCE. The boot was made of oak planks sewn together with yew rafters. This technique has a long tradition of use in British prehistory.

My (I-FGC15105) lineage and ancient connections in present day England, Normandy France and Belgium.
2450 – 1850 years BCE / I-Z2068 > I-Y3675 > I-2054 >I-Y4746 > I-FGC15105
They crossed (I-Z2068) the English Channel (2450 BCE) from Calais into south-east Kent, then north to Southend-on-Sea and west to London. From there south-west into Surrey, then south-east through West Sussex, into East Sussex, reaching the English Channel near Eastbourne. East along the coast, passing Hastings and Folkstone to Dover, crossing the English Channel again into France. Then they followed the Picardy coastline to (I-4746) Dieppe (1950 BCE) and turned east to the Cambrai area (1900 BCE).
Then back again, travelling north-east to the border of Belgium, through west Flanders, further eastward and
finally reaching the location of my own YDNA Haplogroup I-FGC15105 in Belgian Limburg around 1850 BCE.
1850 BCE – 2000 years CE / I-FGC15105 > ME
From my YDNA Haplogroup I-FGC15105 in Belgian Limburg around 1850 BCE north-west to the Netherlands and finally ending with me, Cees Kloosterman in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.
Credit:
Photo’s fom the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and the Dover boat from: Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
The Y-DNA chromosome is passed on from father to son, remaining mostly unaltered from generation to generation, except for small trackable changes from time to time.
By comparing these small differences in high-coverage test results, we can reconstruct a large Family Tree of Mankind where all Y chromosomes go back to a single common ancestor who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago.
- My Y-DNA Terminal SNP is I-FGC15105, subgroup of I-FGC15109, which is a subgroup of haplogroup I-M223, which in itself is a subgroup of I-M170.
- Age of I-FGC15105: ± 1900 years BCE.
Region: Sardinia and Balkans; one of the first haplogroups in Europe along with haplogroup G.
The paternal line of I-FGC15105 branched off from I-FGC15109 and the rest of humanity about 1900 BCE. The man who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 1850 BCE.
He is the ancestor of at least 4 descendants known as I-BY18, I-BY3802, I-FT137244 and 1 unnamed line.
At the moment there are 152 DNA tested descendants, and they specified that their earliest known origins are from England, United States, Ireland, and 12 other countries.
- I-BY18‘s paternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor I-FGC15105 and the rest of mankind around 1850 BCE. The man who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 800 BCE.
- I-BY3802‘s paternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor I-FGC15105 and the rest of mankind around 1850 BCE. The man who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 1700 CE.
- I-FT137244‘s paternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor I-FGC15105 and the rest of mankind around 1850 BCE. The man who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 1300 CE.
All human male lineages can be traced back to a single common ancestor in Africa who lived around 230,000 years ago, nicknamed Y-Adam. Here we show the SNP route from my ancestral haplogroup I-M223 (estimated to 15.000 BCE) to me I-FGC15105 and my closest connections found in ancient DNA from archaeological remains.
But the story does not end here!
As more people test, the history of this genetic lineage will be further refined.
FTDNA Globetrekker enlarged EUROPE view of my Y-DNA path to I-FGC15105

FTDNA Globe trekker EUROPE view of the lineages through time and place and to uncover the modern history of my (I-FGC15105) direct paternal surname line and the ancient history of my shared ancestors. In addition to my own (I-FGC15105) ancestral line (thick red line), the thin red lines shows lineages that went other ways and the migration paths leading up to my Ancient Connections.
Notable Y-DNA connections
- The notable Y-DNA haplogroup connections are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives and should be considered as fun facts.
Yes, Yes fun …, but remember DNA does not lie, DNA never lies, so they are real facts!
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Ludwig van Beethoven (I-FT396000) and I (I-FGC15105) share a distant common paternal line ancestor (I-M170) who lived around 25.500 BCE.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn to Johann van Beethoven and Maria Keverich. He was one of three children who survived infancy. At a young age, Johann promoted his son as a “child prodigy” after seeing the success of Mozart.
Beethoven had his first composition published at only 11 years old. By 22 years of age, he had composed a number of pieces, only to have them published later in his life. In his 30s, after years of public performances, his hearing loss led to a decline in concerts and a withdrawal from his social life. Despite the auditory problems, Beethoven continued to compose and perform music.
Beethoven died on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. His last complete piece of music, Symphony No. 9, was premiered in 1824. Symphony No. 10 was left unfinished.
Previously, the cause of his death was attributed to heavy alcohol consumption. He was noted to often have episodes of fever, jaundice, and “wretched” gastrointestinal problems. But new DNA analysis shows he also may have had hepatitis B and genetic factors that played a role in his death.
Beethoven asked that scientists study his body after he died in hopes of finding the causes of his illnesses, and for the results to be made public. Now, researchers investigating his genome have made good on his request, Science News reports. They tracked down locks of the composer’s hair, which were clipped after his death and preserved by family members and collectors throughout the years, and analyzed its DNA.
From the Victorian era through the early twentieth century, giving hair to friends and loved ones was seen as a sign of sentimentality. Although it was originally used as a sign of mourning, giving a loved one your hair was later used as a memento to give to them.
The University of Cambridge, with help from FamilyTreeDNA and others, examined the hair in an effort to understand more about Beethoven. Members of the FamilyTreeDNA Research and Development team were able to assist with confirming the validity of Beethoven’s hair.

Ludwig van Beethoven and I (I-FGC15105) share a distant common paternal line ancestor who lived around 25.500 BCE.
Testing Beethoven’s hair
Five of the eight tested locks of hair were determined to be from the same male individual. The DNA results of that individual were compared to FamilyTreeDNA’s autosomal, mitochondrial, and Big Y databases. Geographic ancestral origins of triangulated autosomal matches were analyzed and found to cluster around the Rhine River and within present-day North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, which fits with Beethoven’s reported geographic origins.
Beethoven’s Y-DNA
Researcher’s determined that Beethoven’s Y-DNA haplogroup is I-FT396000. This haplogroup was likely formed during the middle ages, with an Eastern or Central European origin
The closest living Y chromosome relatives are (I-Z139), the living Aert van Beethoven descendants (R-Z2565), and the Cramolini-Brown Lock (R-Z283). The Haplogroup I-Z139, which was formed over 1,000 years ago. The FamilyTreeDNA Big Y database includes several tested descendants of this lineage with reported earliest known paternal ancestral locations in Germany and other countries.
The FamilyTreeDNA R&D team was able to analyze living relatives from Beethoven’s genealogy who currently live in Belgium. While their family trees show a common ancestor between the late 1500s and early 1600s, they did not match on the Y-chromosome. This led researchers to believe that there was an extra-pair paternity event along Beethoven’s direct line.The research team sought out living descendants of Aert van Beethoven (c1535-1609), Ludwig’s supposed 5x great grandfather. Five of them agreed to take part in the research and do a DNA test.
The two results were not a match. In fact, the two father lines, one from the living descendants of Aert van Beethoven and the other from Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair DNA, are separated by over 45,000 years. This means that Beethoven’s documented family tree does not match his genetic family tree and that one of the recorded fathers was not the biological parent.
Although it is not clear in which generation this occurred, Johann, Ludwig’s father, has no baptismal record. His mother, Maria Ball suffered from alcoholism and it is possible that Beethoven’s grandfather Lodewijk was not his biological grandfather.
- Beethoven’s mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is H1b1+16,362C, plus a private mutation at C16,176T.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives

Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall (1882). This painting is in the Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Francis Cooke (I-FGC57464) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15105) who lived around 750 BCE (2.800 years ago).
Rare Connection
1 in 1700
Only 141 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Francis Cooke.
Francis Cooke was born about 1583. His origins have not been discovered, but it is probable he was born in England, perhaps from the Canterbury or Norwich areas.
He married Hester le Mahieu on 20 July 1603 in Leiden, Holland; she was a French Walloon whose parents had initially fled to Canterbury, England; she left for Leiden sometime before 1603. Francis Cooke and Hester le Mahieu’s marriage occurred in Leiden, Holland six years before the Pilgrim church made its move there, so he was living there long before their arrival and must have met up with and joined them afterwards.
What brought Francis to Holland in the first place is unknown: religious persecution of Protestants in England did not really begin until after King James took power in 1604. In 1606, the Cookes left Leiden and went to Norwich, co. Norfolk, for a time (for what reason is not known), but returned to have their first son, John, baptized at the French church in Leiden, sometime between January and March, 1607. In Holland, Cooke took up the profession of wool-comber.
Francis, and his oldest son John, came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. He left behind his wife Hester and his other children Jane, Jacob, Elizabeth and Hester. After the Colony was founded and better established, he sent for his wife and children, and they came to Plymouth in 1623 onboard the ship Anne.
Francis lived out his life in Plymouth. Although he kept a fairly low profile, he was on a number of minor committees such as the committee to lay out the highways, and received some minor appointments by the Court to survey land. He was a juror on a number of occasions, and was on the coroner’s jury that examined the body of Martha Bishop, the 4-year old daughter who was murdered by her mother Alice. He received some modest land grants at various times throughout his life.
According to Bradford, who wrote in 1651, “Francis Cooke is still living, a very old man, and hath seen his children’s children have children; after his wife came over, (with other of his children,) he hath 3 still living by her, all married, and have 5 children; so their increase is 8. And his son John, which came over with him, is married, and hath 4 children living.”
Cook died in 1663 and is buried on Burial Hill in Plymouth. His estate inventory contained sheep, sheep shears, and wool. His wife Hester survived him by at least three years and perhaps longer.
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- Information sourced from the Mayflower Project, WikiTree, and Wikipedia.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Bill Gates (I-BY189611) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 7700 BCE (9.700 years ago).
Rare Connection
1 in 137
Only 1799 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Bil Gates.
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, software developer, investor, author, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen.[ During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president and chief software architect, while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. He was a major entrepreneur of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.
Gates was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. In 1975, he and Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It became the world’s largest personal computer software company.Gates led the company as chairman and CEO until stepping down as CEO in January 2000, succeeded by Steve Ballmer, but he remained chairman of the board of directors and became chief software architect. During the late 1990s, he was criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive. This opinion has been upheld by numerous court rulings.
In June 2008, Gates transitioned to a part-time role at Microsoft and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the private charitable foundation he and his then-wife, Melinda Gates, established in 2000. He stepped down as chairman of the board of Microsoft in February 2014 and assumed a new post as technology adviser to support the newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella. In March 2020, Gates left his board positions at Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to focus on his philanthropic efforts on climate change, global health and development, and education.
His detailed haplogroup was determined by Big Y testing of relatives in the Gates Surname Project.
- Biographical information sourced from Wikipedia and genealogical information from WikiTree.
- Photo of Bil gates: Wikipedia , Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Germany

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Maarten (Martin) Luther (I-FT80992) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L460) who lived around 19.000 BCE (21.000 years ago).
Reverend Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, Country of Mansfeld in the Holy Roman Empire. As a notable German theologian, priest, author, and hymn writer, Martin Luther was one of the most influential and important religious figures of his time.His contributions as a writer and teacher drove the separation of Western Christianity into Protestants and Catholics. One of his most famous works, The Ninety-five Theses (1517), argues against the “selling of indulgences” or the practice of paying the church in exchange for forgiveness of sins from God. This radical document lit the initial spark that lead to the Protestant Reformation.
With the invention of the printing press, Luther’s work become widely available and reached distant audiences. Luther was a major proponent of translating the Bible into the common vernacular of the time, as typically only priests could read the Latin written Bible. He worked on translating the Bible from Latin to German and published the New Testament translation in 1522 and the complete Luther Bible in 1534.
The founding of the Lutheran Church came to fruition with Luther’s break from Rome, which was produced under his sanction by Philipp Melanchthon in 1530.Luther continued as a teacher, preacher, and author as well as disputing religious and political authorities until his death in 1546.
- Sourced from Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, WikiTree, Geni, and the Luther DNA Project.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives

Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall (1882). This painting is in the Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Henry Samson (I-FTB708) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-CTS616) who lived around 8200 BCE (10.000 years ago).
Henry Samson (1603-1685) was baptized in Henlow, Bedford, England in January 1604. Henry was probably a Separatist. He was found living in Leiden, Holland with his uncle, Edward Tilley, a weaver. Henry may have been an apprentice. He wasn’t an orphan, given that he was mentioned in his father’s 1638 will in England.
In Leiden in 1620, Henry boarded the Speedwell. Today, a statue marks the exact location on a canal.
The Speedwell was to meet the Mayflower in Southampton, England where both ships were supposed to continue on across the Atlantic. However, the Speedwell developed leaks, and all of the Pilgrims sailed on the cramped Mayflower.
Henry traveled as a member of the Edward Tilley family, but both Tilley and his wife died during the first winter. Samson, still in his teens, lived at one time in the households of both Edward Winslow and William Brewster, respectively.
As an adult, Henry became a surveyor and served as constable in Duxbury where he died in December of 1684.
- Information sourced from WikiTree, Wikipedia, and the Mayflower DNA Project. Leiden photo courtesy of Roberta Estes.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Oliver Winchester (I-BY186305) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L460) who lived around 19.000 BCE (21.000 years ago).
Oliver Winchester was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut and the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
Winchester and a brilliant engineer were able to re-engineer the troubled firearm so that it could be used for his freshly re-designed cartridges. This improvement to the rifle plus new cartridges allowed Winchester’s company to come into prominence. The first Winchester rifle was dubbed the “Yellow Boy’ and was the Model 1866 rifle. Increasing popularity lead the rifle to gain the reputation as “the gun that won the West.”
Oliver Winchester also pursued politics and served as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1866 to 1867. After gus death in 1880, his son William Wirt Winchester inherited the rifle company and died shortly thereafter.
William’s widow was Sarah Winchester of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.
In 1855, Winchester acquired a financially failing division of Smith & Wesson.
- Sourced from WikiTree, Wikipedia, and the Winchester DNA Project.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Ralph Waldo Emerson (I-BY27818) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-CTS616) who lived around 8200 BCE (10.000 years ago).
Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and prolific essayist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
He was the son of Ruth Haskins and Rev. William Emerson, a Unitarian minister. Emerson, a Harvard Divinity School graduate, was an avid philosopher and immersed himself in topics surrounding individualism, nature, divinity, and culture.
He held strong opinions on many concerns of the 19th century including the evils of slavery and widely shared his views in lectures and journals.
Emerson led the transcendentalist movement in the mid-19th century, considered radical at the time, whose core tenet was the goodness of people and nature. He believed that all things are connected to God, and therefore, all things are divine. Ralph’s ideas around self-reliance, stream of thought, and transparency are still very much in the spotlight today. Emerson is credited with the phrase, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.”
Emerson died in 1882 and is buried in Concord, Massachusetts. The Legacy of Ralph Waldo Emerson lives on today. He is widely considered the most influential contributor of the 19th century, and a professorship is named in his honor at Harvard Divinity School, along with a building. Additionally, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize is awarded annually to high school students for essays on historical topics.
- Information sourced from WikiTree and Wikipedia

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives

This portrait was first published in 1885 and alleged to be a 1625 likeness of Standish, although its authenticity has never been proven.
Myles Standish (I-FT276480) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-P214) who lived around 15.000 BCE (17.000 years ago).
Myles Standish (c. 1584-1656) was an English military officer who was hired by the Separatists as a military adviser for the Plymouth Colony.
The Standish family lived in Chorley, Lancashire where the Standish Pew still stands in the St. Laurence Church. However, Myles was living with his wife in Leiden in 1620 where he may have been associated with the English dissenters who would become the Pilgrims.
Myles sailed on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims and took the first party ashore to find a suitable settlement location. He was installed as the Plymouth Colony militia commander shortly after arrival, a position he retained for life. Standish, with a fiery temper, was known for his preemptive military strikes, leading at least two brutal attacks against the Native Americans.
However, in 1621, Standish saved the colony from massacre with Native ally, Hobbamock who warned the colonists of an impending raid. Standish and Hobbamock instead led a strike against the Nemasket. In 1635, following a military blunder, he remained in an advisory capacity but was no longer an active commander.
In later years, Standish lived on a farm in Duxbury where he died in 1656. He was buried in the Duxbury Old Burying Ground, now known as the Myles Standish Cemetery.
- Information sourced from WikiTree, Wikipedia, and the Mayflower DNA Project. Standish pew photo courtesy of Roberta Estes.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (I-BY213758) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-M170) who lived around 25.000 BCE (27.000 years ago).
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (referred to as ‘FDR’) was born in Hyde Park, New York to James Roosevelt I and Sara Ann Delano who were 6th cousins. After attending Harvard University and Columbia Law School, Franklin worked at the law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn in their maritime legal division.
In 1921, Franklin became ill and was diagnosed with what was believed to be polio, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. His condition did little to halt his drive and ambition. Roosevelt served as a New York State Senator and as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, was a vice-presidential candidate, and was the Governor of the state of New York. He served as the United States President beginning in 1933 for 3 consecutive terms, making him the only President in the United States ever to do so.
His first presidential term was during the Great Depression, and his sweeping programs often referenced as “New Deals” helped to provide relief to Americans who had been affected by the market crash.
FDR frequently used radio “Fireside Chats” to communicate with the nation and was the first American President to be televised.
Roosevelt won reelection to a fourth term in 1944 but passed away less than 3 months into this Presidency.
Information sourced from WikiTree and Wikipedia.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Kit Carson (I-FT18647) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9600 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 1799
Only 511 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Kit Carson.
Kit Carson, whose real name was Christopher Houston Carson, was an American frontiersman. He was born in Kentucky to Lindsey Carson and Rebecca Robinson. His family moved to Boone’s Lick, Missouri when he was a baby where he was raised with his Boone cousins. Daniel Boone was his cousin through his mother, and Boone’s Lick was founded by Daniel’s sons who purchased the land from the Spanish.
Missouri was the frontier at that time, and European settlers were intruders on Native lands, at least from the perspective of the Native people. From the European perspective, they were pioneers and since the Indians didn’t “own” the land in the traditional sense, it was open, vacant, and available.
Kit wrote of that time in his memoirs many years later, “For two or three years after our arrival, we had to remain forted and it was necessary to have men stationed at the extremities of the fields for the protection of those that were laboring.”Indeed, homesteading was dangerous.Carson’s father was killed by a falling limb when he was 9 years old. A few years later, his mother remarried a man Kit did not get along with.
At the age of 14, Kit was apprenticed to learn the saddler’s trade, which generally meant the apprentice lived with the family they were apprenticed to.Working as an apprentice allowed Carson to meet traders who needed saddles fitted and repaired as they were leaving for the mountains and western parts.
His most terrifying encounter wasn’t with Indians, however, but with a grizzly bear. In 1834 as he was hunting an elk alone, two bears crossed paths with him and chased him up a tree. One of the savvy bears tried to make him fall by shaking the tree but was unsuccessful. When the bear left, Carson high-tailed it back to camp as quickly as possible. Carson dictated in his Memoirs: “The bear”, finally concluded to leave, of which I was heartily pleased, never having been so scared in my life.”
Carson became fluent in English, French, Spanish, and at least 14 Native American languages and dialects. However, much to his embarrassment, he was illiterate which explains why he dictated his memoirs. In 1856, he explained, “I was a young boy in the school house when the cry came, Injuns! I jumped to my rifle and threw down my spelling book, and thar it lies.”
Carson’s early interactions with Indian people were perilous and negative. He was involved in skirmishes, hand-to-hand fights, and larger battles with Native individuals and tribes. Eventually, Carson’s opinion and disposition towards the Native people and tribes softened.
Kit’s first two wives were Native. He met his first wife Waanibe (Singing Grass), an Arapaho, at a rendezvous in Wyoming. Carson wasn’t her only suitor. Many mountain men sought her affection. Carson was forced to fight a duel with a French trapper to win her hand in marriage. She accompanied Carson on trapping expeditions but died shortly after giving birth to their second child. Carson’s second wife, Making-Out-Road, was Cheyenne. She divorced him in the traditional way of her tribe by putting his possessions outside their tent.
Carson’s life was changing in more than one way. By 1840, the fur trade began to decline in part because the beaver was being overexploited to produce beaver hats for fashion-minded men in the US and abroad. Fashions changed as well with men preferring silk. Carson needed to figure out what to do next.
In 1841, he was hired at Bent’s Fort, in Colorado, at the largest stopover on the Santa Fe Trail to hunt buffalo, antelope, and deer to feed the residents. He was paid one dollar a day.
In 1842, a year after Carson’s second wife died, Carson met and married 14-year-old Josefa Jaramillo, the daughter of a prominent Mexican couple, in Taos, New Mexico.
In 1842, in a fortuitous encounter on a steamboat in the Missouri River, Kit Carson met John C. Fremont, an officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers who was preparing to lead an expedition into the West. Fremont hired Carson as his guide for $100 per month. During their first expedition, they mapped the Oregon Trail. It was through Fremont’s written reports that Kit gained fame. During this and future expeditions together, Kit’s bravery and backwoods savvy became legendary and he became known as “The Pathfinder,” saving the men and expedition more than once.
All was not peaceful though. Harsh elements and wild animals were not the only dangers. The Native people fought adversarial tribes for land and possessions, and these new intruders were no different. Carson’s Indian exploits, while notable, also became blown out of proportion for the consumption of the popular press of the time and, eventually, cheap “dime” novels. During this time, Carson along with other men launched sometimes defensive and sometimes unprovoked attacks upon Indian villages, slaying anyone they could.
In 1847, General Sherman met Kit Carson and was excited to meet this infamous man. He wrote: “His fame was then at its height… and I was very anxious to see a man who had achieved such feats of daring among the wild animals of the Rocky Mountains, and still wilder Indians of the plains. I cannot express my surprise at beholding such a small, stoop-shouldered man, with reddish hair, freckled face, soft blue eyes, and nothing to indicate extraordinary courage or daring. He spoke but little and answered questions in monosyllables.”
Colonel Edward W. Wynkoop wrote: “Kit Carson was five feet five and one-half inches tall, weighed about 140 pounds, of nervy, iron temperament, squarely built, slightly bow-legged, and those members apparently too short for his body. But, his head and face made up for all the imperfections of the rest of his person. His head was large and well-shaped with yellow straight hair, worn long, falling on his shoulders. His face was fair and smooth as a woman’s with high cheekbones, straight nose, a mouth with a firm, somewhat sad expression yet kissable lips, a keen, deep-set but beautiful, mild blue eye, which could become terrible under some circumstances, and like the warning of the rattlesnake, gave notice of attack. Though quick-sighted, he was slow and soft of speech, and posed great natural modesty.”
In 1848, Kit settled down in Taos and became a businessman and rancher.
Authors and publishers capitalized on Carson’s adventures, both during and after his life. Carson himself was rather incredulous about how he was portrayed.
Lieutenant George Douglas Brewerton made one coast-to-coast dispatch-carrying trip to Washington, DC with Carson in 1848. Brewerton wrote: “The Kit Carson of my imagination was over six feet high—a sort of modern Hercules in his build—with an enormous beard, and a voice like a roused lion…. The real Kit Carson I found to be a plain, simple… man; rather below the medium height, with brown, curling hair, little or no beard, and a voice as soft and gentle as a woman’s. In fact, the hero of a hundred desperate encounters, whose life had been mostly spent amid wilderness, where the white man is almost unknown, was one of Dame Nature’s gentlemen…”
In 1849, a white woman, Mrs. White was abducted, held for some time, then killed by Apaches and Utes. Unable to save her, being literally minutes too late, Carson was distraught. In his memoir, Carson described what followed, “In camp was found a book, the first of the kind I had ever seen, in which I was made a great hero, slaying Indians by the hundreds, and I have often thought that Mrs. White would read the same, and knowing that I lived near, she would pray for my appearance and that she would be saved.”

This final photo of Carson, who was then ill, was taken in March 1868 in Boston, two months before his death.
He felt that the real Kit Carson had failed Mrs. White, while the fictional Kit would surely have been able to save her.
In 1854, Carson became an Indian agent in Taos, fiercely protective of the tribes under his care. He attempted to mediate the disposition of captives, both between Indian tribes and of settlers. Captives who weren’t killed were typically sold.
In 1862, the Civil War descended upon the Southwest when Confederate forces captured Southern New Mexico Territory. Carson was called into service and appointed as the Lieutenant Colonel of the First New Mexico Volunteer Infantry, leading a regiment of about 1000 men under the Union flag.
Carson came to believe that the best way to control the raids and warfare of the Native people and to protect them from the settlers as well as the deleterious effects of alcohol was to resettle them on reservations. To this end, he committed several atrocities upon the Indians including the Navajo in an 1863 removal campaign that became known by the Navajo as “The Long Walk”.
After the war ended, Carson was appointed commandant of Fort Garland, Colorado, deep in Ute territory.
The Ute were among his friends, and in 1868, at the urging of Washington and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Carson traveled to Washington, DC with several Ute Chiefs to meet with the US President to plead for assistance to their tribe.
Carson died in May 1868 at Fort Lyon, Colorado, only a month after his third wife, Josefa, perished during childbirth. Both bodies were exhumed a year later and reburied in Kit Carson Cemetery, now the Kit Carson Memorial State Park in Taos not far from where they lived.
Sourced from Wikipedia, WikiTree, Kit Carson House Museum, and the Carson DNA Project.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives

The Fall of the Alamo by Robert Jenkins Onderdonk depicts Davy Crockett swinging his rifle at Mexican troops who have breached the south gate of the mission.
Davy Crockett (I-Y32632) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-CTS616) who lived around 8200 BCE (10.000 years ago).
David “Davy” Crockett was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is commonly called the “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the Texas Revolution.
After narrowly losing an election in 1835, he departed to Texas. In early 1836, he signed an oath to the Provisional Government of Texas for six months and volunteered to join the Texas Revolution. His first and last battle was the Battle of the Alamo.
He is quoted as having said, “I told the people of my district that I would serve them as faithfully as I had done; but if not, they might go to hell, and I would go to Texas.”
His haplogroup was discovered through Big Y testing of relatives in the Crockett Group Project.
- Biographical information sourced from Wikipedia.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
George Armstrong Custer (I-FTA17261) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-CTS616) who lived around 8200 BCE (10.000 years ago).
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, but as the Civil War was just starting, trained officers were in immediate demand. He worked closely with General George B. McClellan and the future General Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his qualities as a cavalry leader, and he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers at age 23. Only a few days after his promotion, he fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he commanded the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and despite being outnumbered, defeated J. E. B. Stuart’s attack at what is now known as the East Cavalry Field.
In 1864, he served in the Overland Campaign and in Philip Sheridan’s army in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating Jubal Early at Cedar Creek. His division blocked the Army of Northern Virginia’s final retreat and received the first flag of truce from the Confederates. He was present at Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
After the war, he was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army and was sent west to fight in the Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, while leading the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory against a coalition of Native American tribes, he was killed along with every soldier of the five companies he led after splitting the regiment into three battalions. This action became romanticized as “Custer’s Last Stand”.
His dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his career, and reaction to his life and career remains deeply divided. His legend was partly of his own fabrication through his extensive journalism, and perhaps more through the energetic lobbying of his wife Elizabeth Bacon “Libbie” Custer throughout her long widowhood. Thomas Jefferson of dying on the anniversary of U.S independence. Historians have generally ranked him as an above-average president.
- Information sourced from Wikipedia, HistoryNet, Smithsonian Magazine, and Wikitree.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives

The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776, by John Trumbull, showing Captain William Washington, with a wounded hand, on the right and Lt. Monroe, severely wounded and helped by Dr. John Riker, left of center, behind the mortally wounded Hessian Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall. Rall is being helped by American Major William Stephens SmithT.
James Monroe (I-FT339764) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L460) who lived around 19.000 BCE (21.000 years ago).
James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was the last president of the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation; his presidency coincided with the Era of Good Feelings, concluding the First Party System era of American politics.
He is perhaps best known for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas while effectively asserting U.S. dominance, empire, and hegemony in the hemisphere. He also served as governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, the seventh Secretary of State, and the eighth Secretary of War.
Born into a slave-owning planter family in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After studying law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, he served as a delegate in the Continental Congress. As a delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Monroe opposed the ratification of the United States Constitution. In 1790, he won election to the Senate, where he became a leader of the Democratic-Republican Party. He left the Senate in 1794 to serve as President George Washington’s ambassador to France but was recalled by Washington in 1796. Monroe won the election as Governor of Virginia in 1799 and strongly supported Jefferson’s candidacy in the 1800 presidential election.
James Monroe went on to hold several positions including Governor of Virginia, Senator from Virginia, Secretary of State, Secretary of War, and US ambassador to the UK and France. In 1817, Monroe became the 5th US President.
- Biographical information sourced from WikiTree and Wikipedia..

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives

A Victorian era, romanticised depiction of a member of the clan by R. R. McIan, from The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, published in 1845.
Clan Munro (I-Y12073) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L460) who lived around 19.000 BCE (21.000 years ago).
According to Clan Munro (Scottish Gaelic: Clann an Rothaich) oral tradition, the founder of the clan, Donald Munro, came from the northern part of Ireland to the Scottish Highlands. The first recorded Munro was Robert who died in 1369. This row was in Foulis Castle, which was built in the 1100s.
Historically, the clan was based in Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. The traditional origin of the clan gives its founder as Donald Munro, who came from the north of Ireland and settled in Scotland in the eleventh century, although the true founder may have lived much later.
It is also a strong tradition that the Munro chiefs supported Robert the Bruce during the wars of Scottish independence. However, the first recorded clan leader is Robert de Munro, who died in 1369; his father is mentioned but unnamed in some charters. The clan chiefs originally owned mostly land at Findon on the Black Isle, but exchanged it for Estirfowlys in 1350. Robert’s son Hugh, who died in 1425, was the first of the family to be called “van Foulis”, despite the clan genealogies describing him as 9th Baron.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Munros feuded with their neighbours, the Clan Mackenzie, and during the seventeenth century, many Munros fought in the Thirty Years’ War in support of Protestantism. During the Scottish Civil War of the seventeenth century, different members of the clan supported the Royalists and the Covenants at different times. The Munro chiefs supported the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and during the Jacobite risings of the eighteenth century, the clan and chiefs were staunchly anti-Jacobite and supported the Hanoverian-British government.
The Munro DNA project confirms several Munro lineages, including those from Foulis Castle, the seat of the Munro clan, as well as James Monroe, the 5th President of the US.
- The Munro DNA Project confirms various Munro lineages including that of Foulis Castle, seat of the Munro Clan, and also James Monroe, the 5th US President.
- Information sourced from the Clan Munro Association and Wikipedia.
- Print of Munro clansman by Robert Ronald McIan (1803-1856). – The Clans of the Scottish Highlands., Public Domain

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Clan Lindsay (I-FT11343) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L460) who lived around 19.000 BCE (21.000 years ago).
The Clan Lindsay, a Lowland Scottish clan, descends from Walter Lindsay of Lincoln who accompanied David of Huntingdon from England to Scotland before 1116, according to the Lindsay One-Name Study.
The Lindsays were prominent in both England and Scotland from the late 11th century. The name most likely derives from the region of Lindsey in England (the name of which comes from the Old English for “island of Lincoln”), from where the family originated.
In Domesday Book, Sir Baldric de Lindsay of Hemingby is recorded as holding a number of estates in Lindsey in 1086. Sir Baldric’s sons, Sir Walter and William de Lindsay accompanied David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, to claim his throne.
William’s son, William de Lindsay, sat in the Parliament of 1164 and was later a justiciar. William Lindsay hero the lands of Crawford and Luffness. The chief’s premier title was later Earl of Crawford. His son, Sir William Lindsay, who sat in Parliament as Baron of Luffness in East Lothian, married Alice de Limesi, and from their younger son Sir William Lindsay, dapifer to the High Steward of Scotland, descends the Earl of Crawford.
Sir William Lindsay’s elder son was Sir David Lindsay who married a member of the royal family named Margerie. David died in 1214 and was succeeded as Lord Crawford and High Justiciar of Lothian by his son who was also called David. This David also inherited the estates of Limesi and Wolveray. One of his cousins was another Sir David Lindsay who was Chamberlain of Scotland in 1256.
The descendants of Clan Lindsay are today spread all over the world and can be viewed in the Lindsay DNA Project.
- Information sourced from the Lindsay One-Name Study coordinated by Lindsay International and Wikipedia.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
James Butler Hickok (I-A1843) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-M170) who lived around 25.000 BCE (27.000 years ago).
James Butler Hickok, better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was the quintessential western folk hero—except he really lived.
Wild Bill was born in Homer, Illinois to parents who were Abolitionists and joined the Quakers to serve as a station on the Underground Railroad, hiding formerly enslaved people seeking freedom in their cellar—a dangerous proposition.
Hickok headed west in 1855 after throwing his employer into the canal for mistreating his horse team, establishing a lifelong habit of inserting himself between the oppressed and their oppressor. After arriving in Kansas Territory, Hickok began farming, was elected constable, and worked in a railway freight station. In 1860, while driving a freight team on the Sante Fe Trail, he encountered a bear with two cubs. He made the mistake of shooting the mother, the bullet ricocheting off of her head and infuriating her. She grabbed Hickok and began biting and crushing him, but he was able to grab his knife and kill the bear. At least, that was his story. Regardless, he was badly injured and was bedridden for four months in Nebraska.
Soon thereafter, Hickock began his legacy of gambling and gunfights. At one point, he adopted the alias, William Haycock.
James Butler Hickock in the early 1860s before the McCanles incident.
In 1861, Hickok, then mocked derisively as “Duck Bill” due to his protruding upper lip, was involved in a shootout with the McCanles Gang, reportedly due to the allegation that Hickok “stole” David McCanles’s mistress. At least two of the McCanles brothers were killed, and Hickok, in a trial that lasted all of about 15 minutes, was acquitted when the judge ruled he had acted in self-defense. The remaining McCanles family altered their surname and moved to Colorado.
Hickok also changed his name becoming “Wild Bill,” hoping to replace “Duck Bill,” after he grew a mustache covering his upper lip. Hickok himself, with help from Harpers Monthly, sensationalized the McCanles incident, claiming that he “single-handedly killed nine desperadoes, horse thieves, murderers and regular cutthroats” known as the McCanles Gang “in the greatest one-man gunfight in history.”
Hickok had unwittingly launched his career as a showman.
Kansas was in many ways the “wild west” of the time, and Hickok served in the Civil War before his discharge for unknown reasons. He then served as a scout and spy and took up gambling, which resulted in a duel in which Hickok killed the other gambler in 1867. Hickok capitalized on that incident to enhance his reputation as well.
Hickok served as Marshall of several early towns, resulting in additional shootouts that occurred when Hickok attempted to arrest outlaws, although Hickok had his own share of personal disputes that escalated into deadly conflicts.
Not a hardened killer, Hickok’s days as a gunslinger were over when he accidentally killed his own Deputy Marshall who was attempting to come to his aid during one of the famous shootouts.
Wild Bill Hickok in 1869.
Hickok then joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, officially becoming a showman and continuing his gambling career although his health began to fail in his 30s.
In 1876, only four months after marrying widow Agnes Thatcher Lake, a circus proprietor, he left his wife behind, penning a letter stating that although he would probably never see her again, he would breathe her name with his dying breath.
By the time Agnes read the letter, Hickok had joined a wagon train to the Dakota Territory gold fields. Did he sense that his days were numbered?
The wagon train arrived in Deadwood, now South Dakota, in July. On August 1st, Hickock was playing poker with Jack McCall, a drunk gambler who was losing badly. Hickok encouraged him to quit until he could cover his losses, giving him money for breakfast, which reportedly insulted McCall.
Hickok always played poker with his back facing the back corner or wall so no one could enter behind him. The following day, while Hickok was playing with his back to the door because no other seat was available, McCall walked up behind him and shot him point blank in the back of the head. McCall was executed by hanging for his deed in 1877
The poker hand reportedly held by Hickok at the time of his death became known as “dead man’s hand.”
However, Wild Bill Hickok and Jack McCall both live on today in Deadwood where daily reenactments recreate the days of the wild west.
Sourced from Wikipedia, WikiTree, Old West Kansas at Kansasheritage.org, Hitchcock DNA Project.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives

There are no pictures of Hans Jonatan, and the wherabouts of his remains are unknown. His grandson is pictured. Photo credit: Helga Tomasdottir
Hans Jonatan (I-CTS616) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common ancestor who lived around 9900 BCE (11900 years ago).
Hans Jonatan was born enslaved in 1784 on a plantation on the Caribbean island of Saint Croix, which was then known as the Danish West Indies and is now part of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
His story rose to international fame after the publication of the biography, The Man Who Stole Himself.
The Schimmelmann family who enslaved Jonatan moved to Denmark where Hans escaped, joined the Danish Navy, and fought in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen.
- No portrait of Hans Jonatan exists, but his grandson Ludvik Ludviksson is pictured here
(Photo credit: Helga Tomasdot).
While there are some uncertainties about his father, it’s thought he was a white Dane named Hans Gram, who was a secretary on one of the island’s plantations. His mother was a house slave named Emilia Regina.
Eventually, the Schimmelmann family who enslaved Jonatan moved to Denmark and took the two with him – but, slavery was illegal in the country. Hans escaped, joined the Danish Navy, and fought in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen.
Frau Schimmelmann sued in court for the right to keep Hans as property and sell him back to Saint Croix. The court ruled in her favor. Once again, Hans escaped, and in 1802, he arrived in Iceland, which was then also a dependency of Denmark.
Settling in Iceland, he became the first black resident. He married Katrín Antoníusdóttir, and they had two children. Today, hundreds of Icelanders descend from them.Unfortunately, Hans died at age 43 following a stroke.
A study by Jagadeesan et al. 2018 calculated that Hans had 788 descendants and DNA tested 182 of them. They concluded that Hans had a European father and an African mother with ancestry from the West African region spanned by Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon.
- Historical information sourced from Jagadeesan et al. 2018 and Wikipedia.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives

Shown here is a photo of Albert’s son, Clyde Perry, born in 1867, grandfather of the first A00 tester.
Albert Perry (A-L1100) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (A-PR2921) who lived around 232.000 BCE (234.000 years ago).
Albert Perry was born into slavery in South Carolina sometime around 1820. In 2012, one of his great-grandsons took a Y-DNA test, which led to the discovery of the most divergent Y-DNA lineage known today, haplogroup A00. This lineage would later be traced to Cameroon.On the “Paternal Ancestor” you can see a photo of Albert’s son, Clyde Perry, born in 1867, grandfather of the first A00 test.
The Perry family in the USA and the distant cousins in Cameroon all descend from a single ancestor who lived just over 1,000 years ago, but they are the most distant paternal line relatives of almost everyone in the world today.
Reference: Mendez FL, Krahn T, Schrack B, Krahn A-M, Veeramah KR, Woerner AE, Fomine FLM, Bradman N, Thomas MG, Karafet TM, Hammer MF. (2013). An African American paternal lineage adds an extremely ancient root to the human Y chromosome phylogenetic tree. Am J Hum Genet, 92(3): 454–459.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Carl Axel Gottlund (I-BY137073) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9950 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 on 134
Only 1865 people who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are so closely related to Carl Axel Gottlund.
Carl Axel Gottlund was a Finnish explorer, scholar, and political activist, renowned for his advocacy for the Forest Finns, a group descended from Finnish immigrants living in Sweden and Norway. Born in Ruotsinpyhtää (Swedish: Strömfors), Finland, Gottlund initially studied theology at the University of Turku but was drawn to folkloristics and linguistics.
In 1796, Carl Axel Gottlund was born in the Southern Finnish coastal town of Ruotsinpyhtää into the family of a Finnish clergyman Mattias Gottlund, one of the most outstanding representatives of Enlightenment ideas in Finland. Accordingly, Carl Axel was raised in the spirit of the Enlightenment, and the basic structure of his thinking represented rationalistic Enlightenment ideals.
Matthias Gottlund, Carl Axel’s father, worked as the chaplain of the local congregation at the time. Carl Axel’s mother Ulrika Sophia was from the upper-class family of Orraeus in the nearby town of Porvoo.
In 1805, the Gottlund family settled in Juva, in the Finnish province of Savonia, where Gottlund’s father had landed to a financially lucrative job as a vicar.
During his childhood years, Carl Axel Gottlund’s interest towards the Finnish culture and language had been inspired by his father, to the most part. The opportunity in his childhood for Carl Axel to meet with the known Finnish nationalist author Jaakko Juteini is also believed to have boosted his future career choices and patriotism.
In 1810, Carl Axel enrolled with the Gymnasium of Porvoo, a junior college in Southern Finland. In 1814, he began studies at the Royal Academy of Turku. At the academy, he had awakening in the Finnish national romanticism.
In 1815–1816, Carl Axel collected various types of Finnish folklore material from his home county: poems, songs, spells, children’s stories and plays, nursery rhymes, etc.
In 1821, he embarked on a mission to document the culture and language of the Forest Finns. His extensive research led him to become their advocate, aiming to protect their heritage and improve their socio-economic status. His activism faced resistance, but it led to the publication of “Otava,” a pamphlet series promoting Forest Finn rights.
Gottlund’s scholarly contributions include a Forest Finnish dictionary, significant work in Finno-Ugric languages, and the preservation and promotion of Finnish folklore. He remained committed to his advocacy work throughout his life, resulting in broader recognition of the cultural and historical significance of the Forest Finns.
Gottlund, who passed away on June 20, 1875, is remembered for his enduring contributions to Finno-Ugric studies and his championship of marginalized ethnic groups.
Gottlund’s ancestry is traced back to Michel Skotte, a Scottish soldier who after fighting for Sweden in the 17th century was granted a farm in Pyhtää, Finland, marking the beginning of Gottlund’s lineage. Gottlund’s Y-DNA haplogroup was determined by Big Y testing of several descendants of Michel Skotte. The research was done by Jere Markkanen, administrator of the Savo DNA Project.
Biography in part generated using OpenAI (2023) ChatGPT-4 (May 24 version) [Large multimodal model].
Pictured: Carl Axel Gottlund in 1857, drawing by an unknown author, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons..

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives
Stephen F. Austin (I-Z166) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-CTS616) who lived around 9900 BCE.
Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the “Father of Texas” and the founder of Anglo Texas, he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families and their slaves from the United States to the Tejas region of Mexico in 1825.
His parents were Mary Brown Austin and Moses Austin. In 1798, his family moved west to the lead-mining region of present-day Potosi, Missouri. Moses Austin received a sitio from the Spanish government for the mining site of Mine à Breton, which had been established by French colonists.
His great-great-grandfather, Anthony Austin (b. 1636), was the son of Richard Austin (b.1598 in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, England). The immigrant ancestors, Richard Austin and his wife Esther,
Born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri, Austin served in the Missouri territorial legislature. He moved to Arkansas Territory and later to Louisiana. His father, Moses Austin, received an empresario grant from Spain to settle Texas. After Moses Austin’s death in 1821, Stephen Austin won recognition of the empresario grant from the newly independent nation of Mexico.
Austin was educated in politics from an early age and served in Missouri Territory Legislature and as a judge in Arkansas. He was later persuaded to fulfill his father’s land grant given him by the Spanish government and led the first Anglo settlers (called Empresarios) to the area we now know as Texas.
The early Spanish government encouraged settlement of the area by granting land in exchange for fealty to the Spanish government and conversion to Catholicism. The Empresarios quickly became embroiled in the complex interests of Spain, Mexico, and the United States. Using his considerable diplomatic and political experience, Austin played a major role in negotiating with the Spanish and Mexican governments. Today, he is known as “The Father of Texas.
Austin attracted numerous Anglo-American settlers to move to Texas, and by 1825 Austin had brought the first 300 American families into the territory. Throughout the 1820s, Austin sought to maintain good relations with the Mexican government, and he helped suppress the Fredonian Rebellion. He also helped ensure the introduction of slavery into Texas despite the opposition of the Mexican government to the institution. Austin led the initial actions against the indigenous Karankawa people in this area.
As Texas settlers became increasingly dissatisfied with the Mexican government, Austin advocated conciliation, but the dissent against Mexico escalated into the Texas Revolution. Austin led Texas forces at the successful Siege of Béxar before serving as a commissioner to the United States. Austin ran as a candidate in the 1836 Texas presidential election but was defeated by Sam Houston, who had served as a general in the war and entered the race two weeks before the election. Houston appointed Austin as Secretary of State for the new republic, and Austin held that position until his death in December 1836.
Numerous places and institutions are named in his honor, including the capital of Texas. Today, he is known as “The Father of Texas.”
Austin followed a long tradition of westward expansion. His ancestors were some of the earliest English colonists in New England. You can learn more at the Austin-Austen family project at FamilyTreeDNA.
Biographical information sourced from Wikitree and the Bullock Texas State History Museum.
Pictures: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Ancient Y-DNA connections
Here are some very ancient connections who share a common paternal ancestor with me. They were found in the regions now known as:
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Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Y-DNA haplogroup notation knows how cumbersome the longhand version is.
In 2014 (FTDNA) changed their naming system for the Y-DNA haplogroups. The new naming convention replaces the well-known group names like R1b1a2 with the SNP shorthand version of the same haplogroup name, R-M269.
For example, R1b1a1b1a1a2c1a1d is the ISOGG Y-DNA haplogroup longhand version, the FTDNA shorthand version is R1b-DF41, much easier.
From this time forward, the haplogroups will be known by their SNP names and the longhand version is obsolete, although you will always see it in older documents, articles and papers.
- In the picture below of the Weltzin Tollense Warriors with whom I share a common paternal ancestor you can see more examples of this naming.
ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Weltzin 15 (I2a2a / M223) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2054) who lived around 2250 BCE.
Rare Connection
737
Only 331 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Weltzin 15.
Weltzin 51 (I2a2a / M223) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2068) who lived around 2400 BCE.
Rare Connection
616
Only 396 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Weltzin 51.
- Haplogroup I2a2a (formerly I2b1) amounts to over 90% of I2a2. During the Early Bronze Age, I2a2a was found in southern Russia during the Yamna culture (L699), in Hungary (L1229), and in Germany (L38). This very ancient dispersal and its relatively low modern frequency makes it very difficult to assess what happened to each branch before the Late Bronze Age or the Iron Age. During the Early Bronze Age, I2a2a was found in southern Russia during the Yamna culture (L699), in Hungary (L1229), and in Germany (L38). This very ancient dispersal and its relatively low modern frequency makes it very difficult to assess what happened to each branch before the Late Bronze Age or the Iron Age.
Weltzin 15 and Weltzin 51 were two man who lived between 1350 and 1150 BCE during the European Bronze Age and were found in the region now known as Tollense valley battlefield, Western Pomerania, Germany. They both were associated with the Tollense Warriors cultural group.
- The direct maternal line of Weltzin 15 belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U2e1a1.
- The direct maternal line of Weltzin 51 belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H1C.
Reference: WEZ15 and WEZ15 from Burger et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Weltzin 24 (I2a2 / M423) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (B-Y1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Weltzin 83 (I2a2a / M223) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (B-Y1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
- Haplogroup I2a2 is found in most of Europe and appears to have had a continent-wide distribution before the arrival of Neolithic farmers. Several Mesolithic I2a2 samples have been identified so far, mostly by Mathieson et al. (2017). This includes individuals from Southern Germany (M223 from c. 7200 BC), the Iron Gates between Serbia and Romania (Z161 from c. 6200 BC), Latvia (CTS10057 from c. 5500 BC) and Southeastern Ukraine (L699 from c. 5400 BC and L701 from c. 5200 BC).
Today, I2a2 peaks in central and northern Germany (10-20%), the Benelux (10-15%) and in northern Sweden. It is also found in 3 to 10% of residents in Denmark, eastern England and northern France. It is rarer in Norway, except in the south, where Danish influence has historically been strongest. - Haplogroup I2a2a (formerly I2b1) is more than 90% of I2a2. During the Early Bronze Age, I2a2a was found in South Russia during the Yamna culture (L699), in Hungary (L1229), and in Germany (L38). This very old distribution and its relatively low modern frequency make it very difficult to assess what happened to each branch before the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age. During the Early Bronze Age, I2a2a was found in South Russia during the Yamna culture (L699), in Hungary (L1229), and in Germany (L38). This very old distribution and its relatively low modern frequency make it very difficult to assess what happened to each branch before the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age.
Weltzin 24 and Weltzin 83 were two men who lived between 1350 and 1150 BCE during the European Bronze Age and were found in the region now known as the Tollense Valley Battlefield, Western Pomerania, Germany. They were both associated with the Tollense Warriors cultural group.
- Weltzin 24 direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H27.
Weltzin 51’s direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup I4a.
Reference: WEZ24 and WEZ83 from Burger et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA Analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and lack coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Weltzin 71, Weltzin 39, (both are I2a2 / M423) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Weltzin 64 (I2a2a / M223) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 478
Only 511 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Weltzin 71, 39 and Weltzin 64.
- Haplogroup I2a2 is found in most of Europe and appears to have had a continent-wide distribution before the arrival of Neolithic farmers. Several Mesolithic I2a2 samples have been identified so far, mostly by Mathieson et al. (2017). This includes individuals from Southern Germany (M223 from c. 7200 BC), the Iron Gates between Serbia and Romania (Z161 from c. 6200 BC), Latvia (CTS10057 from c. 5500 BC) and Southeastern Ukraine (L699 from c. 5400 BC and L701 from c. 5200 BC).
Today, I2a2 peaks in central and northern Germany (10-20%), the Benelux (10-15%) and in northern Sweden. It is also found in 3 to 10% of residents in Denmark, eastern England and northern France. It is rarer in Norway, except in the south, where Danish influence has historically been strongest. - Haplogroup I2a2a (formerly I2b1) is more than 90% of I2a2. During the Early Bronze Age, I2a2a was found in South Russia during the Yamna culture (L699), in Hungary (L1229), and in Germany (L38). This very old distribution and its relatively low modern frequency make it very difficult to assess what happened to each branch before the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age. During the Early Bronze Age, I2a2a was found in South Russia during the Yamna culture (L699), in Hungary (L1229), and in Germany (L38). This very old distribution and its relatively low modern frequency make it very difficult to assess what happened to each branch before the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age.
Weltzin 71, Weltzin 39 and Weltzin 64 were three man who lived between 1350 and 1150 BCE during the European Bronze Age and were found in the region now known as Tollense valley battlefield, Western Pomerania, Germany. They both were associated with the Tollense Warriors cultural group.
- The direct maternal line of Weltzin 71 belonged to mtDNA haplogroup J1c.
- The direct maternal line of Weltzin 39 belonged to mtDNA haplogroup J21a1.
- The direct maternal line of Weltzin 64 belonged to mtDNA haplogroup I1a1a.
Reference: WEZ171, WEZ39 and WEZ64 from Burger et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Steuden 37 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2059) who lived around 2500 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 432
Only 620 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Steuden 37.
Steuden 37 was a man who lived between 900 – 1200 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Steuden, Saalekreis, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. He was associated with the Polabian Slavs cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a4c1.

The Wendish Crusade was a major military campaign, conducted by the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, directed against the Polabian Slavs (called the Wends by the Germans). (Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie / Sukiennice / Galeria Sztuki Polskiej XIX wieku / Sala Siemiradzkiego).
The Polabian Slavs
The name Polabian Slavs is an umbrella term for all the various Slavic tribes that dwelt on the westernmost reaches of Slavic habitation alongside the Elbe river in today’s Eastern Germany. This name itself is Slavic, a cognate of po + labe, meaning “by the River Elbe”. The territory of these tribes spanned from the Baltic Sea in the north, to the Elbe and Saale rivers in the west, up to the Lower Jutland peninsula’s Sachsenwall in the north-west, and south towards the regions of the Czechs and Poles.
Together with the rest of the Slavic world located in central, southern, and eastern Europe, they formed an almost unified continuum of Slavonic cultures and peoples that shows us an important insight into their migrations, connections, and the emergence of modern Slavic nations. With an almost unified and unbroken border between north and south Europe, these Slavic tribes shared common knowledge and were largely united, contrary to what was previously believed.
Polabian Slavs and Their Settlement of Modern Germany
The earliest settlement of Slavs in what is modern Germany took place in the early 6th century CE. After the so-called Migration Period that began in Europe in the 1st century CEand lasted to circa 500 CE, the regions we mentioned above were largely left unsettled and empty. With the increasing numbers and regular migration of Slavic tribes, many of these drifted westwards, and settled alongside the numerous rivers in Germany, as was a common trait of the Slavs.

Westernmost of all Slavic tribes, the Polabian Slavs struggled for survival through their entire existence.
Nowadays, the original source of all Slavic tribes is fiercely debated, but new research shows that they could have developed over a much larger area of Europe than was previously believed. A powerful clue for this are the toponyms that are shared with Slavic regions to the north and south, as well as the mentions in Frankish and Byzantine early medieval sources that paint a clear picture of regular Slavic migrations across Europe.
From their settlement in the 6th century, these Slavic tribes steadily developed in this new region. They preserved their identity to the fullest, retaining several key Proto-Slavic traits, both linguistically and culturally. Skillfully adapting to their surroundings, and always defending themselves from their warlike Germanic neighbors, Polabian Slavs chose strategic solutions for their villages and forts. An enormous percentage of known Slavic gords – or forts – in the Elbe river vicinity was built almost exclusively at hard-to-reach locations, mostly on small lake islands. They built their villages using a circular setup, making them easy to defend.

Steuden 37 was a man who lived between 900 – 1200 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Steuden, Saalekreis, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Reference: SDN037 from Gretzinger et al. 2025.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credits:
Paintings: wikipedia Commons Public Domain.
Text: Ancient Origins

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Niederwünsch 150 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2068) who lived around 2400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 473
Only 1477 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Niederwünsch 150.
Niederwünsch 150 was a 14-17 year old teenage boy who lived between 1000 – 1200 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Niederwünsch, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. He was associated with the Polabian Slavs cultural group.

The Wendish Crusade was a major military campaign, conducted by the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, directed against the Polabian Slavs (called the Wends by the Germans). (Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie / Sukiennice / Galeria Sztuki Polskiej XIX wieku / Sala Siemiradzkiego).
The Polabian Slavs
The name Polabian Slavs is an umbrella term for all the various Slavic tribes that dwelt on the westernmost reaches of Slavic habitation alongside the Elbe river in today’s Eastern Germany. This name itself is Slavic, a cognate of po + labe, meaning “by the River Elbe”. The territory of these tribes spanned from the Baltic Sea in the north, to the Elbe and Saale rivers in the west, up to the Lower Jutland peninsula’s Sachsenwall in the north-west, and south towards the regions of the Czechs and Poles.
Together with the rest of the Slavic world located in central, southern, and eastern Europe, they formed an almost unified continuum of Slavonic cultures and peoples that shows us an important insight into their migrations, connections, and the emergence of modern Slavic nations. With an almost unified and unbroken border between north and south Europe, these Slavic tribes shared common knowledge and were largely united, contrary to what was previously believed.
Polabian Slavs and Their Settlement of Modern Germany
The earliest settlement of Slavs in what is modern Germany took place in the early 6th century CE. After the so-called Migration Period that began in Europe in the 1st century CEand lasted to circa 500 CE, the regions we mentioned above were largely left unsettled and empty. With the increasing numbers and regular migration of Slavic tribes, many of these drifted westwards, and settled alongside the numerous rivers in Germany, as was a common trait of the Slavs.

Westernmost of all Slavic tribes, the Polabian Slavs struggled for survival through their entire existence.
Nowadays, the original source of all Slavic tribes is fiercely debated, but new research shows that they could have developed over a much larger area of Europe than was previously believed. A powerful clue for this are the toponyms that are shared with Slavic regions to the north and south, as well as the mentions in Frankish and Byzantine early medieval sources that paint a clear picture of regular Slavic migrations across Europe.
From their settlement in the 6th century, these Slavic tribes steadily developed in this new region. They preserved their identity to the fullest, retaining several key Proto-Slavic traits, both linguistically and culturally. Skillfully adapting to their surroundings, and always defending themselves from their warlike Germanic neighbors, Polabian Slavs chose strategic solutions for their villages and forts. An enormous percentage of known Slavic gords – or forts – in the Elbe river vicinity was built almost exclusively at hard-to-reach locations, mostly on small lake islands. They built their villages using a circular setup, making them easy to defend.

Niederwünsch 150 was a teenage boy who lived between 1000 – 1200 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Niederwünsch, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Reference: NDW150 from Gretzinger et al. 2025.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credits:
Paintings: wikipedia Commons Public Domain.
Text: Ancient Origins

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Fussel’s lodge 2 (I-Y3712) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9550 BCE.
Fussel’s lodge 2 was a man who lived between 3800 and 3600 BCE during Early Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Fussel’s Lodge, Salisbury, England. He was associated with the Neolithic England cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a-T195C!.
The long barrow at Fussell’s Lodge
On the edge of Salisbury Plain, the long barrow at Fussell’s Lodge once consisted of a mound of chalk which filled the space defined by a large timber enclosure. A smaller timber structure contained the remains of 40 people, most of whom were probably buried here shortly after death, although some apparently died some time before their remains were placed here.
The first burial structure was built within a few decades of 3700 BCE. It was extended probably between 3670 and 3650 BCE and the last individuals placed in it at this time. The covering chalk mound was probably built between 3630 and 3620 BCE. Each of the burial structures was probably in use for only a generation or two
Reference: Fussel’s_lodge_2 from Brace et al. 2019.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Austin Friary 514 (I-BZ2610) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 1850 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 on 1500
Only 202 people who have taken a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are so closely related to Austin Friary 514.
Austin Friary 514 was a man who lived between 1200 – 1540 CE during the Late Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Augustinian Friars, Cambridgeshire, England. He was associated with the Clergy Medieval Britain cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H3.
Austin Friary (also known as the Augustinian Friary) was a priory in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. They were given a small piece of land near St Benet’s Street at the end of the 13th cent; this gradually grew to cover the area of the modern New Museums Site bounded by Downing Street (Dow dyers Lane)Free School Lane and Corn Exchange Street (Slaughter Lane). The priory was located at Peas Hill in central Cambridge from around 1289 until dissolution in 1538.
History
The order was founded in the mid-13th century and after being granted a small piece of land near Bene’t Street in Cambridge at the end of the 13th century the Friary grew until it covered the site of the present New Museums Site all the way from the end of Peas Hill to Downing Street (then known as Dow Dyers Lane), and from Corn Exchange Street (Slaughter Lane) to Free School Lane (Luttburne Lane). Many of the Friars were also scholars in the University and in the early 16th century would meet in the White Horse Tavern – situated on the current Queens’ Lane – also known as “Little Germany” as it became associated with the nascent Protestant movement. The Friary’s gatehouse was situated at the end of Peas Hill, around the location of the present 16 Bene’t Street.
One of their members in this Cambridge house was Robert Barnes, who was burned as a heretic in 1540, and another was Myles Coverdale, translator of the Bible into English and a leading reformer
When John Leland visited the Friary’s library shortly before its dissolution he wrote of five works by William Ockham, two by John Capgrave and a volume of sermons by Ralph the Almoner of Westminster. A volume of tracts, partly written by Adam de Stockton at Cambridge in 1375 and currently in Trinity College, Dublin is the only book known to have survived from the library.
In the centuries after it was closed in the 1530s, the site changed hands many times. Maps of the late-16th century (up to 1592) continue to depict the Friary.[4] The last of the original Friary buildings – the infirmary or guest hall – was demolished in the 1790s.Some of the fabric was incorporated into buildings on the New Museums Site.
Reference: ATP_PSN_514 from R. Hui et al. 2024
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
HNF016, NF019 and HNF504 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2054) who lived around 2300 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 on 505
Only 1.376 customers are this closely related to HNF016, NF019 and HNF504.
- More information about HNF016, NF019 and HNF504 will be added soon.
Reference: HNF019 from Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. 2025.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA.
Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Portugal 22183 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Y4746) who lived around 1950 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 on 712
Only 977 customers are this closely related to Portugal 22183.
- More information about Portugal 22183 will be added soon.
Reference: PT_22183 from Roca-Rada et al. 2024 (bioRxiv)
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Sint-Truiden 2000 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor who lived 1950 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 on 987
Only 702 people who have taken a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are so closely related to Sint-Truiden 2000.
Sint-Truiden 2000 was a man who lived between 1000 – 1286 CE during the High Middle Ages and was found in the region now known as Groenmarkt-2, Sint-Truiden, Limburg, Belgium (Flanders). He was associated with the Flemish cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup J1c1g.
Sint-Truiden
Sint-Truiden (French: Saint-Trond, Limburgish: Sintruin) is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg.
Its earliest history dates back to Roman times, when a small settlement was already formed on the site of present-day Sint-Truiden, at a crossroads of highways, later called Zerkingen. In 655 CE, Trudo, probably a member of a prominent Austrasian family with a fief in this region, founded a monastic community on this site, which gradually grew into the abbey of Sint-Truiden. Later, Saint Trudo was canonized, like many members of the Frankish nobility.
That Sint-Truiden grew into an economic center is evident from, among other things, a Carolingian coin from 780 CE with Charlemagne on the obverse and Sci Trudo (‘Saint Trudo’) on the reverse. It is known that Bishop Adalbero I of Metz, who was also the abbot of Sint-Truiden, built a new, three-aisled church around 950 CE. The 11th century was a flourishing period for the abbey.
The city also benefited from the abbey’s prosperity: around the abbey church, Sint-Truiden grew from a modest settlement to a fortified city, which was granted city rights during this period. In 1129 CE the earthen rampart from 1050 CEwas replaced by stone city walls. Sint-Truiden developed economically into a centre of the cloth industry and exported its cloth to Germany, England and France, among others.
Archeology
From October 2018 to June 2020, Aron bv excavated in the city centre of Sint-Truiden, following the redevelopment of the Groenmarkt and the surrounding streets. The vast majority of the traces found consisted of graves. No fewer than 3046 different people could be distinguished.
Traces and finds that are older than the graves were found both at the Trudoplein near the abbey tower (Workpit 1) and at the Groenmarkt (Workpit 2). These include post holes and several wells. Based on the finds that were found in them and/or their relationship with graves that were dated using radiocarbon dating, these traces can be dated from the end of the 7th century. This means that there is an early medieval site that extended from the abbey tower to the town hall and possibly even further.
The ten most westerly graves from the oldest group can be dated, without exception, before the period that is associated with the Norman invasions of Sint-Truiden, at the end of the 9th century. After that, burials never took place so far west again
In the second period, between 1000 and 1286 CE (Group II), burials were very intensive at both the Trudoplein (Werkput 1) and the Groenmarkt (Workpit 2). The burial field at the current Groenmarkt has now shifted more to the east; no graves from this period were found to the west of the work pit on the Groenmarkt. Around the middle of the 11th century, the Church of Our Lady was built to the east of the Groenmarkt. At the end of the 13th century (from 1286) CE, the Klerkenkapel was built to the south of the Groenmarkt. The cemetery wall of the Church of Our Lady was located just west of the Klerkenkapel.
The oldest skeleton may still date from the end of the 9th century. The youngest individuals date from the middle of the 12th century at the latest. The youngest grave at the Trudoplein dates from the 14th century, after which no more burials seem to have taken place here. At the Groenmarkt the graves from periods III (1287-1599) and IV (after 1600 CE) were located exclusively within the cemetery wall. All deceased from Group III and IV are now buried in the cemetery of the O.L.V.-kerk or in the Klerkenkapel.
Reference: ST2000 from Beneker et al. 2025.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
* Credits:
Photo: Wikipedia, this file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Text history of Sint-Truiden: ARON bvba

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Rare Connection
1 on 713
Only 974 people who have taken a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are so closely related to Valkenburg 107768.
Valkenburg 107768 was a man who lived between 21 – 126 CE during the Middle Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Valkenburg Marktveld, Leiden, Netherlands. He was associated with the Iron Age Netherlands cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a3.

Map of the excavations of the Roman castellum at Valkenburg, South Holland, between 1941-1943 and 1946-1950.
Castellum Valkenburg
Praetorium Agrippinae was a Roman settlement in the province of Lower Germania (Germania Inferior), located in modern-day Valkenburg, in the Dutch province of South Holland. Praetorium Agrippinae consisted of a border fortress (castellum) and probably derived its name from a legionary fortress (castra) discovered in 2020/2021 on the Oude Rijn, at that time the main branch of the Rhine, which formed the northern border of the Roman Empire, the so-called limes (Latin for “border”). Praetorium Agrippinae is listed on the Peutinger map (Tabula Peutingeriana) between Matilo (Leiden-Roomburg) and Lugdunum Batavorum (Katwijk). The investigated castellum is the best documented fortress along the limes in the Netherlands, because the Roman remains have been excellently preserved.
History
A praetorium is a military headquarters, and Praetorium Agrippinae is named after Vipsania Agrippina, the mother of Emperor Caligula who died in 33 CE. It is possible that Caligula stayed in Valkenburg in the year 39 or 40 CE, because a wine barrel from his private vineyard was found on the spot. He was most likely here in preparation for an invasion of Britannia that was never carried out, and the castellum and castra were built as a result of this operation.
A dendrochronological dating of the castra from 39/40 CE confirms this suspicion. Eventually, the Romans did go to England from Boulogne-sur-Mer in 43 CE under Caligula’s successor Claudius. However, the discovery of the castra in Valkenburg makes it quite possible that part of that invasion force left from the Rhine estuary. It is suspected that an army, perhaps the Twentieth Legion, crossed from Valkenburg at the time. Afterwards, the legionary place was deliberately disabled or dismantled, but it may have been in use for a little longer and housed the legionaries who built the Corbulo Canal in the years 47-50 CE; an excavated canal between the Rhine and the Meuse, so that the Romans no longer had to go offshore across the North Sea.
The castellum or fort, which was built around the year 40/41 CE, was located on the site of the current centre of Valkenburg, below the current church. Initially, it was surrounded by an earthen wall with palisade and three moats. It initially offered space for two maniples of infantry (320 soldiers) and two turmae (60 men) of cavalry of the Cohors III Gallorum Equitata. Praetorium Agrippinae, like most other Roman forts on the Lower Rhine limes, was destroyed during the Batavian Revolt of 69-70, but was rebuilt afterwards. During this period, the entire Cohors IV Thracum Equitata was stationed here. From around 180 CE, the fort was expanded and largely built in stone. Like in Traiectum, this castellum had only three gates in the timber construction phase, but four gates during the stone construction phase. A total of seven construction phases have been distinguished.

Valkenburg 107768 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 1950 BCE.
Reference: CGG107768 from McColl et al. 2024 (bioRxiv).
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credit map and model: These media files are from Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, donated in the context of a partnership program to Wikipedia.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Cheddar man (I-S2497) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor I-P214 who lived around 16.000 BCE.
Cheddar Man lived in the western reaches of the island of Great Britain, around 8607 – 7982 BCE, in an area known as Cheddar Gorge. He lived during the Mesolithic era, before the arrival of agriculture to the British Isles, and may have been among the earliest people to settle in Great Britain. The condition of the remains suggests that Cheddar Man died a violent death. A large crater-like lesion just above the skull’s right orbit suggests he may have also been suffering from a bone infection.
Morphology
Analysis of his nuclear DNA indicates that he was a typical member of the Western European hunter-gatherer population at the time, with a most likely phenotype of blue-green eyes, dark brown or black hair, and dark or dark-to-black skin, with no genetic adaption for lactase persistence into adulthood.Cheddar Man was relatively short compared to modern Europeans, with an estimated stature of around 166 centimetres (5 ft 5 in), and weighing around 66 kilograms (146 lb). Proportionally, he is in most respects similar to modern Europeans, and may be described as ‘cold-adapted’, but with a high crural index (thigh length to leg length ratio) which is much higher than the modern European average and higher even than the modern sub-Saharan African average, and a high tibia length-to-trunk height ratio similar to modern North Africans.

Reconstructed head of Cheddar Man based on the shape of his skull and DNA analysis, shown at the National History Museum in London
Ancestry
About 85% of his ancestry can be modelled as coming from the c. 14,000–7,000-year-old Villabruna genetic cluster, and only c. 15% from the Goyet Q2 cave cluster whose genes are found in association with the Late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian culture. He is not closely related to the earlier Magdalenian individuals found in the same cave, whose ancestry is entirely from the Goyet cluster.
The genomes of all British Mesolithic individuals sequenced to date other than Cheddar Man can be modelled as only Villabruna-related (WHG) ancestry, without additional Goyet-related admixture. The results of the Natural History Museum study gave evidence that Cheddar Man’s ancestry, and the wave of anatomically modern humans he was part of, originated in the Middle East. This suggests that his ancestors would have left Africa, moved into the Middle East and later headed west into Europe, before eventually traversing Doggerland, a land bridge which connected Britain to continental Europe. It is estimated that 10% of the genomes of modern white British people comes from this population of anatomically modern humans.
British Mesolithic hunter gatherers like Cheddar Man contribute negligibly to the ancestry of modern British people, due to later migrations like those of Neolithic farmers and the Bell Beaker culture effectively completely replacing the previous inhabitants of Britain, with the WHG/Villabruna ancestry in modern British people instead deriving from continental hunter gatherers.
In popular culture
Soon after the discovery of the skeleton, Cheddar Man became part of a discourse of British nationalism and cultural heritage, with an initially proposed age of 40,000–80,000 years. The specimen was heralded by some as the ‘first Englishman’.
The analysis of Cheddar Man’s mitochondrial DNA by Bryan Sykes in 1996 was broadcast on a regional television programme in the UK, Once Upon a Time in the West. The programme emphasised the connection between Cheddar Man and Adrian Targett, a history teacher from a local school, both of whom belonged to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U5, although this cannot demonstrate a direct connection between Cheddar Man and this individual, and many people with the same mtDNA haplogroup could probably be found even within the local area.
The programme generated coverage in national and international media, which focused mainly on the supposed relationship between Cheddar Man and the local history teacher, and failed to emphasise that mitochondrial DNA is only passed on through the mother, and makes up only a small proportion of an individual’s genome. In 2018, the publication of the genetics study by Brace et al. and subsequent facial reconstruction of a dark-skinned and blue-eyed Cheddar Man resulted in widespread media coverage. This coverage again described Cheddar Man as the “first Brit” (despite older remains of modern humans being known from Britain).
Public discourse surrounding the reconstruction of Cheddar Man heavily revolved around the themes of immigration, national identity, race, and Brexit. Some saw Cheddar Man’s predicted dark skin colour as a helpful riposte to anti-immigration arguments, while others condemned it as fake news and left-wing politically correct propaganda. A dark skin colour was “strongly suggested” through exhaustive DNA studies. The current scientific consensus holds that populations living in Europe became lighter-skinned over time because pale skin absorbs more sunlight, which is required to produce enough vitamin D. There are a handful of genetic variations linked to lighter skin; it was determined in the study that Cheddar Man had “ancestral” versions of all these genes, strongly suggesting he would have had “dark to black” skin tone, but combined with blue eyes.

Cheddar man was a man who lived around 16.000 BCE in the western reaches of the island of Great Britain, in an area known as Cheddar Gorge
Pictured:
- Reconstructed head of Cheddar Man based on the shape of his skull and DNA analysis, shown at the National History Museum in London. Wx8, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Skeleton: Photo of the skeleton of cheddar man photographed from the side. Date Oct 2024, Source: via Wikimedia Commons. Photo by user:geni, Author Geni, via Wikimedia Commons.
- A panoramic view of Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, UK. Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Cockerham 16463 (I-L1195) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9550 BCE.
Cockerham 16463 was a man who lived between 4000 and 3500 BCE during the European Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Cockerham, North Yorkshire, England. He was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H4a1a2.
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire and the Dales has a fascinating history. It was first occupied in around 8000BC following the end of the last ice age, which through shifting water, ice and rock helped to create the distinctive landscapes we see today.
A landscape forged by ice
As the ice receded and the tundra-like conditions gave way to thick forests, increasing numbers of people slowly began to make the region their home. The first inhabitants were probably hunter gatherers who may have arrived while following migrating herds of reindeer or wild horses. Slowly but surely they pushed back the tress to allow their prey more room to graze.
By 3000 E the first farming was taking place and a powerful ruling class had emerged which in return for a share of the produce, would have offered protection to farmers from marauding enemies. Evidence of these early farmers can be seen throughout the region, particularly in concentrations of small stone mounds and boundary banks, made up of stones which have been cleared from the fields.
Reference: I16463 from Patterson et al. 2021
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Upper Swell (I-Y3712) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9550 BCE.
Upper Swell was a man who lived between 4000 and 3500 BCE during the Early Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Upper Swell, Wantage, England. He was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a1.
Upper Swell
Swell is located in the Cotswold district immediately west of the town of Stow-on-the-Wold. The main settlements are Upper Swell and Lower Swell both of which are on B-class roads radiating from the town.
The Neolithic in the British Isles
The Neolithic period in the British Isles lasted from c. 4100 to c. 2,500 BCE. Constituting the final stage of the Stone Age in the region, it was preceded by the Mesolithic and followed by the Bronze Age.
Until recently, archaeologists debated whether the Neolithic Revolution was brought to the British Isles through adoption by natives or by migrating groups of Continental Europeans who settled there.
A 2019 study found that the Neolithic farmers of the British Isles had entered the region through a mass migration c. 4100 BCE. They were closely related to Neolithic peoples of Iberia, which implies that they were descended from agriculturalists who had moved westwards from the Balkans along the Mediterranean coast. The arrival of farming populations led to the almost-complete replacement of the native Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of the British Isles, who did not experience a genetic resurgence in the succeeding centuries.
The 2003 discovery of the Ness of Brodgar site has presented an example of a highly-sophisticated and possibly-religious complex in the British Isles dating from around 3500 BCE, before the first pyramids and contemporary with the city of Uruk. The site is still in early stages of excavation but is expected to yield major contributions to knowledge of the period.
Reference: UpperSwell from Brace et al. 2019.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Burn Ground (I-Y3712) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9550 BCE.
Burn Ground lived between 3943 and 3711 BCE during the Early Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Burn Ground, Gloucestershire, England. He was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U5b2.
Burn Ground
Burn Ground is an archaeological site in Hampnett, Cotswold District, England. Burn Ground is situated nearby to Church of St George and the historic building The Old House.
The Cotswolds is a region in Gloucestershire, central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley, Bath and Evesham Vale.
The Cotswolds are rich in remains from early settlements including Iron Age, Roman villages, and over one hundred burial grounds from the Neolithic era scattered throughout the Cotswolds. The Cotswold-Severn Group are a series of long barrows erected in an area of western Britain during the Early Neolithic. Around 200 known examples of long barrows are known from the Cotswold-Severn region, although an unknown number of others were likely destroyed prior to being recorded.
Following the end of the last major cold phase of the Devensian glacial cycle about 10,000 BC, the familiar landscape zones of the Upper Thames Valley, Cotswold uplands, Severn Valley, and Forest of Dean began to take on their current topography and form. Of the four, the most dynamic area in the early Holocene and beyond was the Severn Valley, especially what is now the Severn Estuary.
Here sea level has risen unevenly during the Holocene, significant temporally limited fluctuations being superimposed on the underlying upward trend which was at first rather rapid. As a result of these changing conditions, a deep sequence of transgressive estuarine silts alternating with layers of intertidal and terrestrial peats in places up to 15 m thick accumulated within and around the estuary between about 10,000 BCE and recent times.
These peats are highly variable in their development, both regionally and locally, but in general get thicker with increasing distance from the sea and the main rivers that crossed the levels. Understanding these deposits has been one of the main objectives of the Severn Estuary Levels
Reference: BurnGround from Brace et al. 2019.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Trumpington Brother 1 (I-BY153037) and I (I-FGC15105) hare a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9550 BCE.
Trumpington Brother 1 was a man who lived between 3762 and 3648 BCE during the Early Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Trumpington Meadows, Cambridgeshire, England. He was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
- The next article is from BBC News, April 12 2023, by Katy Prickett, Cambridgeshire.
Trumpington burial: Teenage Anglo-Saxon girl’s face revealed
The face of a girl who died more than 1,300 years ago has been revealed through facial reconstruction. Her skeleton was found buried on a wooden bed, with a gold and garnet cross on her chest at Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, in 2012. Forensic artist Hew Morrison created the likeness using measurements of the young woman’s skull and tissue depth data for Caucasian females.
“Her left eye was slightly lower, about half a centimetre, than her right eye – this would have been quite noticeable in life,” he said.
New specialist analysis of the 7th Century teenager’s bones and teeth has revealed more about her short life. She was born near the Alps, probably in southern Germany, and moved to the flat, Cambridgeshire fens at some point after she turned seven. In addition, her diet changed once she came to England.
Dr Leggett said: “We now know the proportion of protein dropped, suggesting she was eating more meat and dairy products when in southern Germany than on arrival in Trumpington.”
Researchers already knew from previous analysis that she had been suffering from an unknown illness before her death. Dr Leggett, who helped conduct the Cambridge University isotopic analysis before she moved to Edinburgh University, said: “She was probably quite unwell, she travelled a long way to somewhere completely unfamiliar – even the food was different – it must have been scary.”
The burial is one of only 18 bed burials uncovered so far in the UK, while the gold and garnet cross indicates her Christianity – and her aristocratic or royal background. Dr Leggett said research into European bed burials “really does seem to suggest the movement of a small group of young elite women from a mountainous area in continental Europe to the Cambridge region in the third quarter of the seventh century”.
The woman could have arrived as a bride, or to join a monastic house like nearby Ely Abbey, and therefore she was part of “pan-European networks of elite women who were heavily involved in the early church”.
Dr Leggett said: “She’s a wonderful example of bringing the past to life.”
Reference: TRM101 from Scheib et al. 2019.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Gen Scot 26 (I-L1195 ?) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9550 BCE.
Gen Scot 26 was a man who lived between 3955 and 3773 BCE during the Late Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Macarthur Cave, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. He was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup W1-T119C.
And there is also Gen Scot 29, a man who lived between 3515 and 3357 BCE and Gen Scot 30 (I-FT109337 ?), a man who lived between 33710 and 2632 BCE. Both men lived during the Late Neolithic Age and were found in the region now known as Distillery Cave, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. They were both was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
Maybe I share also a common paternal line ancestor with them, they both lived <<< before 3000 BCE.
- Gen Scot’s 29 direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U5a2-C16294T*.
- Gen Scot’s 30 direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup J1c1*.
MacArthur Cave
The MacArthur Cave has come to be regarded as the type-site of the Obanian culture. It was discovered towards the end of 1894 by quarrymen and was excavated by Anderson in 1895. Removal of the talus and fallen rocks which encumbered the entrance revealed a possibly artificial, barrier of rocks, behind which the infilling reached almost to the roof.
The great majority of the implements recovered were of bone, 140 of these being found. Of the stone implements recovered, only eight of flint were definable. Finds are now in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS, Accession no : HL 1-389).
During the excavation parts of the skeletons of at least four individuals were discovered. The burials, however, cannot be associated with the mesolithic material from the cave, as they were found on top of and within the thick layer of debris that sealed these deposits. Their date is not known.
The remains from Macarthur Cave were analysed by a team led by Professor David Reich of Harvard University, who established the men were close relatives. DNA analysis has found that two men laid to rest in a cave in Oban were descended from immigrants from the Continent who settled in Scotland around 6,000 years ago, and were most likely brothers.
Earlier research by Professor Reich and others has shown that immigrant farmers from Northern France came to Britain around 4000 BCE, introducing a way of life that was totally different from that of the indigenous population of hunter-fisher-foragers and almost wiping out their DNA signature.
Credit:
The Scotsman
Gen Scot 26, Reference: I2657 from Olalde et al. 2018.
Gen scot 29, Reference: I2660 from Allen Ancient Genome Diversity Project; Olalde et al. 2018
Gen Scot 30, Reference: I2691 from Allen Ancient Genome Diversity Project; Olalde et al. 2018
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Poulnabrone 4 (I-Y3709) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9550 BCE.
Poulnabrone 4 was a man who lived between 3946 and 3653 BCE during the Early Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Portal Tomb, Poulnabrone, Clare, Ireland. He was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H1*.
Portal Tomb, Poulnabrone, Clare, Ireland.
Poulnabrone, Literally meaning “the hole of the sorrows,” is situated on the high Burren limestone plateau, Poulnabrone Dolmen is one of Ireland’s most iconic archaeological monuments and is the second most visited location in the Burren after the Cliffs of Moher. It is the oldest dated megalithic monument in Ireland.
Archaeology
Excavations by archaeologist Anne Lynch in the 1980’s revealed the remains of 33 people at the site and radiocarbon dating of their bones indicates that the tomb was in continual use for a period of 600 years between 5,200 and 5,800 years ago. The bones show signs of wear that suggests hard physical labour was normal for the people of the time and while one hip bone had the tip of an arrow head embedded in it indicating conflict, there is also evidence of creativity and craftsmanship shown in the discovery of a decorated neck pendant.
Credit:
Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark
Reference: PN04 from Cassidy et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Primrose 17 (I-M284) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC15071) who lived around 9550 BCE.
Primrose 17 was a man who lived between 3780 and 3650 BCE during the Middle Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Primrose Grange, Ireland. He was associated with the Megalithic Ireland cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a-T195C!.
The megalithic monument of Primrose Grange, Ireland
This megalithic monument is situated on the south side of Knocknarea mountain, with wide views across Ballisodare Bay and the Ox Mountains. The mountain-top cairns at Croghaun and Doomore, and the ruined Eochy’s cairn at Tanrego mark the site of the First Battle of Moytura in a fascinating article by Henry Morris, published in 1928.
The remains at Primrose Grange consist of the chamber of some kind of a court-tomb, one of three found on the Cuil Iorra peninsula. The monument was excavated by Dr. Göran Burenhult and his team in the late 1990’s while they were also working on the sites at Carrowmore, two kilometers to the east of Primrose Grange.
This tomb was excavated between 1996 and 1998 as part of the Swedish Archaeological Excavations campaign at Carrowmore. The excavations have shown that ‘that the tomb was in use at the same time as the Carrowmore cemetery. An intact deposition layer inside the chamber, excavated during 1997, has produced a date of around 4000 BC’ The tomb has produced large quantities of unburned human bones, as well as stone and bone artefacts. All the burials found in tomb were inhumations. The finds included extraordinary pieces of chert artefacts, mainly leaf-shaped or pointed arrow-heads. (Burenhult 1998).
Credit:
The Fr. O’Flanagan Heritage Centre
Reference: prs017 from Sánchez-Quinto et al. 2019.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Zličín 16549 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L1229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 478
Only 511 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Zličín 16549.
Zličín 16549 was a man who lived between 1300 and 800 BCE during the European Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Zličín, Praha, Czech Republic. He was associated with the Knoviz cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H1an1.
Zličín is a district and cadastral area in the west of Prague, located in an administrative district of the same name, which is part of Prague 5 in the old system and governs the cadastral areas Zličín, Sobín and the northern part of Třebonice.
Knoviz cultural group
The Knovíz culture (Czech: Knovízská kultura) was an upper Danubian subgroup of the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture, located mainly in Bohemia, Thuringia, and Bavaria.[ The eponymous type site for this culture, the Czech village of Knovíz, is located near Prague. The Knovíz culture was similar to the neighbouring Milavce culture, except for the funerary rites, which featured occasional skeletal burials as well as cremations.
The Knovíz culture featured a distinctive type of horse, which may have been the predecessor of the so-called ‘Celtic’ or ‘Germanic’ pony. There is evidence that the people of this culture practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism. Archaeological and genetic evidence tentatively suggests that the people of the Knovíz culture may have been ethnically Celtic.
Research history
Between 1892 and 1893 archaeologists J. L. Píč and Jiří Felcman excavated part of a settlement from the Late Bronze Age near the village of Knovíz. The finds from this settlement were later found to have similar characteristics to those of other sites, and so Knovíz became the eponymous type site for a late Bronze Age culture, mainly centred in Central and Northwestern Bohemia. Initially, the similarity of the Knovíz and Lusatian cultures led to the assumption that these civilizations were ethnically unified, and it was at first suggested that the Knovíz culture emerged from the Lusatian culture.
Origins
The Knovíz culture emerged from the preceding Tumulus culture at the beginning of the Bz D period. Hrala states that the material and ethnic continuity of the Knovíz culture with the Tumulus culture is beyond any doubt.
Credit:
Wikipedia
Reference: I16549 from Patterson et al. 2021
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Břvany 14481 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Břvany 14481 was a man who lived between 1000 and 800 BCE during the European Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Břvany, Louny, Czech Republic. He was associated with the Knoviz cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup W3a.
Břvany
Břvany is a municipality and village in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 300 inhabitants. Břvany lies approximately 8 kilometres (5 mi) north-west of Louny, 36 km (22 mi) south-west of Ústí nad Labem, and 61 km (38 mi) north-west of Prague.
Knoviz cultural group
The Knovíz culture (Czech: Knovízská kultura) was an upper Danubian subgroup of the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture, located mainly in Bohemia, Thuringia, and Bavaria.[ The eponymous type site for this culture, the Czech village of Knovíz, is located near Prague. The Knovíz culture was similar to the neighbouring Milavce culture, except for the funerary rites, which featured occasional skeletal burials as well as cremations.
The Knovíz culture featured a distinctive type of horse, which may have been the predecessor of the so-called ‘Celtic’ or ‘Germanic’ pony. There is evidence that the people of this culture practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism. Archaeological and genetic evidence tentatively suggests that the people of the Knovíz culture may have been ethnically Celtic.
Research history
Between 1892 and 1893 archaeologists J. L. Píč and Jiří Felcman excavated part of a settlement from the Late Bronze Age near the village of Knovíz. The finds from this settlement were later found to have similar characteristics to those of other sites, and so Knovíz became the eponymous type site for a late Bronze Age culture, mainly centred in Central and Northwestern Bohemia. Initially, the similarity of the Knovíz and Lusatian cultures led to the assumption that these civilizations were ethnically unified, and it was at first suggested that the Knovíz culture emerged from the Lusatian culture.
Origins
The Knovíz culture emerged from the preceding Tumulus culture at the beginning of the Bz D period. Hrala states that the material and ethnic continuity of the Knovíz culture with the Tumulus culture is beyond any doubt.
Credit:
Wikipedia
Reference: I14481 from Patterson et al. 2021
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Konobrže 16099 (I-S16056) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2068) who lived around 2400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 616
Only 396 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Konobrže 16099.
Konobrže 16099 was a man who lived between 1500 and 1250 BCE during the European Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Konobrže, Most, Czech Republic. He was associated with the Tumulus cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup HV0+195.
Konobrž or Konobrže
Konobrž or Konobrže is a defunct settlement that was part of the also defunct village of Kopisty in the Most district of the Ústí Region. The settlement was located at an altitude of 258 meters, approximately three kilometers north of the old town of Most.
Between 1892 and 1893 archaeologists J. L. Píč and Jiří Felcman excavated part of a settlement from the Late Bronze Age near the village of Knovíz. The finds from this settlement were later found to have similar characteristics to those of other sites, and so Knovíz became the eponymous type site for a late Bronze Age culture, mainly centered in Central and Northwestern Bohemia.
The territory of today’s Knovíz was inhabited already in the Neolithic period, which is proven by finds dating back about 6000 years. To the east of the village, in the Younger Bronze Age, there was a settlement of the people of the Knovíz culture, an archeological culture of Bronze Age, named after this site.
The Knovíz culture is a Bronze Age urnfield culture of Bohemia, Thuringia, and Bavaria, following the decline of the Tumulus Bronze Age, 1400-900 BCE. Except for the burial rite, the Knovíz culture is similar to that of the neighboring Milavce group.
The Knoviz group is one of the exceptions to the normal urnfield rite in that inhumation is more frequent than cremation burial. Few large settlement sites are known, the bulk of material deriving from small farmsteads with pits and post-holes and cemeteries. Hengiform monuments and horseshoe-shaped enclosures are occasionally associated with Knoviz pottery. The vessel form is the Etagengefass, with a large bulging body and a smaller bottomless pot fused on top of it to form the neck.
The Tumulus culture
The Tumulus culture was the dominant material culture in Central Europe during the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1600 to 1300 BCE).
It was the descendant of the Unetice culture. Its heartland was the area previously occupied by the Unetice culture, and its territory included parts of Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, the Carpathian Basin, Poland and France. It was succeeded by the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture and part of the origin of the Italic and Celtic cultures.
The Tumulus culture is distinguished by the practice of burying the dead beneath burial mounds (tumuli or kurgans). The Tumulus culture was eminently a warrior society, which expanded with new chiefdoms eastward into the Carpathian Basin (up to the river Tisza), and northward into Polish and Central European Únětice territories.
The culture’s dispersed settlements consisted of villages or homesteads centered on fortified structures such as hillforts. Significant fortified settlements include the Heuneburg, Bullenheimer Berg, Ehrenbürg, and Bernstorf.
Fortification walls were built from wood, stone and clay. The massive 3.6m-wide wall surrounding the plateau of the Ehrenbürg resembled later murus gallicus fortifications known from the Iron Age. Cyclopean’ stone fortifications topped with wooden battlements were constructed c. 1400 BCE at the large hillfort of Stätteberg in Bavaria.
Tumulus culture societies traded with those in Scandinavia, Atlantic Europe, the Mediterranean region and the Aegean. Traded items included amber and metal artefacts. From the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age there is evidence for the use of weighed metal as form of payment or money. Weighing equipment has been found in central Europe dating from c. 1400 BCE onwards.
Reference: I16099 from Patterson et al. 2021
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Poláky 15071 (I-S183331) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L1229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 477
Only 511 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Poláky 15071.
Poláky 15071 was a man who lived between 800 and 550 BCE during the European Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Poláky, Chomutov, Czech Republic. He was associated with the Hallstatt cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U5b1b1+@16192.
Poláky, Chomutov, Czech Republic.
Poláky is a village in Chbany, Chomutov District, Ústí nad Labem Region and has about 141 residents. Poláky is situated nearby to the hamlets Hořenice and Malé Krhovice.
The Hallstatt Culture is named after the site of that name in Austria and it flourished in central Europe from the 8th to 6th century BCE. The full period of its presence extends from c. 1200 to c. 450 BCE – from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age.
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries BC, developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BCE (Late Bronze Age) and followed in much of its area by the La Tène culture. It is commonly associated with Proto-Celtic speaking populations.
It is named for its type site, Hallstatt, a lakeside village in the Austrian Salzkammergut southeast of Salzburg, where there was a rich salt mine, and some 1,300 burials are known, many with fine artifacts. Material from Hallstatt has been classified into four periods, designated “Hallstatt A” to “D”. Hallstatt A and B are regarded as Late Bronze Age and the terms used for wider areas, such as “Hallstatt culture”, or “period”, “style” and so on, relate to the Iron Age Hallstatt C and D.
By the 6th century BC, it had expanded to include wide territories, falling into two zones, east and west, between them covering much of western and central Europe down to the Alps, and extending into northern Italy. Parts of Britain and Iberia are included in the ultimate expansion of the culture.
The culture was based on farming, but metal-working was considerably advanced, and by the end of the period long-range trade within the area and with Mediterranean cultures was economically significant. Social distinctions became increasingly important, with emerging elite classes of chieftains and warriors, and perhaps those with other skills.
Society is thought to have been organized on a tribal basis, though very little is known about this. Settlement size was generally small, although a few of the largest settlements, like Heuneburg in the south of Germany, were towns rather than villages by modern standards. However, at the end of the period these seem to have been overthrown or abandoned.
Chronology
According to Paul Reinecke’s time-scheme from 1902, the end of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age were divided into four periods
Bronze Age Urnfield culture: HaA (1200-1050 BCE) HaB (1050-800 BCE |
Early Iron Age Hallstatt culture: |
Hallstatt type site
The community at Hallstatt was untypical of the wider, mainly agricultural, culture, as its booming economy exploited the salt mines in the area. These had been worked from time to time since the Neolithic period, and in this period were extensively mined with a peak from the 8th to 5th centuries BCE.
The style and decoration of the grave goods found in the cemetery are very distinctive, and artifacts made in this style are widespread in Europe. In the mine workings themselves, the salt has preserved many organic materials such as textiles, wood and leather, and many abandoned artifacts such as shoes, pieces of cloth, and tools including miner’s backpacks, have survived in good condition.
In 1846, Johann Georg Ramsauer (1795–1874) discovered a large prehistoric cemetery near Hallstatt, Austria (47.561°N 13.642°E), which he excavated during the second half of the 19th century. Eventually the excavation would yield 1,045 burials, although no settlement has yet been found. This may be covered by the later village, which has long occupied the whole narrow strip between the steep hillsides and the lake.
Some 1,300 burials have been found, including around 2,000 individuals, with women and children but few infants. Nor is there a “princely” burial, as often found near large settlements. Instead, there are a large number of burials varying considerably in the number and richness of the grave goods, but with a high proportion containing goods suggesting a life well above subsistence level. It is now thought that at least most of these were not miners themselves, but from a richer class controlling the mines.
Finds at Hallstatt extend from about 1200 BC until around 500 BCE and are divided by archaeologists into four phases: Hallstatt A–B (1200–800 BCE) are part of the Bronze Age Urnfield culture. In this period, people were cremated and buried in simple graves. In phase B, tumulus (barrow or kurgan) burial becomes common, and cremation predominates. The “Hallstatt period” proper is restricted to HaC and HaD (800–450 BCE), corresponding to the early European Iron Age. Hallstatt lies in the area where the western and eastern zones of the Hallstatt culture meet, which is reflected in the finds from there. Hallstatt D is succeeded by the La Tène culture.
Hallstatt C is characterized by the first appearance of iron swords mixed amongst the bronze ones. Inhumation and cremation co-occur. For the final phase, Hallstatt D, daggers, almost to the exclusion of swords, are found in western zone graves ranging from c. 600–500 BCE. There are also differences in the pottery and brooches. Burials were mostly inhumations. Halstatt D has been further divided into the sub-phases D1–D3, relating only to the western zone, and mainly based on the form of brooches.
Major activity at the site appears to have finished about 500 BCE, for reasons that are unclear. Many Hallstatt graves were robbed, probably at this time. There was widespread disruption throughout the western Hallstatt zone, and the salt workings had by then become very deep. By then the focus of salt mining had shifted to the nearby Hallein Salt Mine, with graves at Dürrnberg nearby where there are significant finds from the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods, until the mid-4th century BC, when a major landslide destroyed the mineshafts and ended mining activity.
Much of the material from early excavations was dispersed, and is now found in many collections, especially German and Austrian museums, but the Hallstatt Museum in the town has the largest collection.
Credits:
Text: Wikipedia Commons
1.] Drawing of a Hallstatt burial ground by Johann George Ramsauer (1795-1874), Wikipedia Commons
2.] Drawing of a salt mine: Reconstruction of Bronze Age salt mining at the Christian von Tuschwerk site in Hallstatt.
Reference: I15071 from Patterson et al. 2021.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Grofovenjive 5689 (I-Y3675) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Y3675) who lived around 1950 BCE.
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Only 323 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Grofove njive 5689.
Grofove njive 5689 was a man who lived between 750 and 415 BCE during the European Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Grave, Grofove njive, Slovenia. He was associated with the Iron Age Balkans cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1b1.
Grofove njive, Slovenia
The site was detected during a field survey conducted in 1998 in the cadastral municipality of Krška vas– Smlednik, in advance of motorway and associated infrastructure construction. The survey revealed a large amount of prehistoric, Roman and modern pottery as well as Roman and modern building material.
On the site of Grofovenjive near Drnovo, were an unfortified lowland settlement and a tumulus from the Early Iron Age found. The prehistoric settlement remains constitute six huts, three large pits and other, smaller structures. These were arranged east and west of a presumably contemporaneous paved path. Approximately 35m northeast of the settlement lay the cemetery, more specifically a burial plot encircled by a ditch, which most probably represented the remains of a tumulus.
The well preserved metal grave goods provide a clear date for the tumulus, while the relative date of the settlement remains vague. During excavation, it was assumed that the settlement dated to the Bronze Age and the cemetery to the Iron Age. However, the post-excavation pottery analysis showed that both complexes were most likely contemporaneous and dated to the Iron Age.
A precise chronological determination of the settlement based on pottery alone is not possible, as there covered types of vessels appear throughout the Hallstatt period. There is a high probability is that the settlement existed in the Early Iron Age.
Iron age
In Central Europe, the Iron Age is generally divided in the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture (HaC and D, 800–450 BCE) and the late Iron Age La Tène culture (beginning in 450 BCE). The transition from bronze to iron in Central Europe is exemplified in the great cemetery of Hallstatt, discovered near Gmunden in 1846, where the forms of the implements and weapons of the later part of the Bronze Age are imitated in iron. In the Swiss or La Tène group of implements and weapons, the forms are new and the transition complete.
The Celtic culture, or rather Proto-Celtic groups, had expanded to much of Central Europe (Gauls), and, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC,E as far east as central Anatolia (Galatians). In Central Europe, the prehistoric Iron Age ends with the Roman conquest.
From the Hallstatt culture, the Iron Age spreads westwards with the Celtic expansion from the 6th century BCE. In Poland, the Iron Age reaches the late Lusatian culture in about the 6th century, followed in some areas by the Pomeranian culture
Reference: I5689 from Patterson et al. 2021
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Site text: www.academia.edu

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Padina 5243 (I-S20743) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L1229) who lived 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 478
Only 511 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Padina 5243.
Padina 5243 was an old adult man who lived between 2458 and 2238 BCE during the European Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Padina, Serbia. He was associated with the Bronze Age Balkans cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup I3a.
Padina
Padina is a village in Serbia in the municipality of Kovačica. Padina lies in the middle of South Banat, at the border of Deliblato’s shoal, on 52.75 km2, and in a southeast-northwest course. Its name means slope or downhill. Padina covers 13% of Kovačica municipality, that is parting of the ways of roads to Belgrade, Zrenjanin, Novi Sad and Vršac.

The location of the Mesolithic-Neolithic sites of Padina (1), Lepenski Vir (2), and Vlasac (3) in the Danube Gorges, and the Medieval Studenica Monastery (4) in south-western Serbia.
(Credit map: Researchgate.net)
The Padina site
The site of Padina consists of several settlements located at horseshoe shaped coves downstream from the Gospo∂in Whirlpool (Sectors I–III). The earliest phase here belongs to the Late Mesolithic of the Iron Gates, followed by the entire development of the Lepenski Vir culture. After a long hiatus, the Late Neolithic Kostolac culture, which at the time spread across the Danube and the Sava river basins, is the next cultural manifestation at this site, finally followed by the Early Iron Age Kalakača culture.
Built along the steep cliffs of the Gorge, the settlements of the Lepenski Vir culture at the eponymous site and at Padina were built in parallel rows, one higher than the other, forming stepped terraces. The history of the Lepenski Vir culture after the abandonment of its settlement remains unclear, especially of Lepenski Vir and Padina. It is more likely that one relatively scarce, mixed population of fishermen, hunters and probably even cattle breeders, already accepting the new mode of sedentary, Early Neolithic lifestyle, peacefully abandoned their previous environmental zone. While the locations of previous settlements were still respected, they remained without visible traces of seasonal camps, until the Late Eneolithic, when Kostolac and Cotofeni settlements appear in the Iron Gates Gorges.
Credit map: Researchgate.net
The Bronze Age Balkans cultural group
In Central Europe, the early Bronze Age Unetice culture (2300–1600 BCE) includes numerous smaller groups like the Straubingen, Adlerberg and Hatvan cultures. Some very rich burials, such as the one located at Leubingen (today part of Sömmerda) with grave gifts crafted from gold, point to an increase of social stratification already present in the Unetice culture. All in all, cemeteries of this period are rare and of small size. Trade links and commercial exchanges between one region and another developed on a much larger scale. This was revealed primarily in the spread of metal objects of various kinds.
Thus in the eastern parts of the Balkans the most significant shapes were connected with metallurgical regions by the Caspian Sea : in particular axes with an elongated shaft-hole, which have numerous variants. Such shapes were known also farther west. On the other hand the great majority of the metal objects in the West Balkans belonged to the Central European area of metal production.
Finally, the influence of the Mycenaean world, especially in the eastern Balkans and the Carpathian region, was not negligible. It was reflected in particular in imports or copies of Mycenaean swords, certain decorative patterns, and jewellery
The Unetice culture is followed by the middle Bronze Age (1600–1200 BCE) Tumulus culture, which is characterized by inhumation burials in tumuli (barrows). In the eastern Hungarian Körös tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of the Makó culture, followed by the Otomani and Gyulavarsánd cultures.
The late Bronze Age Urnfield culture (1300–750 BCE) is characterized by cremation burials. It includes the Lusatian culture in eastern Germany and Poland (1300–500 BCE) that continues into the Iron Age. The Central European Bronze Age is followed by the Iron Age Hallstatt culture (800–450 BCE).
Reference: I5243 from Lazaridis et al. 2022.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Mokrin 28A and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L1229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 478
Only 511 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Mokrin 28A.
Mokrin 28A was a 15-18 year old man who lived between 2100 and 1800 BCE during the European Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Mokrin necropolis, Mokrin, Serbia. He was associated with the Maros cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup J1c.
The Mokrin village
Mokrin (Serbian Cyrillic: Мокрин) is the largest village in the Kikinda municipality, in the North Banat District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. In Serbian, the village is known as Mokrin (Мокрин), in Hungarian as Mokrin (previously Homokrév), and in German as Mokrin. The name of the village derived from Serbian word “mokro” (“wet” in English).
The Mokrin necropolis
The Mokrin necropolis, situated in the northeastern part of the Republic of Serbia, is one of the most important Early Bronze Age cemetery sites and has been the subject of numerous studies aiming to answer important questions about social structure, culture and physical anthropology of the Early Bronze Age communities.
A Bronze Age Moriš (Maros/Mureș) culture necropolis of 312 graves was unearthed in Mokrin. The graves of the men had large golden discs placed at the breasts. Only a small amount of the graves were found to have weapons and tools.
The individual Mokrin genomes are best modelled as a mixture of Central European hunter-gatherers, Aegean Neolithic farmers and influences from the Eastern European steppes. The Mokrin sample resembles a genetically unstructured population, suggesting that the community’s social hierarchies were not accompanied by strict marriage barriers.
At the Mokrin necropolis, relatives were buried close together in small kinship groups; interestingly these small groups did not include biological fathers. The absence of larger kindreds and the relatively high Y-haplotype diversity in our sample are evidence against strict patrilocality in this population. Individual status differences at Mokrin, as indicated by grave goods, support the inference that females could inherit status, but could not transmit status to all their sons.
The Early Bronze Age necropolis of Mokrin in Serbia (2100-1800 cal BCE), which belongs to Maros culture, has a great significance for the study of kinship relationships and social organization. As the other necropolises of the Maros culture, Mokrin had a highly standardized funerary ritual: the deceased were laid to rest in a couched position, arms bent at the elbows and facing east, while the position of the skeletons depended on the sex.
The Maros Group and its chronology
The Maros Group is an Early and Middle Bronze Age complex located in south-eastern Hun-gary, western Romania and northern Serbia. At the beginning of the twentieth century, two major tell settlements—Periam-Movila Șanțului (Perjámos-Sánchalom) ) and Pecica-Şanţul Mare (Pécska-Nagysánc) had been excavated, which provided a stratigraphic sequence for the regional Bronze Age.
Soon afterwards, a series of large inhumation cemeteries were excavated near the Tisza-Maros confluence, including Szőreg C, Deszk A and F, Ószentiván in Hungary and, more recently, at Mokrin and Ostoji’cevo in Serbia.
Maros Group sites are found along the River Maros (Mureş/Moriš) and along the eastbank of the River Tisza (Tisa) from its confluence with the Maros (near present-day Szeged in Hungary) to the Danube. Sites associated with the Group reached their maximum regional extent during the Middle (or Classic) Phase, which corresponds roughly to the beginning of the Carpathian Basin Middle Bronze Ag. 2000 BCE.
The Late Phase, which corresponds with the second half of the Middle Bronze Age (from c. 1850 BCE), sees the intensification of metal production and long-distance trade, along with an increasing emphasis on horse rearing. Many settlements and cemeteries were abandoned, and populations consolidated into a smaller number of centralized sites. The Maros sequence ends relatively abruptly at c. 1500 BCE. The following period, the early phase of the Late Bronze Age (1500/1450–1300 BCE), is traditionally defined as the ‘Tumulus Grave’period
Reference: MOK28A from Žegarac et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Vlasac 4878 (I-Y7240) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 466
Only 524 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Vlasac 4878.
Vlasac 4878 was a man who lived between 5995 and 5710 BCE during the European Mesolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Iron Gates, Vlasac, Serbia. He was associated with the Balkans Hunter-Gatherer cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U4a*.

The location of the Mesolithic-Neolithic sites of Padina (1), Lepenski Vir (2), and Vlasac (3) in the Danube Gorges, and the Medieval Studenica Monastery (4) in south-western Serbia.
(Credit map: Researchgate.net)
The Iron Gates
The Iron Gates is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). At this point in the Danube, the river separates the southern Carpathian Mountains from the northwestern foothills of the Balkan Mountains.
The Romanian side of the gorge constitutes the Iron Gates Natural Park, whereas the Serbian part constitutes the Đerdap National Park..Archaeologists have named the Iron Gates mesolithic culture, of the central Danube region circa 13,000 to 5,000 years ago, after the gorge.
The Iron Gates is a Mesolithic archaeological culture dated to between 13000 and 6000 years BCE, in the Iron Gates region of the Danube River, in modern Romania and Serbia. The people who inhabited the Iron Gates area during this period of time have been surmised, through archaeological discoveries, to have lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, living off food they gather from land or from the Danube River. Varying burial practices have also been observed by these people.
One of the most important other archaeological sites in Serbia and Europe is Lepenski Vir, the oldest planned settlement in Europe, located on the banks of the Danube in the Iron Gate gorge. Despite a foraging economy, stages at this site dated at c. 6300–6000 BCE have been described as “the first city in Europe”, due to its permanency, organisation, as well as the sophistication of its architecture and construction techniques. Lepenski Vir consists of one large settlement with around 10 satellite villages. Numerous piscine sculptures and peculiar architecture have been found at the site.
The Iron Gates Mesolithic
The Iron Gates is a Mesolithic archaeological culture dated to between 13000 and 6000 years BCE, in the Iron Gates region of the Danube River, in modern Romania and Serbia. The people who inhabited the Iron Gates area during this period of time have been surmised, through archaeological discoveries, to have lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, living off food they gather from land or from the Danube River. Varying burial practices have also been observed by these people.
Major sites within this archaeological complex include Lepenski Vir. Despite a foraging economy, stages at this site dated at c. 6300–6000 BCE have been described as “the first city in Europe”, due to its permanency, organisation, as well as the sophistication of its architecture and construction techniques. Lepenski Vir consists of one large settlement with around 10 satellite villages. Numerous piscine sculptures and peculiar architecture have been found at the site.
History
The chronology of the Iron Gates Mesolithic is a bit contentious due to discrepancies in use of terminology and dates produced by carbon-dating and isotope analysis. However, based on more modern radiocarbon dates, the Mesolithic period in the Iron Gates region last from approximately 13000 BCE. This is then split into three stages called the Early, Middle and Late Mesolithic.
Burial Practices
Several different types of burials have been seen at various sites in the Iron Gates including primary and secondary inhumation, collective burials, and cremation.In the case of primary inhumations, similar to modern-day burials, a majority of the Iron Gate burials consisted of the person being in a supine position, with their hands laying on their sides or on their chest. There are other cases in which various limbs are flexed while the body remains in the supine position and in extreme cases there have been burials discovered at Padina, Vlasac and Lepenski Vir with crossed legs, which suggests that the bodies were buried in graves too small for them.
Secondary inhumations involves the burial of separate body parts prior to the body being decomposed. There were many examples of this technique in the Iron Gates, with the secondary burial of crania and jawbones being widespread. Instances of collective burial has been observed at some sites within this region as well as evidence of cremation, however there is only one site (Vlasac) in the Iron Gates that provides this evidence of cremation.
Most burials in the Iron Gates Mesolithic are hard to determine due to no observable characters on the surface, however some burials are below low stone mounds or encircled by large stones.
The people of the Iron Gates have sometimes been found to have objects with them in their graves, including animal and human skulls, antlers, tools and body ornaments. However, some of the bone objects found in burials can’t be considered burial goods, due to the Iron Gates Mesolithic people’s often burying people in areas previously used for other burials and settlement. The most notable object found in burials are marine shells and carp pharyngeal teeth beads, which were worn on clothes.
Clothing
The people of the Iron Gates Mesolithic have been found to wear decorative adornments sewn onto their clothes. The adornments consisted of shells, animal teeth and bones, and antler.
Shells from local aquatic life such as snails and molluscs, were sewn on clothes by putting a small hole in the shell. Beads and pendants made from bone and antler have been found with buried skeletons, as well as pharyngeal teeth from fish and red-deer canines, which were sewn onto cloth and leather and thus worn.
Technology
Technology in the Mesolithic era of the Iron Gates region consisted mostly of various tools and weapons made from bone, red-deer antlers and boar tusks.Tools dated to the Late Mesolithic included hoes, awls, arrowheads, and scrapers all of which were made from the materials mentioned above. Bones and antlers would be shaped, carved and rounded into points for various weapons and tools.
Credits:
Text:From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photo’s: All licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Example of a Pithouse, Author: Milos Tod
Example of burial, Author: Ванилица
It is equally important to recognize that the Balkan upper Palaeolithic was a long period containing little significant internal change. The Mesolithic may not have existed in the Balkans for the same reasons that cave art and mobiliary art never appeared: the changes in climate and flora and fauna were gradual and not drastic. (…) Furthermore, one of the reasons that we do not distinguish separate industries in the Balkans as Mesolithic is because the lithic industries of the early Holocene were very firmly of a gradually developing late Palaeolithic tradition
The Mesolithic is the transitional period between the Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gathering existence and the development of farming and pottery production during the Postglacial Neolithic. The duration of the classical Palaeolithic, which lasted until about 10,000 years ago, is applicable to Southeastern Europe. It ended with the Mesolithic (duration is two to four millennia) or, where an early Neolithisation was peculiar to, with the Epipalaeolithic.
There is lithic evidence of the Iron Gates mesolithic culture, which is notable for its early urbanization, at Lepenski Vir. Iron Gates mesolithic sites are found in modern Serbia, south-west Romania and Montenegro. At Ostrovul Banului, the Cuina Turcului rock shelter in the Danube gorges and in the nearby caves of Climente, there are finds that people of that time made relatively advanced bone and lithic tools (i.e. end-scrapers, blade lets, and flakes).
The single site with materials related to the Mesolithic era in Bulgaria is Pobíti Kámǎni. There has been no other lithic evidence of this period found in Bulgaria. There is a 4,000-year gap between the latest Upper Palaeolithic material (13,600 BCE at Témnata Dupka) and the earliest Neolithic evidence presented at Gǎlǎbnik (the beginning of the 7th millennium BC).
At Odmut in Montenegro there is evidence of human activity in the Mesolithic period. The research on the period has been supplemented with Greek Mesolithic finds, well represented by sites such as Frachthi Cave. Other sites are Theopetra Cave and Sesklo in Thessaly that represent the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic as well as the early Neolithic period. Yet southern and coastal sites in Greece, which contained materials from the Mesolithic, are less known.
Reference: I4878 from Allen Ancient Genome Diversity Project; Mathieson et al. 2018Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less.
- Map licence from Wikipedia Commons,

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Raischoille 1 was man who lived between 3942 and 3337 BCE during the Late Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Bodrogkeresztur, Urziceni, Romania. He was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a3.
Bodrogkeresztúr culture
The Bodrogkeresztúr culture was a middle Copper Age culture which flourished in Hungary and Romania from 4000 to 3600 BCE The Bodrogkeresztúr culture is best known for its seventy cemeteries. Which show clear genetic links with the preceding Tiszapolgár culture. Bodrogkeresztúr cemetieres make clear distinctions between males and females, who are buried on their right and left sides respectively. Both sexes are buried with their heads oriented towards the east. Burials contain pottery, stone and copper implements, and copper and gold ornaments.
The Bodrogkeresztúr appears to have practiced mixed agriculture and stockbreeding. Although primarily raising cattle, they appear to have raised sheep, goats and pigs as well. Wild fauna in their territories included aurochs, red deer, wild boar, roe deer and hare.
Bodrogkeresztúr ceramics are similar to those of the preceding Tiszapolgár culture, although a new form” referred to as the “milk jug” appears to have been introduced at this time. Flint and stone tools, copper and gold objects, ornaments and various implements are also inherited from the Tiszapolgár culture, although these objects appear at increasing frequency among the Bodrogkeresztúr culture.
The Bodrogkeresztúr people appear to have been living in communities composed of 15-20 closely related people. They appear to have been less patriarchal and more egalitarian than people of the preceding Tiszapolgár culture.
The physical type of the Bodrogkeresztúr people was of the Mediterranean type, and is contrasted with the “Proto-Europoid” type prevalent on the Eurasian Steppe.
In accordance with the Kurgan hypothesis, the Bodrogkeresztúr people are considered an “Indo-Europeanized” native culture whose structure was altered by invasions of Indo-European peoples from the east. Others have suggested that the Bodrogkeresztúr was natively Indo-European, and that it, along with the Sălcuţa culture of neighboring Bulgaria, migrated southwards and became the Proto-Greeks.
The population of Bodrogkeresztúr culture partially survived into the Bronze age, and indirectly to the Iron Age. By utilizing the anthropological Penrose method, Bodrogkeresztúr was shown, to have a significant connection with the Bronze age Maros-Perjamos culture, and indirectly through it to the Iron Age Celts of Transdanubia, and the Bosut culture of Vojvodina.
Reference: I14163 from Olalde et al. 2018.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credits:
Text: Wikipedia
Map: Wikipedia Map of the Bodrogkeresztúr culture, based on a map printed at page 75 in Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, which was edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, and published by Taylor & Francis in 1997.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Urziceni 14163 (I2-Y3721) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 466
Only 524 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Urziceni 14163.
Urziceni 14163 was a 20 to 30 year old man who lived between 4500 and 3500 BCE during the Chalcolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Bodrogkeresztur, Urziceni, Romania. He was associated with the Chalcolithic Balkans cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup W1.
The neolithic settlement from Urziceni-Vamă
The Eneolithic necropolis from Urziceni-Vamă is located in the free zone of the Romanian-Hungarian border at Urziceni – Vállaj, on a small terrace in the marshy valley of the Negru Brook.
The Urziceni necropolis is the necropolis with the most tombs belonging to the Bodrogkeresztur culture, discovered so far in Romania. The Eneolithic necropolis from Urziceni was discovered in 2003 as a result of archaeological research due to the construction of the border point at Urziceni. We are faced with the largest Eneolithic necropolis, belonging to Bodrogkeresztúr culture, in Romania. The Urziceni necropolis dated between 4300-4000 BC.
The investigation shows that a attention was paid due to the burials alignments. The statistics shows clearly that the graves and the skeletons from Urziceni necropolis are aligned E-W. Up to now excavated Urziceni necropolis, as the Basatanya cemetery, seems to have an hierarchical burial rite. Inhumation is the norm in burials, with individuals placed in crouched position on the left or the right side, oriented E-W, with the head pointing either W or E. A general-valid observation (but there are exceptions) is that the placement of the individuals on their right or left sides is determined by the biological sex of the deceased, respectively women were placed on the left and men on the right side.
The differences between the sexes is also reflected in the grave goods. Women are accompanied by vessels and impressive quantities of personal adornments. Men’s graves contain items related to specific activities: stone and copper tools, antler and bone projectile points, tooth scrapers etc.
The Urziceni cemetery (79 skeletons in 2015) is characterized by a spectacular inventory, with numerous pottery, pieces of copper (adornments and weapons) and of gold, Spondylus shell ornaments, lithic pieces (arrowheads, blades).
Spondylus shell ornaments, lithic pieces (arrowheads, blades). One of the most spectacular grave is M29, its funeral inventory comprising two pieces of gold =jewelry. Other interesting graves, which have inside them gold pieces are M41, M63. Six pieces of gold discovered in this necropolis were near the head zone and corresponds with hair and head ornaments. The Pottery was well fired, their color is from dark brown to red-grey. The surface of pottery was covered by engobe. Some pieces were decorated by fingers, or with zig-zaglines, meandric ornament.
Ancient Chalcolithic
From c. 5000 BCE to 3000 BCE, copper started being used first in Southeast Europe, then in Eastern Europe, and Central Europe. From c. 3500 onwards, there was an influx of people into Eastern Europe from the Pontic-Caspian steppe (Yamnaya culture), creating a plural complex known as Sredny Stog culture. This culture replaced the Dnieper-Donets culture, and migrated northwest to the Baltic and Denmark, where they mixed with natives (TRBK A and C). This may be correlated with the spread of Indo-European languages, known as the Kurgan hypothesis. Near the end of the period, another branch left many traces in the lower Danube area (culture of Cernavodă culture I), in what seems to have been another invasion.
Meanwhile, the Danubian Lengyel culture absorbed its northern neighbours of the Czech Republic and Poland over a number of centuries, only to recede in the second half of the period. In Bulgaria and Wallachia (Southern Romania), the Boian-Marica culture evolved into a monarchy with a clearly royal cemetery near the coast of the Black Sea. This model seems to have been copied later in the Tiszan region with the culture of Bodrogkeresztur. Labour specialization, economic stratification and possibly the risk of invasion may have been the reasons behind this development. The influx of early Troy (Troy I) is clear in both the expansion of metallurgy and social organization.
Middle Chalcolithic
This period extends along the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE. Most significant is the reorganization of the Danubians into the powerful Baden culture, which extended more or less to what would be the Austro-Hungarian Empire in recent times. The rest of the Balkans was profoundly restructured after the invasions of the previous period but, with the exception of the Coțofeni culture in a mountainous region, none of them show any eastern (or presumably Indo-European) traits. The new Ezero culture, in Bulgaria, had the first traits of pseudo-bronze (an alloy of copper with arsenic); as did the first significant Aegean group: the Cycladic culture after c. 2800 BCE.
In the North, the supposedly Indo-European groups seemed to recede temporarily, suffering a strong cultural danubianization. In the East, the peoples of beyond the Volga (Yamnaya culture), surely eastern Indo-Europeans, ancestors of Iranians, took over southern Russia and Ukraine. In the West the only sign of unity comes from the Megalithic super-culture, which extended from southern Sweden to southern Spain, including large parts of southern Germany. But the Mediterranean and Danubian groupings of the previous period appear to have been fragmented into many smaller pieces, some of them apparently backward in technological matters.
After c. 2600 several phenomena prefigured the changes of the upcoming period. Large towns with stone walls appeared in two different areas of the Iberian Peninsula: one in the Portuguese region of Estremadura (culture of Vila Nova de São Pedro), strongly embedded in the Atlantic Megalithic culture; the other near Almería (SE Spain), centred on the large town of Los Millares, of Mediterranean character, probably affected by eastern cultural influxes (tholoi). Despite the many differences the two civilizations seemed to be in friendly contact and to have productive exchanges.
According to radiocarbon dating, the Pre-Bell Beaker Chalcolithic began on the Northern Iberian Plateau in 3000 cal. BCE and the Bell Beaker Chalcolithic appeared around 2500 cal. BCE. In the area of Dordogne (Aquitaine, France), a new unexpected culture of bowmen appeared, the culture of Artenac, which would soon take control of western and even northern France and Belgium. In Poland and nearby regions, the putative Indo-Europeans reorganized and consolidated again with the culture of the Globular Amphoras. Nevertheless, the influence of many centuries in direct contact with the still-powerful Danubian peoples had greatly modified their culture.
In the southwestern Iberian peninsula, owl-like plaques made of sandstone were discovered and dated to be crafted from 5500 to 4750 BCE. These are some of the most unique objects discovered in the Chalcolithic (copper age) cultural period. They have generally a head, two rounded eyes, and a body. Theses species were modeled after two owl species, the little owl (Athene Noctua) and the long-eared owl (Asio otux).
Late Chalcolithic
This period extended from c. 2500 BCE to c. 1800 or 1700 BCE (depending on the region). The dates are general for the whole of Europe, and the Aegean area was already fully in the Bronze Age. c. 2500 BCE the new Catacomb culture, which originated from the Yamnaya peoples in the regions north and east of the Black Sea. Some of these infiltrated Poland and may have played a significant but unclear role in the transformation of the culture of the Globular Amphorae into the new Corded Ware culture. In Britain, copper was used between the 25th and 22nd centuries BCE, but some archaeologists do not recognise a British Chalcolithic because production and use was on a small scale.
Around 2400 BCE. this 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 (Single Grave culture), while the mid-Danubian basin, though showing more continuity, also displayed clear traits of new Indo-European elites (Vučedol culture).
Simultaneously, in the west, the Artenac peoples reached Belgium. With the partial exception of Vučedol, the Danubian cultures, so buoyant just a few centuries ago, were wiped off the map of Europe. The rest of the period was the story of a mysterious phenomenon: the Beaker people. This group seems to have been of mercantile character and preferred being buried according to a very specific, almost invariable, ritual.
The rest of the continent remained mostly unchanged and in apparent peace. From c. 2300 BCE the first Beaker Pottery appeared in Bohemia and expanded in many directions, but particularly westward, along the Rhone and the sea shores, reaching the culture of Vila Nova (Portugal) and Catalonia (Spain) as its limit. Simultaneously but unrelatedly, c. 2200 BCE in the Aegean region, the Cycladic culture decayed, being substituted by the new palatine phase of the Minoan culture of Crete.
The second phase of Beaker Pottery, from c. 2100 BCE onwards, was marked by the displacement of the centre of this phenomenon to Portugal, inside the culture of Vila Nova. This new centre’s influence reached to all southern and western France but was absent in southern and western Iberia, with the notable exception of Los Millares.
After c. 1900 BCE, the centre of the Beaker Pottery returned to Bohemia, while in Iberia there was a decentralization of the phenomenon, with centres in Portugal but also in Los Millares and Ciempozuelos.
Reference: I14163 from Lazaridis et al. 2022.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Pielgrzymowice 717 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7450 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 440
Only 582 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Pielgrzymowice 717.
Pielgrzymowice 717 was a man who lived between 1409 – 1134 BCE during the Late Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Pielgrzymowice 9, Małopolska province, Poland. He was associated with the Trzciniec cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U5b2a2a.
The Trzciniec culture
The Trzciniec culture is an Early and Middle Bronze Age (2400-1300 BCE) archaeological culture in Central-Eastern Europe, mainly Polan and parts of Lithuania. The material culture similarity and overall chronological contemporaneity with Komariv (Ukraine) and Sośnica (Belarus) cultures resulted in the definition of the Trzciniec-Komarów-Sośnica complex or, more recently, the Trzciniec Cultural Circle. In Poland, the archaeological sites of the Trzciniec culture are found in Central, Southern, and Eastern Poland (Kuyavia, Lesser Poland, Mazovia, Podlachia, and Lublin Upland).
History
Trzciniec culture was first identified by Włodzimierz Antoniewicz, who named it “band pottery culture”. The term “Trzciniec culture” from the eponymous site Trzciniec near Opole Lubelskie was introduced by Józef Kostrzewski in 1930. The first complete monograph of the Trzciniec culture was written by Aleksander Gardawski. From a cultural-historical perspective, the origins of the Trzciniec culture are associated with three Corded Ware-related cultures: Mierzanowice, Strzyżów and Iwno. In general, the Trzciniec culture was succeeded by the Lusatian culture.
Characteristics
The best known settlements of the Trzciniec culture were in Złota Pińczowska, Więcławice Świętokrzyskie, Goszyce, and west Bondyrz, close to the kurgans of Guciów. Some of these sites include important treasures containing materials such as ornamental gold and silver like in Stawiszyce and Rawa Mazowiecka.
Burial rite of the Trzciniec culture is characterized by regional preferences in using inhumation and cremation. Cases of inhumation were discovered in Wolica Nowa, in the form of kurgans. Evidence of kurgan inhumation have been found at Łubna-Jakusy, whereas kurgan cremation has been found at Guciów.
There is evidence for the use of chariots by the Trzciniec culture.
Reference: poz717 from Chyleński et al. 2023.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credits:
Text: Wikipedia
Map: Wikipedia: Map of the Trzciniec culture, based on a map printed at page 606 in Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, which was edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, and published by Taylor & Francis in 1997. Author:Krakkos

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Pielgrzymowice 719 (I-BY53485) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L1229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 450
Only 569 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Pielgrzymowice 719.
Pielgrzymowice 719 was a man who lived between 1436 – 1264 BCE during the Late Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Pielgrzymowice 9, Małopolska province, Poland. He was associated with the Trzciniec cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U5b3b1.
The Trzciniec culture
The Trzciniec culture is an Early and Middle Bronze Age (2400-1300 BCE) archaeological culture in Central-Eastern Europe, mainly Poland and parts of Lithuania. The material culture similarity and overall chronological contemporaneity with Komariv (Ukraine) and Sośnica (Belarus) cultures resulted in the definition of the Trzciniec-Komarów-Sośnica complex or, more recently, the Trzciniec Cultural Circle. In Poland, the archaeological sites of the Trzciniec culture are found in Central, Southern, and Eastern Poland (Kuyavia, Lesser Poland, Mazovia, Podlachia, and Lublin Upland).
History
Trzciniec culture was first identified by Włodzimierz Antoniewicz, who named it “band pottery culture”. The term “Trzciniec culture” from the eponymous site Trzciniec near Opole Lubelskie was introduced by Józef Kostrzewski in 1930. The first complete monograph of the Trzciniec culture was written by Aleksander Gardawski. From a cultural-historical perspective, the origins of the Trzciniec culture are associated with three Corded Ware-related cultures: Mierzanowice, Strzyżów and Iwno. In general, the Trzciniec culture was succeeded by the Lusatian culture.
Characteristics
The best known settlements of the Trzciniec culture were in Złota Pińczowska, Więcławice Świętokrzyskie, Goszyce, and west Bondyrz, close to the kurgans of Guciów. Some of these sites include important treasures containing materials such as ornamental gold and silver like in Stawiszyce and Rawa Mazowiecka.
Burial rite of the Trzciniec culture is characterized by regional preferences in using inhumation and cremation. Cases of inhumation were discovered in Wolica Nowa, in the form of kurgans. Evidence of kurgan inhumation have been found at Łubna-Jakusy, whereas kurgan cremation has been found at Guciów.
There is evidence for the use of chariots by the Trzciniec culture.
Credits:
Text: Wikipedia
Map: Wikipedia: Map of the Trzciniec culture, based on a map printed at page 606 in Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, which was edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, and published by Taylor & Francis in 1997.
Author:Krakkos
Reference: poz719 from Chyleński et al. 2023.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Gustorzyn 690 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2059) who lived around 2600 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 541
Only 473 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Gustorzyn 690.
Gustorzyn 690 was a man who lived between 1423 – 1230 BCE during the Late Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Gustorzyn, Kujawy-Pomorze Province, Poland. He was associated with the Trzciniec cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1eb1.
The Gustorzyn site
The cemetery at Gustorzyn site is located within the Kuyavia Plain, known also as the Kuyavia Moraine Plateau. It lies at the border of the villages of Gustorzyn and Polówka, on a promontory of a flat moraine plateau, separated from the south by the Zgłowiączka river valley and from the west and north by a small valley with a tributary to the Zgłowiączka. Two communal graves were discovered during rescue excavations in 1981 on the north-western outskirts of an active gravel pit. In total, at least 32 people were buried here but it is obvious that the original number of individuals was higher.
The Trzciniec culture
The Trzciniec culture is an Early and Middle Bronze Age (2400-1300 BCE) archaeological culture in Central-Eastern Europe, mainly Poland and parts of Lithuania. The material culture similarity and overall chronological contemporaneity with Komariv (Ukraine) and Sośnica (Belarus) cultures resulted in the definition of the Trzciniec-Komarów-Sośnica complex or, more recently, the Trzciniec Cultural Circle. In Poland, the archaeological sites of the Trzciniec culture are found in Central, Southern, and Eastern Poland (Kuyavia, Lesser Poland, Mazovia, Podlachia, and Lublin Upland).
History
Trzciniec culture was first identified by Włodzimierz Antoniewicz, who named it “band pottery culture”. The term “Trzciniec culture” from the eponymous site Trzciniec near Opole Lubelskie was introduced by Józef Kostrzewski in 1930.
The first complete monograph of the Trzciniec culture was written by Aleksander Gardawski. From a cultural-historical perspective, the origins of the Trzciniec culture are associated with three Corded Ware-related cultures: Mierzanowice, Strzyżów and Iwno. In general, the Trzciniec culture was succeeded by the Lusatian culture.
Characteristics
The best known settlements of the Trzciniec culture were in Złota Pińczowska, Więcławice Świętokrzyskie, Goszyce, and west Bondyrz, close to the kurgans of Guciów. Some of these sites include important treasures containing materials such as ornamental gold and silver like in Stawiszyce and Rawa Mazowiecka.
Burial rite of the Trzciniec culture is characterized by regional preferences in using inhumation and cremation. Cases of inhumation were discovered in Wolica Nowa, in the form of kurgans. Evidence of kurgan inhumation have been found at Łubna-Jakusy, whereas kurgan cremation has been found at Guciów. There is evidence for the use of chariots by the Trzciniec culture.
Credits:
Text: Wikipedia
Map: Wikipedia: Map of the Trzciniec culture, based on a map printed at page 606 in Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, which was edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, and published by Taylor & Francis in 1997.
Author:Krakkos
Reference: poz690 from Chyleński et al. 2023/
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Vescoville 2894 (I-Y39658) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-L1229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 421
Only 731 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Vescoville 2894.
Vescovile 2894 was a man who lived between 300 BCE – 1 CE during the Late Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Seminario Vescovile, Verona, Italy. He was associated with the Cenomane cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup J1c3.
The Late Iron Age in Italy
The Late Iron Age in continental Europe featured complex demographic processes including, among others, the establishment of transalpine “Celtic” communities on the Italian peninsula between the 4th and 1st centuries BCE.
Little is known about the lifestyle, cultural affiliation, and ethnic origin of the “Celtic” groups distributed in the Italian peninsula between the 4th and 1st centuries BCE. Moreover, historical, archeological, and anthropological data are available especially for some of these groups. These include the Boii, the Cenomani, and the Insubri in the North of the Italian peninsula, and the Senoni in the central regions.
These populations were characterized not only by their distinct regional distribution and cultural traditions, but also by heterogeneous relationships (conflicts, alliances, peaceful coexistence) with indigenous Italic, Etruscan, and Roman groups.
The necropolis of Seminario Vescovile, Verona, Italy
The necropolis of Seminario Vescovile was discovered and excavated between 2005 and 2010 in Verona (NE Italy). Preliminary typological analysis of grave goods related this context with the pre-Roman/Celtic culture of the Cenomani.
The Cenomani are scarcely documented in the archeological literature, and almost no information is available regarding their geographic origin. The only historical data come from Livius (Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, V, 35.1), who refers to their settling in the area between the modern cities of Brescia and Verona during the 5th–4th century BCE.. Throughout the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE this population was progressively integrated into the Roman cultural and political sphere
The Major Seminary of Verona is the institution of the Diocese of Verona for the training of future priests for service in the same diocese. The Major Seminary is located in the Veronetta district, not far from the Roman Theater and the Giusti Garden, where it almost entirely occupies the block between Via Seminario, Porta Organa, Giardino Giusti and Vicolo Bogon.
The excavation, that took place during the major renovation of the Seminario Maggiore of Verona, has revealed an archaeological situation absolutely unprecedented: a multiform stratified area whose first phase of occupation was an indigenous necropolis dating from III-I BCE, the only one of those known of that date linked to the city.
The funerary area was on the eastern bank of the Adige just to the south of the hill of St. Pietro, between the river and the Via Postumia. Of the tombs, the earliest seem to be located on the summit of the old river terrace. The necropolis has been explored for an extension of over 900 sq.m., but it was much larger. In fact, similar tombs have been found to the south of Via Carducci in other excavations.
In almost all cases the funerary rite is inhumation, even though in late Celtic necropolis biritualism is the norm with coexistence of cremations and inhumations. Animal remains are a common find in prehistoric and protohistoric funerary contexts. The funerary deposition of animal remains and the nature of joint human-animal burials at Seminario Vescovile (Verona, Northern Italy 3rd-1st c. BCE) is one of them. This context, culturally attributed to the Cenomane culture, features 161 inhumations, of which only 16 included animal remains in the form of full skeletons, isolated skeletal parts, or food offerings. Of these, four are of particular interest as they contain either horses (Equus caballus) or dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)–animals that did not play a dietary role.
Analyses show no demographic, dietary, funerary similarities, or genetic relatedness between individuals buried with animals. Isotopic data from two analyzed dogs suggest differing management strategies for these animals, possibly linked to economic and/or ritual factors. Overall, the results point to the unsuitability of simple, straightforward explanations for the observed funerary variability. At the same time, they connect the evidence from Seminario Vescovile with documented Transalpine cultural traditions possibly influenced by local and Roman customs.
The total number of tombs is 184 of which 163 from the Seminario: only 7 are cremations all from the south of Via Carducci on the gravel terrace. The massive presence of inhumations is one of the aspects to further explore.
Of the tombs 70% had grave goods, normally modest in their quantity and in their quality. In only one case, an incineration from Via Carducci 42 was present a panoply. It is also worth mentioning the ritual deposition of animals with some of the inhumations.
Subsequently, the necropolis was obliterated by an important artisan area, already in function at the beginning of the imperial age. The area was for the most part occupied by a metallurgic plant, one of the largest known in northern Italy.
One can with reason affirm that the Seminario excavation was one of the largest and most interesting archaeological interventions in Verona in the last forty years. It has, in fact, revealed a hitherto unknown aspect of an urban sector on the eastern side of the river, that previously was thought to be occupied only by public buildings, private houses and further afield by funerary areas
Credits:
Text: CELTudALPS
Reference: US2894 from Laffranchi et al. 2024.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Su Crocefissu 26 (I-Y7240) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 447
Only 563 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Su Crocefissu 26.
Su Crocefissu 26 was a man who lived between 3500 and 900 BCE during the European Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Necropolis Su Crocefissu, Sassari, Italy. He was associated with the Bronze Age Italy cultural group.
Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu
The necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Porto Torres, Sardinia. The necropolis includes at least twenty-two domus de janas, all made in the period between the Neolithic (IV millennium BCE) and the Copper Age (III millennium BCE) and intensely used until the time of Bonnanaro culture (1800–1600 BCE.
The Nurra is a ‘mine’ of heritage from the past, with a concentration of dozens of archaeological sites spread over a few square kilometres. One of the most fascinating is located just outside the town of Porto Torres and is partially hidden, maybe to continue to protect the secrets it has been keeping for thousands of years. It is the necropolis of su Crucifissu Mannu, a complex of domus de Janas dug out of a bank of limestone rock. 22 tombs have been found so far. Their construction began in the Late Neolithic period (3200-2800 BC) and were used continuously until the Early Bronze Age, around the 16th century BC.
The hypogea are all multi-cellular, meaning that they are composed of several rooms, which can be accessed via a vertical well or descending dromos (corridor) entrance. The structure is typical of the domus found in the Sassari area, with an anteroom, a cell and rooms that open up in the walls of the main cell.
Three tombs in particular will leave a lasting impression on you: tomb VIII has two small rooms at the end of the dromos, followed by a large quadrangular cell and ten other rooms around it. A door opens up on one wall, above which there are two inscribed protomes.
Tomb XII has 15 rooms, organised in a complex manner: some burial chambers are located at an opening on the right wall of the anteroom and others around the main cell beyond the door, of which you will notice the manhole cover still lying on the threshold. Tomb XXI will surprise you with its decorations: in fact, there are bull’s heads with crescent-shaped horns in the various rooms, as well as false doors and traces of columns supporting the vaults.
Inside the necropolis, numerous burial objects were found, useful for accurately dating human presence in the necropolis, and also skeletal remains, two of which showed signs of drilling on the skull. This was not an operation carried out on the dead, because in at least one case the person survived the mysterious practice.
Several hypogea have lost their roofs, due to caving on the surface above, caused by the passage of the road connecting Turris Libisonis and Karales (the Roman ancestors of Porto Torres and Cagliari). Another enigma concerning su Crucifissu Mannu is also linked to the road and is represented by a series of straight furrows cut into the rocky surface. The most likely scenario is that they were caused by Roman carts that transported blocks of limestone to the port, following a change of route due to collapses in the necropolis.
According to another theory, however, they could date back to the Nuragic age and are linked to rituals that are still unknown. On the subject of mysteries and religiousness, less than six kilometres from the necropolis, you can admire a temple, unique in Europe, at ziqqurat in Monte d’Accoddi, a majestic and almost contemporary sacred altar at su Crucifissu Mannu.
Credits:
Text: Wikipedea
Photo: Wikipedia, Author Gianni Careddu
The Italian Bronze Age
Italy lies between the east and west Mediterranean, but it also represents the point of contact between the Mediterranean world and Europe north of the Alps, a point of contact especially important during the Bronze Age. The easy passes across the mountains north from the Po plain make the northern Adriatic basin a key area for understanding European prehistory, and indeed the key site of Frattesina is to be understood in this context.
The themes that dominate the Italian Bronze Age are the wetland sites of the north—both lake villages and terremare settlements—and the pastoral economy which adapted so effectively to the mountainous peninsula. The Bronze Age saw two cycles of development: the first comes to an end at about 1200 b.c. and the second lays the foundation for Iron Age urbanism and social complexity. Connections between the Italian Bronze Age and the Aegean World will also be discussed here.
The Italian Bronze Age has traditionally been dated by reference to central European metalwork and to eastern Mediterranean imports. The growing availability of radiocarbon dates (although these are still quite rare) and, more importantly, dendrochronological dating of Alpine wetland sites, both in Italy and farther north, has meant that a more accurate dating scheme is being worked out.
The dating of the end of the Bronze Age is still quite controversial, with most scholars arguing for a point between 1000 and 900 b.c. The Italian Bronze Age is conventionally divided into four segments: the Early Bronze Age (2300–1700 BCE)the Middle Bronze Age (1700–1350 BCE the Recent Bronze Age (1350–1150 BCE), and the Final Bronze Age (1150–950 BCE).
Italian scholars generally describe the Recent and Final Bronze Ages as the “Late” Bronze Age, a matter of confusion for English speakers, who would normally refer to the Recent Bronze Age as the Late Bronze Age. The Italian convention will be used here, as it aids understanding of the literature.
Credits:
Text: Encyclopedia.com
Reference: R26 from Antonio et al. 2019.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Su Crocefissu 27 (I-FTA1525) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 447
Only 563 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Su Crocefissu 27.
Su Crocefissu 27 was a man who lived between 3500 and 900 BCE during the European Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Su Crocefissu, Province of Sassari, Italy. He was associated with the Bronze Age Italy cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H1e1a.
Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu
The necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Porto Torres, Sardinia. The necropolis includes at least twenty-two domus de janas, all made in the period between the Neolithic (IV millennium BCE) and the Copper Age (III millennium BCE) and intensely used until the time of Bonnanaro culture (1800–1600 BCE.
The Nurra is a ‘mine’ of heritage from the past, with a concentration of dozens of archaeological sites spread over a few square kilometres. One of the most fascinating is located just outside the town of Porto Torres and is partially hidden, maybe to continue to protect the secrets it has been keeping for thousands of years. It is the necropolis of su Crucifissu Mannu, a complex of domus de Janas dug out of a bank of limestone rock. 22 tombs have been found so far. Their construction began in the Late Neolithic period (3200-2800 BC) and were used continuously until the Early Bronze Age, around the 16th century BC.
The hypogea are all multi-cellular, meaning that they are composed of several rooms, which can be accessed via a vertical well or descending dromos (corridor) entrance. The structure is typical of the domus found in the Sassari area, with an anteroom, a cell and rooms that open up in the walls of the main cell.
Three tombs in particular will leave a lasting impression on you: tomb VIII has two small rooms at the end of the dromos, followed by a large quadrangular cell and ten other rooms around it. A door opens up on one wall, above which there are two inscribed protomes.
Tomb XII has 15 rooms, organised in a complex manner: some burial chambers are located at an opening on the right wall of the anteroom and others around the main cell beyond the door, of which you will notice the manhole cover still lying on the threshold. Tomb XXI will surprise you with its decorations: in fact, there are bull’s heads with crescent-shaped horns in the various rooms, as well as false doors and traces of columns supporting the vaults.
Inside the necropolis, numerous burial objects were found, useful for accurately dating human presence in the necropolis, and also skeletal remains, two of which showed signs of drilling on the skull. This was not an operation carried out on the dead, because in at least one case the person survived the mysterious practice.
Several hypogea have lost their roofs, due to caving on the surface above, caused by the passage of the road connecting Turris Libisonis and Karales (the Roman ancestors of Porto Torres and Cagliari). Another enigma concerning su Crucifissu Mannu is also linked to the road and is represented by a series of straight furrows cut into the rocky surface. The most likely scenario is that they were caused by Roman carts that transported blocks of limestone to the port, following a change of route due to collapses in the necropolis.
According to another theory, however, they could date back to the Nuragic age and are linked to rituals that are still unknown. On the subject of mysteries and religiousness, less than six kilometres from the necropolis, you can admire a temple, unique in Europe, at ziqqurat in Monte d’Accoddi, a majestic and almost contemporary sacred altar at su Crucifissu Mannu.
Credits:
Text: Wikipedea
Photo: Wikipedia, Author Gianni Careddu
The Italian Bronze Age
Italy lies between the east and west Mediterranean, but it also represents the point of contact between the Mediterranean world and Europe north of the Alps, a point of contact especially important during the Bronze Age. The easy passes across the mountains north from the Po plain make the northern Adriatic basin a key area for understanding European prehistory, and indeed the key site of Frattesina is to be understood in this context.
The themes that dominate the Italian Bronze Age are the wetland sites of the north—both lake villages and terremare settlements—and the pastoral economy which adapted so effectively to the mountainous peninsula. The Bronze Age saw two cycles of development: the first comes to an end at about 1200 b.c. and the second lays the foundation for Iron Age urbanism and social complexity. Connections between the Italian Bronze Age and the Aegean World will also be discussed here.
The Italian Bronze Age has traditionally been dated by reference to central European metalwork and to eastern Mediterranean imports. The growing availability of radiocarbon dates (although these are still quite rare) and, more importantly, dendrochronological dating of Alpine wetland sites, both in Italy and farther north, has meant that a more accurate dating scheme is being worked out.
The dating of the end of the Bronze Age is still quite controversial, with most scholars arguing for a point between 1000 and 900 b.c. The Italian Bronze Age is conventionally divided into four segments: the Early Bronze Age (2300–1700 BCE)the Middle Bronze Age (1700–1350 BCE the Recent Bronze Age (1350–1150 BCE), and the Final Bronze Age (1150–950 BCE).
Italian scholars generally describe the Recent and Final Bronze Ages as the “Late” Bronze Age, a matter of confusion for English speakers, who would normally refer to the Recent Bronze Age as the Late Bronze Age. The Italian convention will be used here, as it aids understanding of the literature.
Credits:
Text: Encyclopedia.com
Reference: R26 from Antonio et al. 2019.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Su Crocefissu Mannu 6 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 447
Only 563 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Su Crocefissu Mannu 6.
Su Crocefissu Mannu 6 was a man who lived between 2468 and 2306 BCE during the Early Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Su Crocefissu Mannu, Porto Torres, Sardinia, Italy. He was associated with the Bronze Age Italy cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H1av.
Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu
The necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Porto Torres, Sardinia. The necropolis includes at least twenty-two domus de janas, all made in the period between the Neolithic (IV millennium BCE) and the Copper Age (III millennium BCE) and intensely used until the time of Bonnanaro culture (1800–1600 BCE).
The Nurra is a ‘mine’ of heritage from the past, with a concentration of dozens of archaeological sites spread over a few square kilometres. One of the most fascinating is located just outside the town of Porto Torres and is partially hidden, maybe to continue to protect the secrets it has been keeping for thousands of years. It is the necropolis of su Crucifissu Mannu, a complex of domus de Janas dug out of a bank of limestone rock. 22 tombs have been found so far. Their construction began in the Late Neolithic period (3200-2800 BC) and were used continuously until the Early Bronze Age, around the 16th century BC.
The hypogea are all multi-cellular, meaning that they are composed of several rooms, which can be accessed via a vertical well or descending dromos (corridor) entrance. The structure is typical of the domus found in the Sassari area, with an anteroom, a cell and rooms that open up in the walls of the main cell.
Three tombs in particular will leave a lasting impression on you: tomb VIII has two small rooms at the end of the dromos, followed by a large quadrangular cell and ten other rooms around it. A door opens up on one wall, above which there are two inscribed protomes.
According to another theory, however, they could date back to the Nuragic age and are linked to rituals that are still unknown. On the subject of mysteries and religiousness, less than six kilometres from the necropolis, you can admire a temple, unique in Europe, at ziqqurat in Monte d’Accoddi, a majestic and almost contemporary sacred altar at su Crucifissu Mannu.
Credits:
Text: Wikipedea
Photo: Wikipedia, Author Gianni Careddu
The Italian Bronze Age
Italy lies between the east and west Mediterranean, but it also represents the point of contact between the Mediterranean world and Europe north of the Alps, a point of contact especially important during the Bronze Age. The easy passes across the mountains north from the Po plain make the northern Adriatic basin a key area for understanding European prehistory, and indeed the key site of Frattesina is to be understood in this context.
The themes that dominate the Italian Bronze Age are the wetland sites of the north—both lake villages and terremare settlements—and the pastoral economy which adapted so effectively to the mountainous peninsula. The Bronze Age saw two cycles of development: the first comes to an end at about 1200 b.c. and the second lays the foundation for Iron Age urbanism and social complexity. Connections between the Italian Bronze Age and the Aegean World will also be discussed here.
The Italian Bronze Age has traditionally been dated by reference to central European metalwork and to eastern Mediterranean imports. The growing availability of radiocarbon dates (although these are still quite rare) and, more importantly, dendrochronological dating of Alpine wetland sites, both in Italy and farther north, has meant that a more accurate dating scheme is being worked out.
The dating of the end of the Bronze Age is still quite controversial, with most scholars arguing for a point between 1000 and 900 b.c. The Italian Bronze Age is conventionally divided into four segments: the Early Bronze Age (2300–1700 BCE)the Middle Bronze Age (1700–1350 BCE the Recent Bronze Age (1350–1150 BCE), and the Final Bronze Age (1150–950 BCE).
Italian scholars generally describe the Recent and Final Bronze Ages as the “Late” Bronze Age, a matter of confusion for English speakers, who would normally refer to the Recent Bronze Age as the Late Bronze Age. The Italian convention will be used here, as it aids understanding of the literature.
Credits:
Text: Encyclopedia.coms
Reference: SUC006 from Marcus et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credit:
Photo: Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu, Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Author: Gianni Carredu

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
S’isteridolzu 5 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 466
Only 524 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to S’isteridolzu 5.
S’isteridolzu 5 was a man who lived between 4310 and 4047 BCE during the Late Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as S’isteridolzu, Ossi, Italy (Sardinia). He was associated with the Neolithic Sardinia cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a.
The Hypogeic Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes, Ossi
Ossi, a territory inhabited since the late Neolithic age, proudly shows off the remnants of a rich history that included nuraghi, domus de janas, and nuragic towns.
The Hypogeic Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes is located about 7 km from the town of Ossi, dug into a limestone layer on the southern slope of Mt. Mamas. The complex is dug on a limestone ridge at the southern slopes of Mount Mamas, in a particularly elevated position (about 430 m a.s.l.).
Significant traces of imperial authority may also be found in the area, not far from the main Roman route that once connected Carales with Turris Libissonis. Among them are the 35 sandstone tombs discovered at S. Antonio di Briai. Mediaeval texts refer to the the village as Ogothi. It was part of the Coros (Giudicato di Torres) curatorate, together with the nearby, now-defunct centres of Mara (or Mavar), Silvaru, Noale, Sa ‘e Ossi, and Briai. Remarkable and unusual decorations of the ‘domestic’ variety characterise the Neolithic tombs dug into the base of a hill in the Sassari area, in north-western Sardinia
The Necropolis includes 18 Domus de Janas, (or ‘fairy houses’) all multicellular (in two of them there are up to 12 rooms), richly adorned with panels, horns, false doors and other spiraliform or wolf-toothed motifs.
They are set along the sides of a trail and they contain worship and funerary symbols, together with architectural elements of Neolithic huts so that the dead may have a home for eternity.
Seven graves reproduce with extreme efficacy the structural particularities of the Neolithic dwellings: roofs with single or double roof, horizontal or sloping, with or without central beams and lateral joists, supported or not by pillars, all carved in the rock.
One Domus has been transformed, during Nuragic Age, with the addition of the “Architectural prospectus”, the characteristic Stele of the Tombe di Giganti. The Necropolis covers a chronological period between the final Neolithic and the medium Bronze Age.
They seem to have been excavated and used starting in the 3rd millennium BCE, from the Neolithic period to the end of the Bronze Age. Two of them, tombs III and XVI, show an architectural transformation leading to the style of the Giants’ tombs, with arched stele carved into the entrance, exactly as in the subsequent burials of the Nuragic period. Tombs I, II, V and XIII are of particular note for the more elaborate decorations they contain.
Reference: SID005 from Marcus et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Anghelu Ruju 15946 (I-L1228) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 461
Only 533 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Anghelu Ruju 15946.
Anghelu Ruju 15946 was a man who lived between 4052 and 3959 BCE during the Middle Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Anghelu Ruju, Alghero, Italy (Sardinia). He was associated with the Neolithic Southern Europe cultural group
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup T2c1d.

Entrance of one of domus de Janas in the necropolis of Anghelu Ruju.
Credit: Christian Pinatel de Salvator
The necropolis of Anghelu Ruju
The necropolis is a pre-Nuragic archaeological site located north of the city of Alghero, Province of Sassari, Sardinia. It is the largest necropolis of pre-Nuragic Sardinia.
The necropolis was discovered accidentally in 1903 during the excavations for the construction of a farmhouse, in the winery of Sella&Mosca. A human skull and a tripod vessel were found on that occasion. Following these findings, the archaeologist Antonio Taramelli carried out, the following year, the first excavations of the site discovering ten domus de janas. Later 21 others came to light and further research works led to 38 domus discovered.
Within the many chambers are numerous finds of grave goods (vases, statuettes of the hypothesized “mother goddess”, weapons, necklace beads etc.), which allow us to date the necropolis to the Late Neolithic (Ozieri culture 3200-2800 BC) and they prove its use even in the Copper and the early Bronze Age, between 2800 and 1600 BC, (cultures of Abealzu-Filigosa, Monte Claro, Bell Beaker, Bonnanaro).
Furthermore, finds of flint tools, mace-heads, arrowheads, axes and beads suggest a culture which emphasized hunting and warrior prowess; whereas silver rings, copper daggers appearing to originate from Spain, an awl which likely was from southern France, a copper ring of an eastern European style, and an axe which was from the British Isles indicate that Sardinia was heavily involved in this time period with a great deal of international trade. The Sardinians, for their part, were known to possess an ample amount of valuable obsidian from Monte Arci, a long-dormant volcano on the island.
Among the most striking features of the Necropolis are the numerous carvings of long-horned bulls’ heads, in and around at least three of the tombs. These have been hypothesized to support the “Mother Goddess” theory, as well as to suggest a sort of a Sun cult.
Reference: I15946 from Fernandes et al. 2020 (Nat. Ecol. Evol).
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Photo Entrance of one of domus de Janas credit :
Wikipedia / Christian Pinatel de Salvator / Creative Commons 4.0 International License

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Rare Connection
1 in 1400
Only 173 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Szólád 43.
Szólád 43 was a man who lived between 438 and 605 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Szólád, Cserénfa, Hungary. He was associated with the Longobard Barbarian cultural group.
Interestingly, the Lombard homeland is just a little southwest of the Tollense Valley.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H1e.

Map showing the location of the Szólád cemetery on the southern shore of Lake Balaton and the sites of Balatonszárszó and Kestzthely-Fenékpuszta.
The Szolad site
Szólád is situated approximately five kilometers’ south of Lake Balaton on a south-oriented loess slope above a valley that is 30 km long, and at Szólád some 400 to 600 m wide. The area is a boggy former backwater of the lake.
In 2005 to 2007 45 skeletons of adults and subadults were excavated at the Lombard period cemetery at Szólád (6th century CE), Hungary. The cemetery yielded 45 inhumations from the Lombard period. Based on stylistic elements the grave goods were dated to between the second third and second half of the 6th century A.D., which is in accordance with the occupation of the southern part of Pannonia by the Lombards recounted by historical records. There was remarkable variation with regard to the construction of the graves.
The pits of women’s and children’s graves tended to be shallower than those of the men’s burials, which were dug up to more than four meters deep into the loess. Six circular ditches surrounded one or two graves each. Such features are known from other Lombard period cemeteries at Holubice, Holásky, Smolín, and Lužice in Moravia. The males’ graves were concentrated in the western area of the site, whilst the females’ graves were arranged in a half circle around them on the eastern side. Children were buried in two groups in the northern and south-eastern parts of the cemetery. Some of the children’s graves in the south-east did not contain any objects
Given the historical context of the Migration Period, the occupation of Pannonia by the Lombards, the archaeological evidence suggesting a very short period of occupation of the site (c. 20 years) and the indication of different birthplaces of adults and children allows us to propose a three-phased model of residential change and group movement.
The biological evidence suggests that the residents of Szólád were not a close reproductive community. Owing to the virtual absence of Szólád-born adults in the cemetery, we may conclude that the settlement was abandoned after approx. one generation. Population heterogeneity is furthermore supported by the carbon and nitrogen isotope data. The inferred dynamics of the burial community are in agreement with hypotheses of a highly mobile lifestyle during the Migration Period and a short-term occupation of Pannonia by Lombard settlers as conveyed by written sources.
In summary, the historical, archaeological and bio archaeometric data suggest that the Szólád cemetery was in use for a short period of time only. The study has revealed an example of a community arriving in and departing from Pannonia, a region which served as a melting pot for various cultural traditions.
Credit map: Alt KW, Knipper C, Peters D, Müller W, Maurer A-F, Kollig I, et al. (2014) Lombards on the Move – An Integrative Study of the Migration Period Cemetery at Szólád, Hungary. The DEM is based on SRTM (90 m) data, edited by H.-J. Köhler, U. v. Freeden, D. Peters and C. Knipper.
The Lombards or Langobards
The Lombards or Langobards (Latin: Langobardi) entered the historical record when they were northeast of Roman territory, roughly in the area of what is now Poland. They crossed what was nominally Roman territory into what was called Pannonia and, among other things, left behind a cemetery called Szólád, now within Hungary.
Then they moved into Italy, where they remained and buried several generations of their family members. In both locations, however, there are signs of the turmoil gripping Europe at the time. Several families show indications of marrying people from outside the Longobard culture, and at least one family in each location appears to have been from Southern Europe.
Archaeologists have excavated cemeteries in the Szólád area of Lombard men and women who were buried together as a family, a practice unusual for Germanic peoples at the time.
The cemeteries feature bodies buried with a variety of grave goods, including weapons. In both cases, one of the individuals present was buried with a horse. Carbon dating has confirmed they were in use during the time the Longobards occupied the area, and similar graves have been found throughout northern Italy dating from this period.
In 568 CE, a war between the Goths and Byzantine Romans on the Italian Peninsula left both weakened. The Longobards moved in, kicked both out, and founded kingdoms that would remain in place for two hundred years. A second cemetery in this study, Collegno, dates from that era (it’s near Turin, Italy).
All of this paints a picture that’s consistent with the spotty historical record. The Longobards arrived in the area of what is now Hungary from Northern Europe and then moved into Italy, where they remained and buried several generations of their family members.
In both locations, however, there are signs of the turmoil gripping Europe at the time. Several families show indications of marrying people from outside the Longobard culture, and at least one family in each location appears to have been from Southern Europe.
This suggests a degree of cultural mixing, given that both groups appear to have buried their dead in the same location. The genetics also show a degree of ancestry mixing, as you’d expect in cases where the groups lived together for centuries.
Reference: SZ43 from Amorim et al. 2018.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Kiskundorozsma 21923 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 1950 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 713
Only 173 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Kiskundorozsma 21923 .
Kiskundorozsma 21923 was a man who lived between 125 – 220 CE during the Barbarian Invasions Age and was found in the region now known as Kiskundorozsma, Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. He was associated with the Sarmatian cultural group. His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H44b.
Kiskundorozsma
Kiskundorozsma was once an independent village in Csongrád-Csanád County and has been a district of Szeged since 1973. (Population: approx. 15,000 according to 2021 data, in 2015 it was 13,111)
It is located in the northwestern part of the Szeged administrative region. The inhabited area is currently bordered by the M5 motorway in the west, the M43 motorway in the north, the main roads 5 and 502 in the east and the main road 55 in the south. Road 5408 runs through the center in a west-east direction and is also bordered by roads 5405 and 5428.The multiperiod site of Szeged-Kiskundorozsma-Tóth János dombja I. is located on the former ri verside of the Maty Stream, 2.5 km northwest of Kiskundorozsma, Hungary. Archaeological excavations in the area in 2003-2004, in connection with the construction of the M5 and M43 motorways, revealed Bronze Age, Sarmatian and Late Medieval-Early Modern features, as well as traces of a Late Iron Age settlement. The seven semi-sunken buildings and their pits dated to the LT (B2)-C period were scattered in three well-defined groups in a north-south direction.
* Sarmatian cultural group
The Sarmatians were part of the Iranian steppe peoples, among whom were also Scythians and Saka. These also are grouped together as “East Iranians.” Archaeology has established the connection ‘between the Iranian-speaking Scythians, Sarmatians, and Saka and the earlier Timber-grave and Andronovo cultures’.
Based on building construction, these three peoples were the likely descendants of those earlier archaeological cultures.The Sarmatians and Saka used the same stone construction methods as the earlier Andronovo culture. The Timber grave (Srubnaya culture) and Andronovo house building traditions were further developed by these three peoples. Andronovo pottery was continued by the Saka and Sarmatians. Archaeologists describe the Andronovo culture people as exhibiting pronounced Caucasoid features.
The first Sarmatians are mostly identified with the Prokhorovka culture, which moved from the southern Urals to the Lower Volga and then to the northern Pontic steppe, in the fourth–third centuries BCE. During the migration, the Sarmatian population seems to have grown and they divided themselves into several groups, such as the Alans, Aorsi, Roxolani, and Iazyges.
By 200 BCE, the Sarmatians replaced the Scythians as the dominant people of the steppes. The Sarmatians and Scythians had fought on the Pontic steppe to the north of the Black Sea.The Sarmatians, described as a large confederation, were to dominate these territories over the next five centuries.According to Brzezinski and Mielczarek, the Sarmatians were formed between the Don River and the Ural Mountains.
Pliny the Elder wrote that they ranged from the Vistula River (in present-day Poland) to the Danube.Their presence determined fundamentally the history of the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin in the Roman period. Sarmatian communities established a settled lifestyle in the Great Hungarian Plain from the second century AD at the latest (Sóskuti Citation2017; Vaday Citation1996). Despite the abundance of available material, the environmental archaeology and subsistence history of Sarmatian communities have remained unexplored.
A genetic study published in Current Biology in 2022 regarding the genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians. 265 ancient genomes were analyzed, it revealed that the Hungarian conquerors admixed with Sarmatians and Huns. Sarmatian ancestry was also detected among several Hun samples which implies a significant Sarmatian influence on European Huns

Kiskundorozsma 21923, Madaras 21899 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 1950 BCE.
Kiskundorozsma 21923 : Reference: CGG021923 from McColl et al. 2024 (bioRxiv)
Madaras 21899: Reference: CGG021899 from McColl et al. 2024 (bioRxiv)
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Madaras 21899, Madaras Halmok 514 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 1950 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 713
Only 173 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Madaras 21899 and Madaras Halmok 514.
- Madaras 21899 was a man who lived between 100 – 500 CE during the Barbarian Invasions Age and was found in the region now known as Madaras, Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. He was associated with the Sarmatian cultural group.
His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H2a. - Madaras 514 was a man who lived between 200 – 400 CE during the Late Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Madaras – Halmok, Madaras, Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. He was associated with the Sarmatian cultural group.
His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H5r.
Madaras location
Madaras is located south of Bácsság, near the Serbian border. The Kígyós Canal flows through it, and one of its tributaries gives rise to Lake Priszpa, which is a popular fishing spot.
History
The village has a rich historical past. Traces of a prehistoric settlement almost twenty thousand years old were found on the ridge of the Telecska Hills. Archaeologist Mihály Kőhegyi spent many years researching and excavating the most famous Sarmatian settlement and cemetery in Central Europe, on the border with Madaras. The hills concealed burial sites from the late Sarmatian and Hunnic periods, but during the excavations graves and church foundations from the Árpád period were also discovered.
* Sarmatian cultural group
The Sarmatians were part of the Iranian steppe peoples, among whom were also Scythians and Saka. These also are grouped together as “East Iranians.” Archaeology has established the connection ‘between the Iranian-speaking Scythians, Sarmatians, and Saka and the earlier Timber-grave and Andronovo cultures’.
Based on building construction, these three peoples were the likely descendants of those earlier archaeological cultures.The Sarmatians and Saka used the same stone construction methods as the earlier Andronovo culture. The Timber grave (Srubnaya culture) and Andronovo house building traditions were further developed by these three peoples. Andronovo pottery was continued by the Saka and Sarmatians. Archaeologists describe the Andronovo culture people as exhibiting pronounced Caucasoid features.
The first Sarmatians are mostly identified with the Prokhorovka culture, which moved from the southern Urals to the Lower Volga and then to the northern Pontic steppe, in the fourth–third centuries BCE. During the migration, the Sarmatian population seems to have grown and they divided themselves into several groups, such as the Alans, Aorsi, Roxolani, and Iazyges.
By 200 BCE, the Sarmatians replaced the Scythians as the dominant people of the steppes. The Sarmatians and Scythians had fought on the Pontic steppe to the north of the Black Sea.The Sarmatians, described as a large confederation, were to dominate these territories over the next five centuries.According to Brzezinski and Mielczarek, the Sarmatians were formed between the Don River and the Ural Mountains.
Pliny the Elder wrote that they ranged from the Vistula River (in present-day Poland) to the Danube.Their presence determined fundamentally the history of the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin in the Roman period. Sarmatian communities established a settled lifestyle in the Great Hungarian Plain from the second century AD at the latest (Sóskuti Citation2017; Vaday Citation1996). Despite the abundance of available material, the environmental archaeology and subsistence history of Sarmatian communities have remained unexplored.
A genetic study published in Current Biology in 2022 regarding the genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians. 265 ancient genomes were analyzed, it revealed that the Hungarian conquerors admixed with Sarmatians and Huns. Sarmatian ancestry was also detected among several Hun samples which implies a significant Sarmatian influence on European Huns

Madaras 21899, Madaras Halmok 514 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 1950 BCE.
Madaras 21899: Reference: CGG021899 from McColl et al. 2024 (bioRxiv).
Madaras Halmok 514: Reference: MDH-514 from Schutz et al. 2025.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Erd 479 (I-S17707) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-L1229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 478
Only 511 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Erd 479.
Erd 479 was a man who lived between 2000 and 1500 BCE during the Middle Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Erd, Hungary. He was associated with the Vatya cultural group.
- His direct maternal line summarizes to mtDNA haplogroup T2b.
Érd, Hosszúföldek (Pest County, central Hungary)
Érd is a district in the south-western part of Pest County, Érd is also the name of the town where the district seat is found. The district is located in the Central Hungary Statistical Region. The area has been inhabited since ancient times. Archaeological findings indicate that prehistoric humans lived here 50,000 years ago.
The site is located just south of Budapest, between Érd and Százhalombatta, Pest County, on the banks of the Bentan River. Here, a large, multiperiod site with more than 4000 features was excavated in 2004 in advance of the construction of the M6 motorway. A large proportion of the settlement features belonged to the Middle Bronze Age and were characterized by Vatya style material. Twenty-four pits yielded the remains of a total 36 individuals, including 24 more or less complete skeletons. While a number of pits contained multiple human remains, three features can be singled as »real« mass graves
Chronology is again very important for the interpretation of these human remains. We have ten Bronze Age radiocarbon dates from the site, scattered between 2000 BCE and 1450 BCE, showing that the settlement was occupied throughout the Middle Bronze Age.
Since the samples were taken from the human remains, it is also clear that the skeletons cannot be connected to a single event, such as an attack on the settlement or a single epidemic. The deposition of human remains, in various forms, must have been practiced throughout the entire Middle Bronze Age at this site.
The presence of animal remains, intact pottery vessels and bronze jewelry supports the view that these mass graves were connected to some form of sacrifice and ritual violence, rather than warfare or some other cause of death. The evidence also indicates that at least some of the persons deposited in these pits were probably of low social status, perhaps slaves. In the light of the chronological data, it is clear that we are dealing with a prolonged tradition of ritual acts, sacrifices, and possibly the secondary manipulation of human bodies.
The Vatya culture
The Vatya culture was an archaeological culture of the Early to Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1400 BCE) located in the central area of the Danube basin in Hungar. The culture formed from the background of the Nagyrév culture together with influences from the Kisapostag culture. It is characterized mainly by fortified settlements, cremation burial sites, and bronze production. It was succeeded by the Urnfield culture. People of the Vatya culture flourished during the Hungarian Early and Middle Bronze Ages (approximately 2200-1450 BC). According to tradition, they cremated the deceased.
Deep exploration of a Bronze Age cemetery in Hungary has revealed hundreds of artifacts and grave goods related to the Vatya culture. Analysis of the contents of one remarkable urn burial suggests high-status women in Bronze Age Central Europe mostly married outside of their immediate social group. The research analyzed 29 graves from the Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy cemetery, one of the largest Middle Bronze Age urn cemeteries in Central Hungary, located to the south of Budapest.
Among the graves and urns at the Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy cemetery, the excavators discovered a single golden hair ring with the cremated remains of a high-status Vatya culture woman who lived around 2200–1450 BCE.
Százhalombatta-Földvár, located by the Danube river in Hungary, was an important fortified Vatya settlement, with occupation layers up to 6 m deep.
Reference: RISE479 from Allentoft et al. 2015.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA Analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and lack coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Fürj-halom-dűlő 16, 19 and 54 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2068) who lived around 2300 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 505
Only 1386 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Fürj-halom-dűlő 16, 19 and 54.
- Fürj-halom-dűlő 16 was a 6-18 month old baby boy who lived between 300 – 500 CE during the Late Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Hajdúnánás-Fürj-halom-dűlő, Site 40, Hajdúnánás, Hungary. He was associated with the Late Sarmatian cultural group.
* Fürj-halom-dűlő 16 direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U5a2b.
- Fürj-halom-dűlő 19 was a 6-10 year old boy who lived between 300 – 500 CE during the Late Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Hajdúnánás-Fürj-halom-dűlő, Site 40, Hajdúnánás, Hungary. He was associated with the Late Sarmatian cultural group.
* Fürj-halom-dűlő 19 direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H4a1a4b.
- Fürj-halom-dűlő 54 was a 35 – 44 old man who lived between 300 – 500 CE during the Late Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Hajdúnánás-Fürj-halom-dűlő, Site 40, Hajdúnánás, Hungary. He was associated with the Late Sarmatian cultural group.
* Fürj-halom-dűlő 54 direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U4.
Location of Hajdúnánás
Hajdúnánás (Hungarian: Hajdúnánási járás) is a district in north-western part of Hajdú-Bihar County. Hajdúnánás is also the name of the town where the district seat is found. The district is located in the Northern Great Plain Statistical Region. This district is a part of Hajdúság historical and geographical region.It was formerly known as Nánás, with added prefix Hajdú from Hajduk.

Sarmatian cataphracts (a form of armoured heavy cavalry) depicted on Trajan’s column, 2nd century CE.
Late Sarmatian cultural group.
The Sarmatians were a people originally of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains between the 6th and 4th century bc and eventually settled in most of southern European Russia and the eastern Balkans.
Like the Scythians to whom they were closely related, the Sarmatians were highly developed in horsemanship and warfare. Their administrative capability and political astuteness contributed to their gaining widespread influence. By the 5th century BCE the Sarmatians held control of the land between the Urals and the Don River. In the 4th century they crossed the Don and conquered the Scythians, replacing them as rulers of almost all of southern Russia by the 2nd century.
The Roman province of Lower Moesia (Bulgaria) was penetrated during the time of Nero’s rule, and an alliance which the Sarmatians formed with Germanic tribes posed a formidable threat to the Romans in the West as late as the lst century ad. In the final centuries of their existence the Sarmatians invaded Dacia (Romania) and the lower Danube region, only to be overwhelmed by the Goths during the 3rd century ad, though many of them joined their conquerors in the Gothic invasion of western Europe. Sarmatia perished when hordes of Huns migrated after ad 370 into southern Russia. Those surviving became assimilated or escaped to the West to fight the Huns and the last of the Goths. By the 6th century their descendants had disappeared from the historical record.
When the Sarmatians penetrated into southeastern Europe, they were already accomplished horsemen. They were nomadic, devoting themselves to hunting and to pastoral occupations. Owing to their common nomadic and Central Asian heritage, Sarmatian society paralleled, at first, that of the Scythians, but there were many differences. The Scythian gods were those of nature, while the Sarmatians venerated a god of fire to whom they offered horses in sacrifice. In contrast to the reclusive, domestic role of Scythian women, unmarried Sarmatian females, especially in the society’s early years, took arms alongside men. Sarmatian female warriors may have inspired the Greek tales of the Amazons.
An early matriarchal form of society was later replaced by a system of male chieftains and eventually by a male monarchy. This transition may well have stemmed from the rapid development of horsemanship and a male cavalry corps, attributable to the invention of the metal stirrup and the spur. These innovations contributed greatly to success in military campaigns and even influenced the Roman style of combat.

Map of the Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138 CE), showing the location of the Sarmatae in the Pontic steppe region (credit: author, Andrei N).
Evolving burial customs offer an insight into the progress of the Sarmatian social structure. Early graves held only the remains of the deceased. The somewhat later inclusion of personal objects with the body followed the emergence of class differences. As society became more complex and affluent, more treasures were included with the corpse, until in the final period burial costumes and even jewelry were added to the ritual. The Kuban region is the site of the most elaborate tombs, which in general resemble those of the Scythians, although they are less elaborate in form and decoration. Horse trappings and weapons of the Sarmatians were also less elaborate than those of the Scythians, but they nonetheless evidenced great skill. Sarmatian spears were longer, but knives and daggers were just as varied in style.
An outstanding specialty was the Sarmatian long sword, which featured a hilt of wood with gold lacing, topped with an agate or onyx knob. Sarmatian art was strongly geometric, floral, and richly coloured. Jewelry was a major craft, expressed in rings, bracelets, diadems, brooches, gold plaques, buckles, buttons, and mounts. Exceptional metalwork was found in the tombs, including bronze bracelets, spears, swords, gold-handled knives, and gold jewelry and cups.

Fürj-halom-dűlő 16, 19 and 54 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-Z2068) who lived around 2300 BCE
Reference: HNF016, HNF019 and HNF054 from Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. 2025.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in
Credits:
Picture Sarmatian cataphracts from Wikipedia.
Map from Wikipedia, Author, Andrei N. (Wikipedia Commons user Andrein).
Both licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Balatonkeresztúr S45, S10, S6, S8, S10, S16, S19 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-L1229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 423
Only 718 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Balatonkeresztúr S45, S10, S6, S8, S10, S16 and S19.
- Balatonkeresztúr S45 (I-S20743) was a 45-55 year old man who lived between 2200 – 1980 BCE during the Early Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Balatonkeresztúr, Somogy, Hungary.
His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U5a1g. - Balatonkeresztúr S10 (I-S20743) was a 7-8 year old boy who lived between 2140 – 1940 BCE during the Early Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Balatonkeresztúr, Somogy, Hungary.
His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a4a1g. - Balatonkeresztúr S6 (I-S20743) was a 16-18 year old teenage boy who lived between 2030 – 1770 BCE during the Early Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Balatonkeresztúr, Somogy, Hungary.
His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup T1a4. - Balatonkeresztúr S8 was a 30-40 year old man who lived between 2250 – 1750 BCE during the Early Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Balatonkeresztúr, Somogy, Hungary.
His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup T2b.
Balatonkeresztúr S45, S10, S6, S8 and S10 were all associated with the Kisapostag cultural group
- Balatonkeresztúr S19 was a 9-10 year old boy who lived between 2000 – 1500 BCE during the Early Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Balatonkeresztúr, Somogy, Hungary.
His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup T2b. - Balatonkeresztúr S16 was a 35-44 year old man who lived between 1890 – 1640 BCE during the Early Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Balatonkeresztúr, Somogy, Hungary.
His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup T2g2.
Balatonkeresztúr S19 and S16 were both associated with the Transdanubian Encrusted Pottery cultural group.
However even at the early stage of research anthropologist highlighted that the anthropological features of these individuals are unknown to Prehistoric Hungary prior to the appearance of so the called Bell Beaker culture (BBC). The BBC was a yet forgotten archaeological culture spread through major parts of Europe. Round crania as well plane nape was frequent among groups associated with BBC, which appeared with them in the Carpathian Basin at the second half of the third millennium BCE. The descendants of bronze age communities discovered near lake balaton, (FROM Eötvös Loránd University, ELTE). Balatonkeresztúr-Réti-dűlő, grave 13 and its skull, as well as other Early Bronze Age burials (photo: Fábián Szilvia, Dániel Gerber) Burials The individuals discovered in the mass grave associated with the Encrusted Pottery culture, who presumably died of an epidemic disease, were direct descendants of the community belonging to the Kisapostag culture. In addition, admixture with the native population living in the region (not related to the Somogyvár-Vinkovci culture) could be demonstrated along the maternal lineage, so their genetic legacy of special hunter-gatherer origin had already decreased. In the light of previous genetic research concerning the Encrusted Pottery culture, these could have been regional patrilocal, clan-like communities. This population came to be known in the Carpathian Basin primarily for its pottery with characteristic decoration. Following the genetic traces, we were able to identify several occurrences of the same population and also reconstruct their migration routes by studying finds of a similar age or belonging to earlier periods that came to light in the territory of Germany, Czechia, Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic states. Tollens warriors connection? The earliest individual belonging to the Somogyvár-Vinkovci culture was one-third of the local people who lived in Southern Transdanubia at that time and two-thirds of the contemporary ethnic groups that populated Europe. The latter were presumably the descendants of a formerly uninvestigated Baltic branch of a population coming from the steppes of Eastern Europe and probably speaking Indo-European languages. Genetic composition The history of hunter-gatherers goes back to the pre-glacial age. They were the indigenous population of Europe before the spread of agriculture. Beginning with the seventh millennium BCE, hunter-gatherers gradually merged with the farming groups newly arriving from the Middle East. According to a generally accepted view, the last isolated communities disappeared from Europe by the beginning of the fourth millennium BCE. However, the recent genetic research of the population belonging to the Kisapostag culture seems to have considerably prolonged the time of their survival. Credits text: Credit photo: Kisapostag-cultuur Kenmerken van de Kisapostag-cultuur: Transdanubia Transdanubia, Credit map: Wikipedia Commons, Mario CarderiTransdanubia is a traditional region of Hungary. It is also referred to as Hungarian Pannonia, or Pannonian Hungary. The borders of Transdanubia are the Danube River (north and east), the Drava and Mura rivers (south), and the foothills of the Alps roughly along the border between Hungary and Austria (west). Transdanubia comprises the counties of Győr-Moson-Sopron, Komárom-Esztergom, Fejér, Veszprém, Vas, Zala, Somogy, Tolna, Baranya and the part of Pest that lies west of the Danube. (In the early Middle Ages the latter was known as Pilis county.) The Encrusted Pottery Culture The Encrusted Pottery culture expanded eastwards and southwards along the Danube into parts of Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria in response to migrations from the northwest by the Tumulus culture, resulting in the emergence of groups such as Dubovác–Žuto Brdo in Serbia and Gârla Mare–Cârna in Romania, which are considered to be southern manifestations of the Encrusted Pottery culture. The culture was named after its distinctive pottery decorated with incised designs inlaid with white lime, and southern groups are notable for the production of figurines or idols decorated in the same style. Stylistic similarities have also been noted between Encrusted Pottery artefacts and artefacts from Mycenaean Greece. Genetic profile The ancestry composition of the eight individuals buried was ~29% hunter-gatherer, ~46% European farmer, ~25% western steppe herder. Some individuals had up to ~47% Mesolithic hunter-gatherer ancestry, despite this component being thought to be highly diluted by the time of the Early Bronze Age. Credit photo: Wikipedia Commons, Mario Carderi.
The Balatonkeresztúr-Réti dűlő site, (From HUN-REN, Hungarian Research Netwerk).
At 2003 a mass grave of eight individuals was uncovered at Balatonkeresztúr-Réti dűlő site, belonging to ages between one and half to 45 years old found in a refuse pit. Mass graves are not rare at prehistoric sites, from the Neolithic to the end of the Copper Age (around 2500 BCE) it was, in fact, pretty common.
Due to the constantly changing water level of Lake Balaton over the past millennia, the artefacts discovered at the Balatonkeresztúr site could be associated with chronologically distinctly separated periods.
The burials were left behind by communities that belonged to the Somogyvár-Vinkovci, Kisapostag, and Encrusted Pottery archaeological cultures (2,560–1,620 BCE). Among these, the youngest unit was a mass grave of eight people, which served as the starting point for the archaeogenomic investigations. What makes this feature extraordinary is that the bodies of the eight individuals were placed in a single pit at the settlement. This was an unusual treatment as cremation was the typical burial rite of the period.
These findings contribute to the resolution of several previous archaeological and genetic controversies concerning the prehistory of Europe,pointed out Dániel Gerber, the first author of the publication
“According to genetic research, their communities also appeared in other regions of Central Europe later. For example, the remains of warriors associated with the first known war in Europe (which took place around 1,300 BCE) discovered during excavations in Tollense, Germany, were largely the representatives of this population – based on the strontium isotope data – and probably originated from the region of Prague,” said Viktória Kiss, Head of the Lendület (“Mobility”) Research Group hosted by the HUN-REN RCH Institute of Archaeology.”
In terms of genetic composition, the population represented by this individual was closer to that of the modern Balkans than the community belonging to the Kisapostag culture, which was displaced from the region sometime around 2,200 BCE. This newly arriving population – based on the complete genome analysis of eleven skeletal burials –exhibited an outstandingly high Mesolithic hunter-gatherer ancestry in a European context.
De Kisapostag-cultuur was een prehistorische bevolkingsgroep uit het Bronstijd-Carpatisch Bekken, die een genetische basis vormde voor de latere Encrusted Pottery-cultuur en waarschijnlijk afkomstig was uit de Funnelbeaker- of Globular Amphora-culturen en een eerder onbekende bron in Oost-Europa. Deze gemeenschap kende een patrilocale sociale structuur en droeg bij aan verschillende groepen in Midden-Europa en de Baltische regio.
The Encrusted Pottery culture was an archaeological culture of the Early to Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1400 BC) originating in the Transdanubian region of western Hungary. It emerged from the Kisapostag culture, which was preceded by the Somogyvár-Vinkovci culture.
Four Y-DNA testings from the Balatonkeresztúr mass grave burial dated to the Encrusted Pottery Culture can be assigned to I2a-M223>>L1229 which is I2a2a1b (group I2a-M223 was present in Megalithic cultures from the British Isles to today’s Czechia), while two males’ Y-DNA could be assigned to the R1b-Z2103 clade, which appears in contemporaneous populations such as in Bell Beaker period samples from Hungary or a Vucedol culture associated individual from Croatia (in whichever case the most ancient samples come from the Pontic steppes).
Reference: Gerber S45_S10_S6 / S8-S19-S16 from Gerber et al. 2023
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Felsődobsza 137 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-L1229) who lived around 3200 BCE.
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Only 529 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Felsődobsza 137.
Felsődobsza 137 was an adult man who lived between 1500 and 800 BCE during the Late Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Burial, Felsődobsza-2, lelőhely, Hungary.
Felsődobsza 137, the pre-Gáva Period
Felsődobsza 137 is considered to be from the pre-Gáva Period, so before 13th century – 9th century BCE. From the upper Transtisza valley itself there are two samples:
- HUNG137 S62 Felsődobsza-2.lelőhely LBA pre-Gáva Period, R BD—Ha A1 34–42 Adult-Mature M M P,G
- I11665; 1500-800 BC; Felsődobsza-2. lelőhely, Hungary; Late Bronze Age; Adult-Mature I2-Y3721>Y3670>L1229 (xS20743,Y6512,Z2069)
- I11695; 1500-800 BC; Pácin-Alsókenderszer, Hungary; Late Bronze Age; R1b-Z2103>M12149 (xY4362, Z2110)
The Gava-Holigrady culture is named after an archaeological settlement Gava in northeastern Hungary and an archaeological site Holigrady (Голігради) in Ukrainian Ternopil Oblast. It was a late Bronze Age culture of Eastern Slovakia, Western Ukraine (Zakarpats’ka Oblast and Dnister river basin), Northwestern Romania, Moldova, and Northeastern Hungary, 13th century – 9th century BCE.
Gáva people lived in settlements and hillforts that they built in the Slovakian and Transylvanian uplands. It is considered a subtype of the Urnfield culture. The Urnfield culture (c. 1300–750 BCE) was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The Urnfield culture grew from the preceding Tumulus culture.
Felsődobsza village
Felsődobsza is a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Gönci district in North Eastern Hungary. Southeast of the village of Felsődobsza, a wide plateau stretches above the steep coast. At its edge, a separate, narrow, long ridge rises out, the Várdomb. The hill was strongly shaken, the former earthen castle only strongly today his mutilated remains stand. Its current length is approx. 40 m, width 8 m, its surface is smooth and grassy. The sides of the narrow spine are very steep all around, mostly gapped. In the modern era, a lot of it was mined, on its eastern side four cellars were cut.
If we look at the map, we can discover a line of defense, one castle chain. If we go north from Miskolc: Felsősolca, Onga, Újcsalános, Felsődobsza, Hernádbüd, Leányhegy, Tóhegy, Süllyedt-Bánhegy. We find the castles of Telkibánya and Abaújvár (the line continues to Hernád also along its Slovakian section).
Walking between these settlements is still uninitiated you can also notice a terrain variant that used to be a fortification or an earth castleserved. Felsődobsza could also be one of the links of this defense line. According to our earliest known records, several inhabitants of Upper Dobsza dug into the “hills” around 1835. Around the turn of the century (20th century) it appeared in places both as an ancient earthen castle and as a wealthy Bronze Age settlement. The most recent age definition places the age of the site as early as the Middle Bronze Age.
Reference: I11665
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Százhalombatta 247 (I2a) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-L229) who lived around 3150 BCE.
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Only 511 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Százhalombatta 247.
Százhalombatta 247 was a man who lived between 1743 and 1544 BCE during the Mid Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Földvár, Százhalombatta, Hungary. He was associated with the Vatya cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H11a.
The site of Százhalombatta-Földvár
The Bronze Age site of Százhalombatta-Földvár is situated on the right bank of the Danube, near the town of Százhalombatta, 30 km south of Budapest in Hungary. It is one of the largest temperate tell settlements from this period in central Europe. Excavation at the site is ongoing and producing substantial new data revealing a detailed and hitherto unknown picture of Bronze Age life from 2000-1400 BCE.
The site of Százhalombatta is 200 m by 100 m in area. It is estimated that up to two thirds of the original area was destroyed during clay extraction by a local brick factory and by erosion from the River Danube. The Bronze Age settlement was built on a bluff with valleys to north and south, the River Danube to the east and it was fortified with a ditch to the west, a feature common to other Vatya culture tells.
It was strategically positioned at the end of the Benta valley, potentially controlling access to other sites including smaller settlements within the valley. It overlooks a long stretch of the River Danube and may have been involved in river-borne trade and communication.
The settlement was first occupied at the end of the Early Bronze Age (the transition from the classic Nagyrév culture (Szigetszentmiklós) to the late Nagyrév (Kulcs). It was continuously inhabited through the Middle Bronze Age Vatya period. This was followed by a hiatus in occupation until the Urnfield phase of the Late Bronze Age from which there are only a few traces. Occupation layers at the site are up to 6 m deep.
Finds from the site include pottery, daub, plaster, metalwork, moulds, loom weights, bone tools, antler objects, ground stone, lithics, amber, animal and occasional human bones. Many of the Bronze Age houses were burnt. This has resulted in outstanding preservation of organic material including botanical remains such as thatch from house roofs and Bronze Age food like crabapples, peas, beans and lentils. There is also worked wood and basketry. Thin section soil micromorphology, phytoliths, charcoal and coprolites add to the data from the site.
The Vatya culture
The Vatya culture was an archaeological culture of the Early to Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1400 BCE) located in the central area of the Danube basin in Hungar. The culture formed from the background of the Nagyrév culture together with influences from the Kisapostag culture. It is characterized mainly by fortified settlements, cremation burial sites, and bronze production. It was succeeded by the Urnfield culture. People of the Vatya culture flourished during the Hungarian Early and Middle Bronze Ages (approximately 2200-1450 BC). According to tradition, they cremated the deceased.
Deep exploration of a Bronze Age cemetery in Hungary has revealed hundreds of artifacts and grave goods related to the Vatya culture. Analysis of the contents of one remarkable urn burial suggests high-status women in Bronze Age Central Europe mostly married outside of their immediate social group. The research analyzed 29 graves from the Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy cemetery, one of the largest Middle Bronze Age urn cemeteries in Central Hungary, located to the south of Budapest.
Among the graves and urns at the Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy cemetery, the excavators discovered a single golden hair ring with the cremated remains of a high-status Vatya culture woman who lived around 2200–1450 BCE.
Credit:
Photo site: Százhalombatta-Földvár Bronze Age tell settlement
Source: Matrica Museum archive
Author: Matrica Museum
Reference: RISE24 from Allentoft et al. 2015.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Les Bréguières 1 (I-Y43623) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7450 BCE.
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Only 524 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Les Bréguières 1.
Les Bréguières 1 was a man who lived between 4898 and 4712 BCE during the Middle Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Les Bréguières, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was associated with the Linear Pottery France cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H1.
The Bréguières burial
The oldest traces of habitation discovered in the area appear to date from the latest Neolithic or Chalcolithic period and come from a burial cave or Bréguières cave. The latter, excavated between 1966 and 1967 by Maurice Sechter, a doctor and amateur archaeologist from the Cannes region’.
The site of Mougins – Bréguières, in Southeastern France, appears of a huge patrimonial and scientific interest, due to the exceptional abundance and preservation of human bones, the singularity of associated material, and the specificity of the place, a fault, where the corpses were left.
Bréguières, in Southeastern France, appears of a huge patrimonial and scientific interest, due to the exceptional abundance and preservation of human bones, the singularity of associated material, and the specificity of the place, a fault, where the corpses were left.
The Bréguières burial is in a rocky fault line exposed by a quarry and yielded a funerary assemblage consisting of at least 61 individuals associated with lithic furniture and ceramics, as well as animal bones and presenting all the aspects of a collective grave.
The collection appears to accurately reflect remains in primary position at the time of discovery, in a sector extending over a length of 7 to 8 m, and a width of at least one metre, corresponding to the back of a cavity. The layout of this cavity in relation to the original entrance is unknown.
Direct dating of bone collagen have demonstrated that the human bone assemblage presents all the characters of a collective burial which then appears as one of the oldest within the Western Mediterranean Neolithic, in a social context marked by deep changes in symbolic paradigms through the whole Western Europe. and during their own life.
Reference: LBR001 from Rivollat et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Les Bréguières 2 (I-Y43623) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7450 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 466
Only 524 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Les Bréguières 2.
Les Bréguières 1 was a man who lived between 5209 – 4905 BCE during the Middle Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Les Bréguières, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was associated with the Linear Pottery France cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U5b2b3.
The Bréguières burial
The oldest traces of habitation discovered in the area appear to date from the latest Neolithic or Chalcolithic period and come from a burial cave or Bréguières cave. The latter, excavated between 1966 and 1967 by Maurice Sechter, a doctor and amateur archaeologist from the Cannes region’.
The site of Mougins – Bréguières, in Southeastern France, appears of a huge patrimonial and scientific interest, due to the exceptional abundance and preservation of human bones, the singularity of associated material, and the specificity of the place, a fault, where the corpses were left.
Bréguières, in Southeastern France, appears of a huge patrimonial and scientific interest, due to the exceptional abundance and preservation of human bones, the singularity of associated material, and the specificity of the place, a fault, where the corpses were left.
The Bréguières burial is in a rocky fault line exposed by a quarry and yielded a funerary assemblage consisting of at least 61 individuals associated with lithic furniture and ceramics, as well as animal bones and presenting all the aspects of a collective grave.
The collection appears to accurately reflect remains in primary position at the time of discovery, in a sector extending over a length of 7 to 8 m, and a width of at least one metre, corresponding to the back of a cavity. The layout of this cavity in relation to the original entrance is unknown.
Direct dating of bone collagen have demonstrated that the human bone assemblage presents all the characters of a collective burial which then appears as one of the oldest within the Western Mediterranean Neolithic, in a social context marked by deep changes in symbolic paradigms through the whole Western Europe. and during their own life.
Reference: LBR002 from Rivollat et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Cueva de las Lechuzas 4 (I-Y43623) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7450 BCE.
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Only 524 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Cueva de las Lechuzas 4.
Cueva de las Lechuzas 4 was an adult man who lived between 3300 and 2300 BCE during the Chalcolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Cueva de las Lechuzas, Villena, Alicante, Spain. He was associated with the Copper Age Iberian cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a+195.
The Lechuzas cave
The Lechuzas cave is located 4 km from the city of Villena (Alicante), in the Cabezo de las Cuevas, separated from the important Cabezo Redondo site by a narrow valley. It is a collective burial typical of the Levantine Chalcolithic, in which more than 18 bodies have been found. There were buried in the cave about eighteen individuals of both sexes and of all ages.
Thirteen magnificent flint arrows were collected, most of them with serrated edges and bifacial cut, next to two polished stone axes, greenish-gray in color, speckled with white in the rough parts that the loss of polish has left exposed. Both are biconvex, the smaller one is more irregular, one of whose faces is quite flattened.
The figure is completed by an owl carved from animal bone, perfectly sharpened and burnished, with a series of eight short, shallow parallel grooves in the region of the tip, and two spatulas obtained from bones similar to that of the previous awl, but cut throughout. its length between both condyles.
The most abundant material consists of necklace beads made of various materials: stone, bone and mollusk shells. More than three thousand have been collected, almost all of them very small in size. The most numerous are tiny shells, five to eight millimeters long, with two perforations each arranged in such a way that, when strung together, they make up a very beautiful spike, the appearance of which is contributed by the shape and size of the shells that form it. The materials that appeared are preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Villena.
The Late Neolithic and Copper Age of the Iberian Peninsula
The Late Neolithic and Copper Age of the Iberian Peninsula lasted from 4500 to 2200 BCE. Late Neolithic and Copper Age sites are known throughout the Iberian Peninsula, along the coast and in the interior (including the meseta) and in the uplands and lowlands. During the. the Late Neolithic (sometimes referred to as the Almería culture in southeastern Spain or the Alentejo was associated with the construction of the first megalithic tombs and the establishment of hilltop settlements. Late Neolithic human groups occupied caves, rock shelters, and open-air sites, particularly on hilltops at the confluence of rivers
It was characterized by the development of copper metallurgy, fortified settlements, and new ceramic types, such as bell beakers. In the Tagus River estuary of Portugal and in southeastern Spain it is possible to subdivide the Copper Age into a pre-beaker, Early Copper Age (3250–2600 BCE) and a beaker, Late Copper Age (2600–2200 BCE).
During the Copper Age some of these hilltop sites were walled and had circular/semicircular towers, or bastions, built into their walls. Settlements were established in more arid and marginal zones during the Copper Age of both the mainland and the Balearics, and some form of water management or irrigation may have been required to farm in these zones. This expansion into more marginal landscapes is a trend also seen throughout much of western Europe, such as southern France, at the time.
During the Late Neolithic the herding of livestock and agriculture were practiced, but it was not until the Copper Age that a fully agricultural and sedentary lifestyle was established in Iberia. Craft specialization during the Late Neolithic and Copper Age is indicated by the production of bifacially flaked flint tools, engraved slate plaques, groundstone tools, copper objects, and decorated ceramics.
There is both direct and indirect evidence for violent conflict during the Iberian Copper Age. The construction of elaborate systems of fortification with bastions, sometimes involving several lines of drystone walls (such as at Los Millares and Zambujal), suggests that there was a need for defense and a heightening of political tensions. Weaponry, such as copper daggers, and painted images of armed people in caves also are indicative of militarism.
During the Late Neolithic and Copper Age there were two patterns in which settlements and burials were established. In western and northern Iberia settlements generally were separated spatially from burials. In southern Iberia, however, particularly in southeastern Spain and along the Guadiana River, tombs sometimes were located close to or as integral parts of settlement areas.
Credit text: www.encyclopedia.com
Reference: CLL004 from Villalba-Mouco et al. 2021.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Abrantes 22183 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor I-Y4746 who lived around 1950 BCE.
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Only 982 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Abrantes 22183.
Abrantes 22183 was a man who lived between 1801 – 1900 CE during the Historical Age and was found in the region now known as Santarém – Castelo de Abrantes, Abrantes, Portugal. He was associated with the Napoleonic Portugal cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup L2b3a.
History
The area of the Abrantes Castle was at one time occupied by a Lusitanian castro structure. It was conquered during the Roman invasion of the peninsula around 130 BC by Consul Decimus Junius Brutus, and occupied for a time by Roman legions after Brutus expanded and remodelled it. Successive invasions by Alans (411), Visigoths (492) and Moors (716) further indicated the strategic importance of this site, justifying the establishment of a permanent military garrison. However, the area and its river did not constitute an important link between the settlements of the Iberian Peninsula until the 12th century.
During the Christian Reconquista (English: Re-conquest), the settlement in the area of Abrantes was taken from the Moors by forces in the service of Afonso Henriques (1112-1185), who restructured the defences of the site to attract settlers into the region. He granted the lands to the Order of Santiago (1172) so that they could watch over and assist pilgrims on the Way of Saint James. Later, it was incorporated into the Linha do Tejo (English: Tagus Line) that the Knights Templar established to control and maintain the lands reconquered from the Muslims. The castle outpost, as well as the castles of Almourol, Castelo Branco, Monsanto, Pombal, Tomar, Torres Novas and Zêzere formed a defensive barrier of garrisons along the middle course of the Tagus River.
As part of this line, Abrantes was able to resist the forces of the Almohad Caliphate under the command of Moroccan Abem Jacob (1179), who retreated after suffering many deaths. Abrantes was rewarded for its heroic resistance by receiving a foral in 1179 and was rebuilt. During the reign of Sancho I (1185-1211), a new attack from the Almoáda, under the command of Caliph Abu Yusuf Ya’qub al-Mansur, was successful in 1191 in retaking all the Christian conquests in the territories south of the Tagus, with the exception of Évora. In 1250, Afonso III (1248-1279) initiated a strengthening of the defences of the castle, including the construction of the prison block and an expansion of the walls, which was brought to completion between 1300 and 1303 in the reign of his successor Dinis. Afonso III donated the village of Abrantes to his wife, Queen Elizabeth of Portugal, beginning a tradition of royal patronage by the Queens of Portugal.
During the Portuguese Interregnum Abrantes allied itself with the Master of Aviz, and fought the forces of Castile in the Battle of Aljubarrota. A new foral was conferred (1510) during the reign of Manuel I of Portugal (1495-1521). In 1531, the two top floors of the prison block were destroyed by the 1531 Lisbon earthquake.
In the second half of the 16th century, the Abrantes Castle entered into decline, particularly during the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis. In the context of the Portuguese Restoration War, in the last quarter of the 17th century, Peter II determined that the castle and its settlement should be reconstructed into a medieval castle-keep, in the style of Vauban. To this end, the medieval walls were lowered and strengthened, and two secondary walls were constructed within the bastions in 1704. By this process of remodelling, which included the construction of the palace of the Marquess of Abrantes (by Rodrigo de Almeida e Meneses, 1st Marquess of Abrantes), making the fortress a key to the Province of Estremadura. Similar expansions were accomplished in 1731 by the military engineer Engeleer, with the construction of the bastions and renovation of the already existing walls.
In the 18th century, the castle’s installations were adapted for use as a garrison of a regiment of Royal Cavalry. Between 1792 and 1799, the same quarters were expanded and occupied by a legion commanded by the Marquess of Alorna. By the beginning of the 19th century, during the Peninsular War the castle and town underwent, on two occasions, the passage of Napoleonic troops into Portugal:
On 22 November 1807, it was occupied by troops under the command of Jean-Andoche Junot, who took the title of Duke of Abrantes (March 1808); In October 1810 it was reoccupied, after the rout of French troops at the Lines of Torres Vedras, under the command of Marshall André Masséna.
In 1809, the fortifications were improved under engineer Manuel de Sousa Ramos, just before they were occupied by Masséna’s forces, who destroyed the palace of the Marquess of Abrantes. Afterwards, the castle installations were de-activated as quarters, and converted to a military presidio, resulting in alterations to its structure. In 1860 repairs were made at the prison block, reinforced by an exterior wall, ordered built by the Baron of Batalhã.
In the middle of the 20th century, the castle’s buildings and structures were classified as an Imóvel de Interesse Público (Property of Public Interest) by decree (July 1957) by the Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (DGEMN) (General-Directorate for Buildings and National Monuments). At the end of the 1960s, remodelling projects were advanced to consolidate and restore the walls of the castle, which continued until the 1970s (and included the partial reconstruction of the detention block).
On 1 June 1992, the fort came under the authority of the Instituto Português do Patromónio Arquitectónico (IPPAR), forerunner of the Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico (Decree 106F/92).In 2002, a program was established to maintain and promote the structure, which included a public tender to renovate the building; the castle was closed between 2002 and 2004 to enable renovations to be carried out. After these were concluded, the castle was formally re-inaugurated on 18 April 2004

Abrantes 22183 was a man who lived between 1801 – 1900 CE during the Historical Age and was found in the region now known as Santarém – Castelo de Abrantes, Abrantes, Portugal.
Credit text and photo: Wikipedia,licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Reference: PT_22183 from Roca-Rada et al. 2025.
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Verteba 28 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7400 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 465
Only 525 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related Verteba 28.
Verteba 28 was a man who lived between 3770 and 3640 BCE during the Chalcolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Verteba Cave, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. He was associated with the Cucuteni-Trypillia cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup K1a1b1.

Verteba Cave, Bilge Zolote map.
Credit: Saukkomis
The Verteba Cave
The Verteba Cave (Ukrainian: Вертеба) located on the outskirts of Bilche Zolote village gets its name from the Ukrainian word for “crib” (Ukrainian: вертеп, bertel). Verteba is one of the largest caves in Europe, measuring 7.8 kilometers (4.8 mi) in length, with a total of 6000 cubic meters
The Cucuteni-Trypillia cultural complex (CTCC) is a grouping of several interrelated Middle Neolithic/Eneolithic archaeological cultures in parts of Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania14,15. This complex stretches from the Transylvanian Alps to the Dnieper River and is named for the type-sites of Cucuteni in Iași County, Romania and Trypillia (also known as Tripolye, in Russian) in Kyiv oblast, Ukraine.
The transition to agriculture occurred relatively late in Eastern Europe, leading researchers to debate whether it was a gradual, interactive process or a colonisation event. In the forest and forest-steppe regions of Ukraine, farming appeared during the fifth millennium BCE, associated with the Cucuteni-Trypillia cultural complex (CTCC, ~ 5000–3000 BCE).
Across Europe, the Neolithisation process was highly variable across space and over time. Here, we investigate the population dynamics of early agriculturalists from the eastern forest-steppe region based on the analyses of 20 ancient genomes from the site of Verteba Cave (3935–825 cal BCE). Results reveal that the CTCC individuals’ ancestry is related to both western hunter-gatherers and Near Eastern farmers, has no local ancestry associated with Ukrainian Neolithic hunter-gatherers and has steppe ancestry.
The paleogenetics of the Trypillian population is limited to the analysis of uniparental markers (mtDNA) and genome-wide analysis of 8 individuals. Mitochondrial haplogroups typical of ancient Eurasian farming groups (H, HV, T, K, J) have been observed for these individuals scattered throughout the cave.
DNA was extracted from 20 petrous bones. Eight of the samples were directly radiocarbon dated and were determined that six (VERT-035, VERT-106, VERT-031, VERT-100, VERT-104 and VERT-015) date to 3790–3535 cal BCE (2σ; Late Eneolithic).
In conclusion, the results show that Verteba Cave represents a significant mortuary site that connects East and West. The genetic structure of the CTCC peoples includes ancestry related to both earlier hunter-gatherers from the west and farmers from the Near East, and one that is genetically distinct from those of Moldovan CTCC peoples. The lack of local ancestry associated with Ukrainian Neolithic hunter-gatherers suggests that these farmers mostly replaced local foragers and did not mix with the neighbouring steppe populations.
Additionally, during the Bronze Age, Verteba Cave was used by successive waves of nomadic pastoralists from the east that eventually brought significant genetic and cultural changes to Europe that eventually mixed with the local descendants of Trypillia-culture population.
Additional genomic sampling from these later time periods will help to answer questions of site chronology and possibly indicate how the Trypliian culture eventually collapsed.
Reference: VERT028 from Gelabert et al. 2022 (Sci. Rep.)
Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.
Bilge Zolote map, credit:By Saukkomies at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0: Saukkomis
Article excerpt:
Credit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9068698/
Published: 04 May 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
Pere Gelabert, Ryan W. Schmidt, Daniel M. Fernandes, Jordan K. Karsten, Thomas K. Harper, Gwyn D. Madden, Sarah H. Ledogar, Mykhailo Sokhatsky, Hiroki Oota, Douglas J. Kennett & Ron Pinhasi.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.

Reconstruction of the Motala 2 man.
Credit: Oscar D. Nilsson
Motala 2 (I-L596) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-CTS2257) who lived around 21000 BCE.
Motala 2 was discovered in a Mesolithic settlement and ritual complex in the town of Motala, near lake Vättern in Sweden. He lived approximately 5715 – 5569 BCE during the Upper Paleolithic. Based on his remains and the age of the site, he was thought to have been a hunter-gatherer living in the pristine, yet temperate regions of central Scandinavia.
Sculptor and archaeologist Oscar D. Nilsson in collaboration with National Geographic reconstructed the face of the man based on the partial skull and chose to dress him in a cape made from wild boar, one of the animal species also found in the lake. The model is on display at the Motala Museum in the Charlottenborg manor house.
Excavating a dry prehistoric lake bed in Motala, 2009
When archaeologists were excavating a dry prehistoric lake bed in Motala, Sweden in 2009, they stumbled upon one of the most peculiar archaeological discoveries the nation had seen – the so-called ‘Tomb of the Sunken Skulls’, a collection of skulls dating back 8,000 years, which had been mounted on stakes. Now one of these skulls has been reconstructed to reveal the image of a man who met his fate at the gruesome archaeological site.

Reconstruction of the Kanalfjorden site with the skulls placed on poles, on display at the Motala Museum, Charlottenborg.
The Tomb of the Sunken Skulls
The Tomb of the Sunken Skulls is located on the eastern shore of Lake Vättern in the south eastern corner of Sweden. In 2009, a new railway line was to be built over a site known as Kanaljorden, where there once was a shallow lake. Before construction could commence, however, an excavation had to be conducted on the dry riverbed to determine if anything archaeologically important was buried beneath it. What the archaeologists found was a mysterious site dated back to Sweden’s Mesolithic period.
Archaeologists were understandably surprised when they uncovered the skulls and skull fragments of up to 11 individuals, including men, women, children, and even infants. Two of the human skulls –one fully intact and the other broken in half – were pierced with wooden stakes that protruded at the base of the cranium, while several others also showed signs that they had been treated in such a manner. Almost all of the adult skulls were jawless.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U2e1.
- Remains of seven individuals were discovered in a European Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherer burial site east of lake Vättern near modern day Motala, Sweden. All of the individuals found belonged to the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups U2 and U5, which was quite common for Hunter-Gatherers of this time period and location. These mitochondrial DNA haplogroups can still be found in modern day populations, although in much lower frequencies. Of these seven individuals, five of them were males belonging to the Y-chromosome haplogroup I, thus providing evidence that even in Mesolithic times this Y-chromosome haplogroup was common in Northern European populations.
Motala 2 reconstruction photo credit O. D. Nilsson.
Published on my website with personal permission of O.D. Nilsson.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.

Reconstruction photos.
Credit: O. D. Nilsson
Vistegutten (I-M423) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-L460) who lived around 20.000 BCE.
Viste Boy (Norwegian: Vistegutten) is the name given to the remains of a 15-year-old boy from the Mesolithic (middle stone age) who was found in an archaeological excavation of the Viste cave in Vistehola, Rogaland, Norway in 1907 and lived around 6300 – 6000 BCE.
The cave is filled with evidence of ancient human activity, including kitchen waste, bone ornaments, and various fishing tools such as hooks, harpoons, and barbed bone points. This suggests that the cave was a site of human habitation and activity, where people lived, worked, cooked and slept.
The artifacts found in the cave offer a glimpse into the daily lives and practices of ancient humans in the Mesolithic era. For example, the presence of fishing tools suggests that fishing was an important source of food for the people who lived in the cave.
The bone ornaments, on the other hand, suggest that these people had a sense of aesthetic appreciation and may have used personal adornments as a means of self-expression or social status.
Viste Boy is the best-preserved stone age skeleton from Norway. Now his face can be seen for the first time since the Mesolithic, after a 3D copy of his skull was used to rebuild his features. Swedish forensic artist, Oscar Nilsson, completed the work by plotting the depth of the boy’s skin at 32 ‘anatomical landmarks’ on the skull.

The Vista cave in western Norway.
Credit:Jarvin Jarle Vines
He said: “These 32 measurements are transferred to pegs that I cut to an exact length, and I glue them to the copy of the skull at the specific anatomical points. They reflect the approximate tissue depth, customized to the individual. After this, I start reconstructing the face using a plasticine clay.
The boy was very short, 125 cm (4′ 1″) tall, but had a robust build. That corresponds to the average height of an 8 or 9-year-old in the present day, even though his remains suggest he was around 15 years old at the time of death. His skull had an anomaly called Scaphocephaly, caused by premature closure of the sagittal suture, which forces the skull to grow forwards and backward but not sideways. With his short stature and different head shape, he would have had a unique appearance in his hunter-gatherer community.
An interesting fact is that while Nilsson initially wanted to give the boy a subtle smile, “as he got deeper into the project, he could not get rid of a feeling of a lonely boy”. “I imagine him on his way to the sea (which at his time was extremely near the cave) to catch some fish. It is very windy in this part of Norway, so I worked quite a lot to make it look as if the wind blows in his hair and clothes,” Nilsson added.
- Archaeological and genetic information sourced from Wikipedia.
- Reconstruction photos by O. D. Nilsson. Published on my website with personal permission of O.D. Nilsson.
- The Vista Cave in West Norway, credit: Jarvin Jarle Vines / CC BY-SA 3.0
Technical note: Wikipedia cites the Denham 2019 presentation and states that Vistegutten’s Y-DNA haplogroup was I2a1b, most common in the western Balkans, without clarifying which ISOGG Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree version that is referenced. ISOGG 2017 I2a1b-M423 best fits this description, but ISOGG 2019 I2a1b-P214 is another option. The haplogroup may be updated in the future to reflect any clarifications.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Stenderup Hage 943 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) who lived around 7450 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 442
Only 576 persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Stenderup Hage 943.
Stenderup Hage 943 was a man who lived between 2868 – 2465 BCE during the Late Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Stenderup Hage, Funen, Denmark. He was associated with the Neolithic Scandinavia cultural group.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H+152.
Reference:
NEO943 from Allentoft et al. 2023 Phylogenetic Y-DNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are typically degraded and missing coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Discovery and excavation of the battlefield of the Tollense valley
In 1996, a voluntary archaeologist found a bone of a man’s upper arm with a flint arrowhead embedded in it in the Tollense valley.
During succeeding years, bones of over one hundred individuals have been found in this location. On many of these bones, old and new traces of trauma were visible: healed and recent wounds, caved in skulls, etcetera.
Furthermore, swords, spearheads and arrowheads were found. The site summons up an image of a violent fight between men, some older, most of them in the prime of their life. The battle at the Tollense valley took place in 1300 BC, the Bronze age. Back then, this valley was a vast swamp with a small river in the middle. As it still is today.
The site, discovered in 1996 and systematically excavated since 2007, extends along the valley of the small Tollense river, to the east of Weltzin village, on the municipal territories of Burow and Werder.
As of late 2017, the remains of some 140 people had been identified. Most of these were young men between the ages of 20 and 40, but there were also at least two women identified among 14 skeletons that were genetically tested. Before March 2016, about 10,000 human and 1,000 animal bones had been found; by March 2018, that number had risen to a total of about 13,000 fragments.
The total number of dead is estimated between 750, to more than 1,000. The total number of fighters might have ranged between 3,000 and more than 5,000, assuming a casualty rate of 20-25%. In one spot, 1,478 bones were found within just 12 m2 (130 sq ft), potentially the remnants of a pile of corpses or a final pocket of resistance.
Why the men gathered in this spot to fight and die is another mystery that archaeological evidence is helping unravel. The Tollense Valley here is narrow, just 50 meters wide in some spots. Parts are swampy, whereas others offer firm ground and solid footing. The spot may have been a sort of choke point for travelers journeying across the northern European plain.
In 2013, geomagnetic surveys revealed evidence of a 120-meter-long bridge or causeway stretching across the valley. Excavated over two dig seasons, the submerged structure turned out to be made of wooden posts and stone. Radiocarbon dating showed that although much of the structure predated the battle by more than 500 years, parts of it may have been built or restored around the time of the battle, suggesting the causeway might have been in continuous use for centuries—a well-known landmark.
- “The crossing played an important role in the conflict. Maybe one group tried to cross and the other pushed them back,” Terberger says. “The conflict started there and turned into fighting along the river.”
As the population density was approximately 5 people per square kilometer (13 per square mile), this would have been the most significant battle in Bronze Age Central Europe known so far and makes the Tollense valley currently the largest excavated and archaeologically verifiable battle site of this age in the world.

The valley of the Tollense during winter floods, close to Kessin and Weltzin. License/Creative Commons, Wikipedia.
Why is the Tollense battlefield important to me?
My Y-DNA haplogroup I-FGC15105 is related to 7 Y-DNA haplogroups found in the DNA of 7 men on the Tollense battlefield in the Tollense valley, West Pomerania, Germany. All 7 of these men were connected to the Tollense “Warriors” cultural group.
They were Weltzin 15, 51, 71, 39 64, 24 and Welztin 83, these are 7 men who lived between 1350 and 1150 BCE during the European Bronze Age and with whom I share a common paternal ancestor.
Remarkably, Weltzin 15, 51, 71, 39 64, 24 and Welztin 83 have a higher than average Western Hunter Gatherer % (WHG) than most Europeans. That is interesting since I am at 48% WHG ,which I’ve been told is a pretty high percentage in any population.
- I put “Warriors” in quotes because it is unclear whether these were warriors or victims of an ambush. One thing is certain, they died on the battlefield. Winners or losers, nobody knows.
Interesting observations:
* Weltzin 71, 39 and 64 come from the Tollense valley in Western Pomerania, Germany and share a common paternal ancestor (I-I-L1229) around 3200 BCE with Erd 479, Zličín 16549 , Mokrin 28A, Padina 5243, Polaky 15071 and I (I-FGC15105).
That is about 2000 years before the battlefield in the Tollense valley took place.
However Erd 479, Zličín 16549, Mokrin 28A, Padina 5243 and Polaky 15071 originate from Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Serbia and not from the Tollense valley in Germany.
* Weltzin 24 and Weltzin 83 come from the Tollense valley in West Pomerania, Germany and share a common paternal ancestor (I-BY1003) around 7400 BCE with Břvany 14481, Su Crocefissu 26, Urziceni 14163, Su Crocefissu 27 and I (I-FGC15105). That is about 6ooo years before the battlefield in the Tollense valley took place.
However Břvany 14481, Su Crocefissu 26, Urziceni 14163 and Su Crocefissu 27 originate from Czech Republic, Italy, Romania and Sassari, Italy and not from the Tollense valley in Germany.
* Weltzin 51 comes from the Tollense valley in Western Pomerania, Germany and has the same joint paternal ancestor (I-Z2068) around 1350 – 1150 BCE BCE as Konobrže 16099 and I (I-FGC15105).
However, Konobrže 16099 comes from Czech Republic and not from the Tollense valley in Germany.
With Weltzin 51 I share not only a common paternal ancestor but also a common ancestor through his maternal side, because Weltzin 51’s mtDNA is H1c and my mtDNA is H1c1.
* Weltzin 15 comes from the Tollense valley in Western Pomerania and has a common paternal ancestor (I-Z2054) around 1350 – 1150 BCE with me (I-FGC15105).
* Szólád 43 (I-BY138) and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC151109) who lived around 1800 BCE. Szólád 43 was a man who lived between 438 and 605 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Szólád, Cserénfa, Hungary. He was associated with the Longobard Barbarian cultural group. Interesting is that the Longobard homeland is just a little bit southwest of the Tollense valley.
- The Lombards or Langobards (Latin: Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The Lombards settled in modern-day Hungary in Pannonia. Archaeologists have unearthed burial sites in the area of Szólád of Lombard men and women buried together as families, a practice that was uncommon for Germanic peoples at the time. Traces have also been discovered of Mediterranean Greeks and of a woman whose skull suggests French ancestry, possibly indicating that migrations into the Lombard territory occurred from Greece and France.
I (I-FGC151505) therefore share the same common paternal ancestor with all these people, but in a different timescale. So not only do we have a common Y-DNA paternal ancestor (I-L1229, I-BY1003, I-Z2054 and I-Z2068), but it raises also a geographically question in my mind;
“Did some of my old pre-Celtic ancient family members, with a common paternal ancestor I-BY1003 and I-L1229 left the Central European region between 74000 – 3200 BCE and moved to the north of Germany, via present-day Italy / Hungary / Serbia / Czech Republic and eventually died on the battlefield of the Tollense valley, just like Wiltzin 71, 39, 64, 24, 83, 15 and Weltzin 51 in 1300 BCE?“

The common paternal ancestors that I (I-FGC15105) share with men who fell in the battle in the Tollense valley.
Battlefield or ambush? (Partial text from Dutch article: Ancient battle, ambush? )
The victims seem to come from afar, it seems that the battle was not a local conflict between neighboring tribes. In 2017, for example, strontium analyzes of some of the bones found showed that most of the dead were not from the surrounding area. The examination of the bones at the Tollense shows that most of the men did not live in northern Germany, but probably came from southern Germany and central Europe – almost 1000 kilometers away.
For an alternative explanation, Jantzen points to a discovery made during the excavations, namely a road that was hundreds of years old at the time of the battle.
- There is stronger evidence that the warriors were ambushed.
The mysterious road
When the archaeologists examined the eastern bank of the Tollense to see if there had been any fighting there, they made a surprising discovery. At the spot from where the find layer of human bones spread on the west bank, they found – instead of bones – an approximately 2.5 meter wide strip with crisscrossed trunks.
The strip ran inland from the river. Under and next to the trunks were huge stones, which clearly came from the surrounding fields. A layer of sand and earth lay on top of the stones and trunks. They were the remains of a thousands of years old road. Excavations revealed that the area around the road was impassable marshland at that time. The construction of the road made it possible to cross the marshy swamp safely. The road led to the bank of the Tollense, where there was probably a bridge.
Ambush on the river bank
The road through the swamp area was undoubtedly well known. For those who wanted to cross the river, this was the place to be. As a result, it was also the best place to prevent someone from reaching the other side. And according to Detlef Jantzen, in the eyes of the researchers, this is one of the most likely scenarios at the moment.
- “A group of people trying to cross the valley of the Tollense was somehow stopped by another group and a fight broke out,” he explains.
The theory is supported by the fact that many weapons and bones have been found right on the spot where a possible bridge may have stood. It seems that the warring groups then moved north along the west bank, where remnants of the battle have also been found. According to Detlef Jantzen, both groups may have been armed and aware of each other’s existence.
Thus, according to this theory, two armies actively sought confrontation. Another possibility, however, is that one group lay in ambush near the river and waited for the unsuspecting counterpart to arrive at the best place to cross the river and swamp. Because this was the ideal place for an ambush.
- “We know from the finds that a large group of young men were attacked with all kinds of weapons and many of them were killed. But we know almost nothing about the winning party. And we don’t even know if the losers were armed,” says Jantzen.
That the losing group may not even have consisted of armed warriors is supported by the fact that none of the skeletal parts found bear scars from previous battles. You would expect that if they were warriors who had fought many times before. Eight skulls, admittedly, showed evidence of previous club blows—which they had survived. But there were no scars from sharp weapons.
That’s why the scientists think the dead could also belong to another group known to have moved in the Bronze Age: itinerant traders.
Significance of the archeological find
The overseeing State Archaeologist Detlef Jantzen claims this to be the oldest archaeologically verifiable battlefield in Europe and one of the 50 most important find sites worldwide.
- He also said: “The Tollense site has a dimension that nobody would have deemed possible for our region.”
- Helle Vandkilde, archeologist at Aarhus University commented “Most people thought ancient society was peaceful, and that Bronze Age males were concerned with trading and so on […] Very few talked about warfare.”
A group of 5,000 combatants implies that they had been gathered, organised, fed, briefed, and led into battle. According to the researchers at the site, this would have been an astounding feat for the time, probably enabled by a central government. This would mean that socio-political development in Central Europe was more advanced and more bellicose than previously assumed, roughly at a time when Egypt and the Hittites concluded their famous peace treaty. “The well-preserved bones and artifacts add detail to this picture of Bronze Age sophistication, pointing to the existence of a trained warrior class and suggesting that people from across Europe joined the bloody fray.”
According to archaeologist Kristian Kristiansen, the battle would have taken place during an era of significant upheaval from the Mediterranean to the Baltic. At around this time, the Mycenean civilization of ancient Greece collapsed, while the Sea Peoples who had devastated the Hittites were defeated in ancient Egypt. Not long after the battle at Tollense valley, the individual scattered farmsteads of northern Europe were replaced by concentrated and heavily fortified settlements.
Video of the Battlefield of the Tollense valley, around 1250-1300 BCE
- Read more (in Dutch) about the battlefield at the Tollense: Door Niels-Peter Granzow Busch
D. Jantzen, J. Orschiedt, J. Piek, T. Terberger: Tod im Tollensetal, Landesamt für Kultur und Denkmalpflege Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 2014

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.

Living reconstruction in the Neanderthal Museum (Erkrath, Mettmann) of a Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.
Neanderthal Man and I share (I-FGC15105) a common paternal line ancestor (A000-T) who lived around 368,000 BCE.
Common Connection
Every modern human shares a connection with Neanderthaler Man.
- Try to imagine the modern human, Homo Sapiens, as just one of three species of humans coexisting on the planet Earth. That’s a difficult picture to paint by any stretch of the imagination. Yet this was the reality 60,000 years ago, when the first anatomically modern humans left Africa. It was a time when Europe and the Middle East were already populated by the Neanderthals, while the Denisovans spread across large parts of Asia.
GEDmatch Archaic Matches with my Autosomal DNA
My DNA was uploaded to GEDmatch and they found two archaic Neanderthal matches with my DNA in Vindija Cave, northern Croatia and in Sidrón Cave in the Piloña municipality of Asturias, northwestern Spain.LivingDNA located my most similar Neanderthal remnant in the Mezmaiskaya Cave.
Located in the Azish-Tau Ridge in the Northwestern foothills of the North Caucasus mountainsThe two Neanderthal samples included in the Living DNA database have been radiocarbon dated to around 65,000 and 43,000 years ago.
Neanderthal mtDNA
The first analysis of any Neanderthal DNA was mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), published in 1997. The sample was taken from the first Neanderthal fossil discovered, found in Feldhofer Cave in the Neander Valley in Germany. A small sample of bone was ground up to extract mtDNA, which was then replicated and analyzed.
The Neanderthal and modern human sequences differed by approximately 27.2 substitutions. Using this mtDNA information, the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern human’s dates to approximately 550,000 to 690,000 years ago, which is about four times older than the modern human mtDNA pool. After successfully sequencing large amounts of mtDNA, a team led by Svante Pääbo from the Max Planck Institute reported the first complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence for a Neanderthal (Green et al. 2008). The sample was taken from a 38,000 year old Neanderthal from Vindija Cave, Croatia.
Neanderthal Nuclear DNA
There have been many efforts to sequence Neanderthal nuclear genes, with an eventual goal to sequence as much of the Neanderthal genome as possible. In 2014, the complete genome of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains in Siberia was published (Prufer et al., 2014). This female individual’s genome showed that her parents were likely half siblings and that her genetic line showed evidence of high rates of incestuous pairings. It is unclear whether this is due to her living in a small and isolated population or if other factors may have influenced the lineage’s inbreeding. Their analysis also showed that this individual was closely related to both modern humans and the Denisovans, another ancient human population. By their analysis, there was only a very small margin by which Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA differed exclusively from modern humans.
- Vindija Cave is an archaeological site associated with Neanderthals and modern humans, located in the municipality of Donja Voća, Northern Croatia.
The cave has yielded Neanderthal and animal bones, many of them too fragmentary to determine from their morphology from what species they derive. Importantly, DNA preservation in Vindija Cave is relatively good and allowed the determination of Pleistocene nuclear DNA from a cave bear a Neanderthal genome, exome and chromosome 21 sequences.
In 2017, researchers from the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit dated several samples from Vindija Cave. Their direct AMS dating results show that the Neanderthal finds at Vindija are older than 44,000 BP. - Sidrón Cave is a non-carboniferous limestone karst cave system located in the Piloña municipality of Asturias, northwestern Spain, where Paleolithic rock art and the fossils of more than a dozen Neanderthals were found.
Researchers recovered more than 2500 hominin fossil elements from the site. The minimum number of individuals from Sidrón Cave is 13. The age of these remains of three men, three adolescent boys, four women, and three infants has been estimated to about 49,000 years BCE.
The fact that the bones are excellently preserved with very limited erosion and no large carnivore tooth marks and the unusual deposition of the bones, mixed into a jumble of gravel and mud, suggests that these Neanderthals did not die in this spot but an exterior location. A number of scenarios of how these “members of an extended family” might have ended up in a 6 m2 (65 sq ft) room-sized space, dubbed the Tunnel of Bones included flooding, cave collapse, and disposal by cannibals. Evidence for cannibalism includes “the presence of cut marks, flakes, percussion pitting, conchoidal scars, and adhering flakes”. Projection exists that they were dropped into the cave in a single event via a collapse of nearby fissures above the site or, by influx of storm water. - Mezmaiskaya Cave
Mezmaiskaya Cave is located in the Azish-Tau Ridge in the Northwestern foothills of the North Caucasus mountains (Lago-Naki highland, Republic of Adygea, Russia). Interestingly, the three Neanderthal fossils discovered at Mezmaiskaya Cave include an almost-complete skeleton of a neonate, as well as cranial fragments and teeth. The two Neanderthal samples included in the Living DNA database have been radiocarbon dated to around 65,000 and 43,000 years agoLater, Svante Pääbo’s lab sequenced the entire mitochondrial genome of five more Neanderthals (Briggs et al. 2009). Sequences came from two individuals from the Neander Valley in Germany and one each from Mezmaiskaya Cave in Russia, El Sidrón Cave in Spain, and Vindija Cave in Croatia. Though the Neanderthal samples came from a wide geographic area, the Neanderthal mtDNA sequences were not particularly genetically diverse. The most divergent Neanderthal sequence came from the Mezmaiskaya Cave Neanderthal from Russia, which the oldest and eastern-most specimen.

GEDmatch Archaic Neanderthal Matches with my Autosomal DNA in Vindija Cave, northern Croatia and in Sidrón Cave, Asturia Spain.
Neanderthals were first named and unearthed in 1856 in the Neander Valley of Germany, three full years before Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species. In his writings, Darwin only briefly wrote about human evolution and did not mention anything about the newly named Neanderthals. Coincidentally, by 1848, a Neanderthal skeleton had already been discovered in Gibraltar. That specimen, however, had remained uncharacterized in science. So, as fate would have it, the German team is credited with discovering the new species, and the name Neanderthal still remains. Neanderthal Man (seen pictured as a reconstruction) from Feldhofer cave in Neander Valley lived approximately 40,000 years ago.
Coincidentally, by 1848, a Neanderthal skeleton had already been discovered in Gibraltar. That specimen, however, had remained uncharacterized in science. So, as fate would have it, the German team is credited with discovering the new species, and the name Neanderthal still remains.
- Neanderthal Man (seen pictured here as a reconstruction) from Feldhofer cave in Neander Valley lived approximately 40,000 years ago.
At the same time that Neanderthals evolved from H. Heidelbergensis in Europe, early modern humans arose in North and East Africa. There is as yet no indication of these early humans crossing open water: the first contacts across the Strait of Gibraltar seem to have only taken place during the Neolithic. The only early contacts can only have been through the Isthmus of Suez. Of particular interest are therefore the finds in the Levant. According to current understanding, these are essentially considered Neandertals, albeit with a small influence from African early modern humans.
The most recent Neanderthal finds in the Levant date from about 50,000 BC, which is remarkable because early modern humans, via a different route across the Bab el Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz, had reached South Asia and even Australia tens of thousands of years earlier. Genetic research also shows that the first modern humans in the Middle East were related to these Asian settlers, rather than coming through Sinai.
About 46,000 years ago, early modern humans first set foot on European soil. These European early modern humans brought with them the culture of the Aurignacian. In Europe and Western Asia, it is often referred to as Cro-Magnon humans, although strictly speaking this was only a sub-group.
Modern humans and Neanderthals then lived simultaneously for several thousand years in the same areas, gradually displacing Neanderthals to the fringe, such as south of the Ebro (Spain). The most recent Neanderthal finds are about 28,000 years old and were found in Gibraltar. Another late site is Byzovaja in Northern Russia.
In Western Europe, Neanderthals disappeared about 40,000 years ago. On the southern edges of the Iberian Peninsula, including Gibraltar, Neanderthals may have survived for several thousand more years. The last Neanderthals in Europe, as far as we know, lived in Gibraltar at least 39,000 years ago. However, that Gibraltar was the last place in Europe where Neanderthals could survive is doubted by other archaeologists. They suspect that the finds are rather the result of the very intensive archaeological research that the English are carrying out on such a small area
Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relative. Some defining features of their skulls include the large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose for humidifying and warming cold, dry air. Their bodies were shorter and stockier than ours, another adaptation to living in cold environments. But their brains were just as large as ours and often larger – proportional to their brawnier bodies.
Neanderthals made and used a diverse set of sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, were skilled hunters of large animals and also ate plant foods, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects. There is evidence that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead and occasionally even marked their graves with offerings, such as flowers. No other primates, and no earlier human species, had ever practiced this sophisticated and symbolic behavior.
- DNA has been recovered from more than a dozen Neanderthal fossils, all from Europe; the Neanderthal Genome Project is one of the exciting new areas of human origins research.

Timeline and location of Neanderthaler find in Europe and the Levant. Neanderthal Man and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal line ancestor (A000-T) who lived around 368.000 BCE
Credit:
- Partial text from Ancient DNA and Neanderthals, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
The text from the website page page was developed primarily by Robin Teague and Ryan McRae, and edited by Briana Pobiner. - Neanderthaler map: Licenced Wikimedia Commons.
- Neanderthal hunters depicted in the Gallo-Romeins Museum Tongeren (Belgium), Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.

Living reconstruction in the Neanderthal Museum (Erkrath, Mettmann) of a Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.
Neanderthal Man and I share (I-FGC15105) a common paternal line ancestor (A000-T) who lived around 368,000 BCE.
Common Connection
Every modern human shares this connection with Neanderthal Man.
My Neanderthal percentage is 2,08% and my Neanderthal score is 331 and represents the number of alleles (DNA letters) that I share with Neanderthals and my most similar remnant is from the Mezmaiskaya Cave, located in the Azish-Tau Ridge in the Northwestern foothills of the North Caucasus mountains (Lago-Naki highland, Republic of Adygea, Russia).
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis)
Before modern humans (Homo sapiens) became the dominant – and only surviving – human species on the Earth, we shared our world with other archaic human species. This is thought to have been the case until as little as 15,000 years ago, but represents a period of time stretching back to the dawn of our species, some 400,000 years ago.
Much is now understood about Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) who, despite getting their name from the Neander Valley in Western Germany where some early specimens were discovered in 1856, were actually first discovered more than 2 decades earlier in 1829, in a cave in Belgium.
They separated from the modern human lineage early in the Middle Pleistocene (Rogers et al, 2017) and inhabited the vast region of Europe and Asia from approximately 400,000 years ago up to 40,000 years ago, as evident by the discovery of their remains in many caves throughout these regions.
Neanderthal mtDNA
The first analysis of any Neanderthal DNA was mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), published in 1997. The sample was taken from the first Neanderthal fossil discovered, found in Feldhofer Cave in the Neander Valley in Germany. A small sample of bone was ground up to extract mtDNA, which was then replicated and analyzed.
The Neanderthal and modern human sequences differed by approximately 27.2 substitutions. Using this mtDNA information, the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern human’s dates to approximately 550,000 to 690,000 years ago, which is about four times older than the modern human mtDNA pool.
After successfully sequencing large amounts of mtDNA, a team led by Svante Pääbo from the Max Planck Institute reported the first complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence for a Neanderthal (Green et al. 2008). The sample was taken from a 38,000 year old Neanderthal from Vindija Cave, Croatia.
Later, Svante Pääbo’s lab sequenced the entire mitochondrial genome of five more Neanderthals (Briggs et al. 2009). Sequences came from two individuals from the Neander Valley in Germany and one each from Mezmaiskaya Cave in Russia, El Sidrón Cave in Spain, and Vindija Cave in Croatia. Though the Neanderthal samples came from a wide geographic area, the Neanderthal mtDNA sequences were not particularly genetically diverse. The most divergent Neanderthal sequence came from the Mezmaiskaya Cave Neanderthal from Russia, which the oldest and eastern-most specimen.
Neanderthal Nuclear DNA
There have been many efforts to sequence Neanderthal nuclear genes, with an eventual goal to sequence as much of the Neanderthal genome as possible. In 2014, the complete genome of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains in Siberia was published (Prufer et al., 2014). This female individual’s genome showed that her parents were likely half siblings and that her genetic line showed evidence of high rates of incestuous pairings. It is unclear whether this is due to her living in a small and isolated population or if other factors may have influenced the lineage’s inbreeding. Their analysis also showed that this individual was closely related to both modern humans and the Denisovans, another ancient human population. By their analysis, there was only a very small margin by which Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA differed exclusively from modern humans.
Neanderthal-Homo sapiens interbreeding
Neanderthals are known to contribute up to 1-4% of the genomes of non-African modern humans, depending on what region of the word your ancestors come from, and modern humans who lived about 40,000 years ago have been found to have up to 6-9% Neanderthal DNA (Fu et al., 2015). Because Neanderthals likely evolve outside of Africa (no Neanderthal fossils have been found in Africa to date) it was thought that there would be no trace of Neanderthal DNA in African modern humans. However, a study in 2020 demonstrated that there is Neanderthal DNA in all African Homo sapiens (Chen at el., 2020). This is a good indicator of how human migration out of Africa worked: that Homo sapiens did not leave Africa in one or more major dispersals, but that there was gene flow back and forth over time that brough Neanderthal DNA into Africa.
For many years, the only evidence of human-Neanderthal hybridization existed within modern human genes. However, in 2016 researchers published a new set of Neanderthal DNA sequences from Altai Cave in Siberia, as well as from Spain and Croatia, that show evidence of human-Neanderthal interbreeding as far back as 100,000 years ago — farther back than many previous estimates of humans’ migration out of Africa (Kuhlwilm et al., 2016).
Our current understanding, based on the analysis of DNA extracted from the remains of other human species, is that some of these archaic humans did not disappear completely; namely Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and Denisovans (Homo denisova / H. altaiensis). Through interbreeding with modern humans thousands of years ago, their DNA survives today as part of the human genome.
The genetic contribution from the Neanderthal to the present-day human gene pool can be found in all human populations outside of Africa, whereas the contribution from Denisovans is found exclusively in Asia and Oceania. It is thought that their DNA helped modern humans adapt to the different local environments that they encountered as they spread across the Eurasian landmass, and beyond.
The LivingDNA Archaic DNA test allows me to explore how much of my DNA is attributed to Neanderthal and Denisovan humans, and even the physical traits that you may have inherited from some of your most ancient human ancestors, many thousands of years ago
Neanderthal Percentage and Score
A total of 3,990 human genome locations (SNPs) have been identified as originating in Neanderthals. By multiplying this number by 2 we get the total number of alleles that we calculate my Neanderthal score over; this is 7,980. Therefore, Neanderthal scores range between 0 and 7,980. However, the maximum and minimum scores are never found in people. Typically, scores between 250 to 400 likely for someone without African ancestry.

My Neanderthal percentage is 2,08% and my most similar remnant is from the Mezmaiskaya Cave, located in the the North Caucasus mountains (Lago-Naki highland, Republic of Adygea, Russia).
Mezmaiskaya Cave is most similar remnant
Mezmaiskaya Cave is located in the Azish-Tau Ridge in the Northwestern foothills of the North Caucasus mountains (Lago-Naki highland, Republic of Adygea, Russia). Interestingly, the three Neanderthal fossils discovered at Mezmaiskaya Cave include an almost-complete skeleton of a neonate, as well as cranial fragments and teeth. The two Neanderthal samples included in the Living DNA database have been radiocarbon dated to around 65,000 and 43,000 years ago.
From the analysis of the Neanderthal genome and its comparison to the modern human genome we know that Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals during the Late Pleistocene, soon after moving out of Africa some 80,000-50,000 years ago (see Sankararaman et al., 2014 for example).
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is found in most modern Eurasian people today seems to indicate a survival advantage to having Neanderthal ancestors (Vernot & Akey, 2014), although more negative effects of modern human-Neanderthal admixture have been described as well (Harris & Nielsen. 2016). These negative effects might be due to the fact that Neanderthal genetic diversity was lower than any living human population, a consequence of strong bottlenecks that occurred soon after their lineage separated from modern humans and background inbreeding (Castellano et al., 2014, Prüfer et al., 2014, Rogers et al., 2017).
The brutish and regressive caveman image that has been associated with Neanderthals in times past has been shown to be untrue. Evidence suggests that they were in fact quite sophisticated when compared to Homo sapiens of the same period. There is archaeological evidence indicating that Neanderthals were adept at stone tool creation, rope and fabric manufacturing (Hardy et al., 2020), creating and controlling fire for heating and cooking (Sorensen et al. 2018, Hardy et al., 2012) and even utilising plants for medicinal purposes (Hardy et al., 2013). Based upon the animal remains found in Neanderthal caves we do know that they hunted a variety of animals, including large megafauna such as wild horses and deer (Richards et al., 2012), but also marine animals (Brown et al., 2011), much like the Homo sapiens that they encountered.
There is also evidence of cultural creativity, such as the creation of ornaments and paintings (Hoffmann et al., 2020) and the manufacture of elaborate structures of unknown purpose inside deep cave passages (Jaubert et al., 2016); and engraving of non-figurative markings on bones (Majkić et al., 2017) and rock surfaces (Rodríguez-Vidal et al., 2014) indicating an appreciation of art.
It is not known what cultural practices and beliefs Neanderthal cultures held, but based upon this evidence we can speculate that they did in fact have such characteristics, and may as well had a spoken language.

Timeline and locations of Neanderthal discovery in Europe and the Levant. Neanderthal and I share (I-FGC15105) a common paternal ancestor (A000-T) who lived around 368,000 BCE. lived
Credit:
- Partial text from Ancient DNA and Neanderthals, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
The text from the website page page was developed primarily by Robin Teague and Ryan McRae, and edited by Briana Pobiner - Neanderthal hunters depicted in the Gallo-Romeins Museum Tongeren (Belgium), Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), via Wikimedia Commons
- Evolution of Homininae along 3 main lines. Author: P’tit Pierre, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
- Text and map from my account at LivingDNA.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Viking’s Disease’ Hand Condition Traced Back to Ancestral Neanderthals
Researchers have discovered a link between Neanderthal genetic material and an unusual health disorder that affects modern humans. The disorder in question is Dupuytren’s disease, a.k.a. Viking’s disease, a hand condition that can cause some of a person’s fingers to become permanently bent at an angle.
Neanderthals living 40,000 to 50,000 years ago undoubtedly suffered from some form of this condition. Through genetic mixing they passed this vulnerability on to humans living alongside them in Northern Europe.
As explained in a new paper just published in Molecular Biology and Evolution , Dupuytren’s disease is far more common in people of Northern European descent than in those whose predecessors came from Africa. In fact, the name “Viking disease” comes from its predominance among descendants of the ancient Viking warriors who once ruled Scandinavia.
Highlighting the latter relationship, one study found that about 30 percent of Norwegians above the age of 60 experience the symptoms of Dupuytren’s disease, usually in their middle and/or ring fingers. “This is a case where the meeting with Neanderthals has affected who suffers from illness,” said the paper’s lead author, evolutionary geneticist Hugo Zeberg from the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden. Nonetheless, he emphasized that it is important not to overstate the connection between Vikings and Neanderthals.
Viking’s Disease: Then and Now
It was in Europe that much of the interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans occurred between 42,000 and 65,000 years ago. African populations lived separately from Neanderthals, who occupied Eurasia exclusively. As a result, people of African descent only possess traces of Neanderthal DNA today.
In 1999, a Danish study of twins determined that the development of Dupuytren’s disease is most heavily influenced by heredity, with its heritability factor estimated to be at 80 percent. While other risk factors for the condition have been identified, including age, alcohol use and diabetes, a genetic predisposition must always be present.
This means that Neanderthal genetic material absorbed into the human genome is, in a very real sense, the true cause of this condition. It was the prevalence of Dupuytren’s disease among Northern Europeans in particular that intrigued the scientists enough to motivate their study of the condition’s genetic origins.
To facilitate their research, the team of experts led by Hugo Zeberg analyzed data collected from 7,871 people with the disorder and 645,880 control subjects listed in the UK Biobank , the FinnGen R7 collection and the Michigan Genomics Initiative. Their purpose was to identify the presence of genetic variants that could be connected to Dupuytren’s disease.
Through extensive comparative analysis, scientists identified 61 genetic variants associated with Viking’s disease, with three of them known to originate from Neanderthals. Most significantly, the second and third most strongly associated variants came from the Neanderthals, suggesting that these extinct human cousins were particularly susceptible to Dupuytren’s disease.
The scientists taking part in the study believe that the widespread prevalence of this condition in present-day human populations would be highly unlikely without there having been contact and interbreeding with Neanderthal populations.
Neanderthal DNA: A Curse, a Blessing, or a Mixture of Both?
Studies have shown that about two percent of the human genome is comprised of DNA sourced from distant Neanderthal ancestors. Only trace amounts are found in those who are descended from people who lived in sub-Saharan Africa, based on the lack of Neanderthal penetration into that part of the world.
While it might not sound like all that much, human development has been significantly impacted by the presence of this genetic material. The study linking so-called Viking’s disease to Neanderthal genes is not particularly surprising, because other studies have found a clear connection between our Neanderthal generic inheritance and various human health conditions.
For example, comprehensive research published in 2014 found links between Neanderthal genes and type 2 diabetes , Crohn’s disease, biliary cirrhosis (an autoimmune disease of the liver) and incidence of depression. Recent studies have even suggested a link between Neanderthal genes and susceptibility to Covid-19 .
These genes didn’t necessarily introduce new types of ill health to the human gene pool. But they did increase the likelihood of certain disorders developing. Further research may indicate that other human health conditions are affected by Neanderthal DNA in the same way.
For the most part, Neanderthal genes are concentrated in areas that code for the creation of human skin and hair. Scientists believe this DNA was picked up and passed on because it had survival advantages: Neanderthal contributions would have given humans the ability to grow thicker hair and skin, which would have helped protect them from the colder climates they encountered in Eurasia once they’d left the African continent.
Given the assumptions behind this theory, the persistence of Neanderthal genes that increase disease risk seems surprising, since this DNA would reduce survival chances rather than increasing them. It’s possible that Neanderthal genes have survived in humans as a result of random chance, offering benefits in some cases and increasing vulnerability in others.
What all the research shows conclusively is that Neanderthal genes do have a significant impact on human health and development. In the context of Viking’s disease, Neanderthals introduced a genetic condition to the human gene pool that is unpleasant but does not pose a significant threat to survival. The majority of individuals affected by this disorder were likely unaware of their Neanderthal genetic heritage until now. However, with this recent scientific revelation, it is probable that they will never forget their newfound ancestral Neanderthal connection.
- Source and credit:
Article by By Nathan Falde, published in Ancient Origins. - Top image: My hand with Viking’s disease, a.k.a. Dupuytren’s contracture, a condition of the hand that can cause some of a person’s fingers to become permanently bent at an angle. Photo made by Cees Kloosterman
- Neanderthal hunters depicted in the Gallo-Romeins Museum Tongeren (Belgium), Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct paternal line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.

View of the entrance to the Denisova cave from the Anui river valley, Soloneshensky rajon, Altai Krai, Russia
Denisova 8 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (A-0000) who lived around 705,000 BCE.
Common Connection
Every modern human shares a connection with Denisova 8.
Denisova 8 was an adult Denisova male who lived between 134,400 and 103,600 BCE in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, Russia.
Who Were the Denisovans?
Scientists have also found DNA from another extinct hominin population: the Denisovans. The first remains of the species found were a single fragment of a phalanx (finger bone) and two teeth, all of which date back to about 40,000 years ago (Reich et al., 2010). Since then, a Denisovan mandible, or lower jaw, has been found in Tibet (Chen et al., 2019) and a Denisovan molar has been found in Laos (Demeter et al., 2022). Other fossil hominins, such as the Homo longi remains from northern China (Ji et al., 2021) and the Dali cranium from northwestern China may belong to the Denisovans, but without comparable fossils and genetics it is difficult to know for sure.
This species is the first fossil hominin identified as a new species based on its DNA alone. Denisovans are close relatives of both modern humans and Neanderthals, and likely diverged from these lineages around 300,000 to 400,000 years ago; they are more closely related to Neanderthals than to modern humans.
Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, Russia.
This region of Central Asia was quite temperate, so Denisova 8 and its relatives would have been well adapted to cold life. Only his molar (photo) has ever been found. It was excavated in the Denisova Cave, from which the species Homo denisova got its name.
Human-Denisovan and Neanderthal-Denisovan Interbreeding
Given that scientists have DNA evidence of another hominin species, the Denisovans, is there any evidence for interbreeding among all three species? Yes! Comparison of the Denisovan genome to various modern human populations shows up to 4-6% contribution from Denisovans in non-African modern human populations.
This concentration is highest in people from Papua New Guinea and Oceania. It makes sense that interbreeding would appear in these Southeast Asian and Pacific Island communities, as their ancestors migrated from mainland Asia where Denisovan fossils have been found. There is also substantial evidence for Denisovan-Neanderthal interbreeding, including one juvenile female that appears to be a fist generation hybrid of a Neanderthal female parent and Denisovan male parent (Slon et al., 2018). Finding more Denisovan fossils will hopefully mean developing a more complete
Not much is known about Denisovans except that we have learned that some people today still carry small remnants of autosomal Denisovan DNA. Denisovan DNA is most common (~5%) in people of Papuan and Aboriginal Australian descent. This suggests that humans encountered Denisovans in South or Central Asia as they left Africa and mated with them before first migrating across Indonesia to Australia and Papua New Guinea about 50,000 years ago.
There was also a group of Neanderthals who lived in the foothills of the Altai about 54,000 years ago, consisting of perhaps 10 to 20 individuals. Many of them were closely related, including a father and his young daughter. The fossils come from archaeological excavations of Okladnikov Cave in the mid-1980s and Chagyrskaya Cave since 2007.
These caves were used by Neanderthals as hunting camps. The teeth and bones came from 13 individuals: 11 from Chagyrskaya Cave and two from Okladnikov Cave. Seven of the Neanderthals were male and six were female. Eight were adults and five were children or adolescents.
Although the nearby site of Denisova Cave was inhabited by Neanderthals as early as 200,000 years ago, the Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov Neanderthals are more closely related to European Neanderthals than to the earlier ones in Denisova Cave. Denisovans are a sister group of Neanderthals and they have interbred at least once. This happened about 100,000 years ago and produced a daughter from a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father and a few second-degree relatives – a young boy and an adult woman, perhaps his cousin, aunt or grandmother.
Deniosova 8 lived more than 100,000 years ago, making it the oldest Y-chromosome DNA ever extracted and sequenced from a hominin species. Given its distinctiveness from human and Neanderthal genomes, ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy) assigned it the haplogroup name A0000 in 2019. A0000 diverged from Neanderthal and human Y chromosomes about 700,000 years ago.

My Denisovan Score, Percentage and my closest Denisovan sample sit
My Denisovan percentage and score
According to LivingDNA my Denisovan percentage is 0.19% and my Denisovan score is 104.
My Denisovan score represents the number of alleles (DNA letters) that I share with Denisovans. A total of 817 human genome locations (SNPs) have been identified as originating in Denisovans. By multiplying this number by 2 we get the total number of alleles that calculate my Denisovan score over: 1,634. Therefore, Denisovan scores range between 0 and 1,634. Typically, the maximum score you might expect to see is 400.
Percentage Value
The percentage value presented represents the fraction of my genome estimated to have originated from Neanderthals/Denisovans. Ancient human remains (mostly teeth or petrous bones) were processed and DNA was extracted and sequenced in order to be used to generate our Viking Index and Viking Population Match results. The Viking genetic data was retrieved from three scientific publications Margaryan et al., 2020, Krzewińska et al., 2018, Ebenesersdóttir et al., 2018.

Timeline, Denisova 8 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (A-0000) who lived around 705,000 BCE.

This map shows the known Neanderthal range in Europe (blue), southwest Asia (orange), Uzbekistan (green), and the Altai Mountains (violet), as inferred from their skeletal remains (not stone tools). Nilenbert, Nicholas Perrault III
Credit:
- Partial text from Ancient DNA and Neanderthals, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
The text from the website page page was developed primarily by Robin Teague and Ryan McRae, and edited by Briana Pobiner. - Denisova 8 molar after restoration. Zubova et al. 2017, CC BY 4.0
Reference: denisova8 by Petr et al. 2020 Phylogenetic Y-DNA Analysis by FamilyTreeDNA. Ancient DNA samples are usually degraded and lack coverage, sometimes resulting in less specific haplogroup placements. Wikipedia Commons - Denisova Cave Photo: By Демин Алексей Барнаул: Wikipedia Commons
- Neanderthal distribution map: Nilenbert, Nicolas Perrault III: Wikimedia Commons

Analysis of the migration pattern of my common paternal ancestors.

Listing of Northern European archaeological periods, expanded from the basic three-age system with finer subdivisions and extension into the Medieval historical period.
The oldest Y-DNA common paternal line ancestors of my haplogroup I-FGC15105 are:
- Viste Boy (Norwegian: Vistegutten) a 15-year-old boy from the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) who was found at an archaeological excavation of the Viste Cave in Vistehola, Rogaland, Norway in 1907 and lived around 6300 – 6000 BCE. Viste Boy and I share a common paternal ancestor (I-CTS2257) who lived around 20,000 BCE.
- Motala 2 (I-L596) a man who lived about 5715 – 5569 BCE and lived in what is now known as Motala, near the Lake Vättern in Sweden. Motala 2 and I (I-FGC15105) share a common paternal ancestor (I-CTS2257) who lived around 21000 BCE.
My (I-FGC15105) next most common ancient Y-DNA common line of paternal ancestors (I-FGC15071) are 9 males who lived around 9550 BCE. They lived in what is now known as Macarthur Cave, Argyll and Bute, Scotland – Distillery Cave, Argyll and Bute, Scotland – Portal Tomb, Poulnabrone, Clare, Ireland and Primrose Grange, Ireland.
I share a common paternal ancestor with them around 9550 BCE.
- But in 9550 BCE this was Doggerland, a piece of land, now submerged under the southern North Sea, connecting Britain to continental Europe. Geological surveys have suggested that it stretched from what is now the east coast of Great Britain to what is now the Netherlands, the west coast of Germany and the Jutland peninsula. It was flooded by rising sea levels around 6500–6200 BC
In terms of timeline, the continuation of my ancient Y-DNA common line of paternal ancestors (I-By1003) are 9 men who lived from 7400 – 7450 BCE. They lived in what is now known as Bodrogkeresztur, Urziceni, Romania – Břvany, Louny , Czech Republic – Sassari, Ossi, Alghero and Porto Torres in Sardinia and Seminario Vescovile, Verona, Italy – the Tollense battlefield in Western Pomerania, Germany -Les Bréguières, Alpes-Maritimes, France – Cueva de las Lechuzas, Villena, Alicante, Spain.
So they are all from Eastern and Central Europe, Spain, Sardinia and northern Italy.
- So I think it is reasonable to assume that my ancient ancestors from England, Ireland and Scotland migrated back before 6500 – 6200 BCE from Doggerland, before it disappeared due to rising sea levels, to Eastern and Central Europe, Spain, Sardinia and northern Italy.
Although my FTDNA Haplogroup Report matches me to remains found in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Serbia, Slovenia and Italy I also match a dozen Tollense Valley remains found in Mecklenburg Germany as well as Longobard graves in Hungary down through to France, Italy and Northern Spain.
The next group of ancient paternal connections are Weltzin 15, 51, 71, 39 64, 24 and Welztin 83. they were 7 men who lived between 1350 and 1150 BCE during the European Bronze Age and their DNA was found on the battlefield of Tollense valley in Western Pomerania, Germany and 12 men who lived in what is now known as Erd Hungary – Földvár, Százhalombatta, Hungary – Poláky, Chomutov, Czech Republic – Zličín, Praha, Czech Republic – Mokrin necropolis, Mokrin, Serbia and Balatonkeresztúr, Somogy, Hungary.
And then there is Szólád 43, a man with who I share a common paternal line ancestor (I-FGC151109) who lived around 1800 BCE.
Szólád 43 lived between 438 and 605 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Szólád, Cserénfa, Hungary. He was associated with the Longobard Barbarian cultural group.
Interestingly, the Lombard homeland is just a little southwest of the Tollense Valley.
The Lombards, also known as the Longobards, were a Germanic tribe whose fabled origins lay in the barbarian realm of Scandinavia. After centuries of obscurity during the long period of Roman domination in Europe, the Lombards began a concerted migration south-eastwards, coming to prominence immediately after the fall of Rome. They ruled most of the Italian peninsula from 568 to 774.The Lombards settled in what is now Hungary in Pannonia.
Archaeologists have excavated cemeteries in the Szólád area of Lombard men and women who were buried together as a family, a practice unusual for Germanic peoples at the time. Traces of Mediterranean Greeks and of a woman whose skull suggests French ancestry have also been discovered, possibly indicating that migrations to the Lombardy area occurred from Greece and France.
- I think the most accurate determination I can make is that my paternal lineage (I-FGC15105) on the I-M223 family tree is Very Old (like All of Us) and my particular line is associated through hunter-gatherers and megalith peoples, Bell Beakers to Pré / Proto Celtic and Germanic origin.
I think there might be a real genetic basis to the origin and lore of the Longobards and their migration south to Italy from the regions of Baltic/Jutland and Lower Denmark, which may explain my ancient genetic Scandinavian heritage.
Further downstream, it all seems to be confined to a particular group of Germanic people known as the Saxons in England, Scotland and Ireland.
These connections are based on DNA research of archaeological remains from all over the world.
- Age: 17.400 BCE
Region: Western Asia to Western Europe; very low frequency in the Middle East. Along with G one of the first haplogroups in Europe.
- Note: On the 29th June 2018, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) updated the Haplogroup I Tree to accommodate new branches and I-M223 has been given a new longhand classification of I2a1b1. Previous names were I2a2a, I2b1 and I1c, so please be careful as earlier reference material may refer to I-M223 or sub-clades under one of these previous longhand classifications. I-P222 is a sub-branch of I-M223 and is the parent branch of all sub-branches and clades in this Project. The I-P222 branch node has a further 55 SNPs. Sequencing ancient Y-DNA found at least two ancient male remains that were I-M223 but of a different sub-branch named I-FT355000. This is why I-M223 branch was split into the two sub-branches.
I-M223 is the shorthand form of the Y-DNA Haplogroup I branch and can also be shown as I2-M223. The M223 refers to the SNP at Hg38 location 19555421 on the Y-Chromosome with mutation G to A.
This mutation occurred in a man, approximately 17,400 years ago and M223 is one of 23 SNPs found derived (+) at the I-M223 node. We do not know which of the 23 SNPs mutated first and which was last. All men that are derived for M223 share a common ancestor that lived at least 13,200 to 10,800 years ago. It has now been confirmed by ancient DNA test that the first Homo sapiens to colonize Europe during the Aurignacian period (45,000 to 28,000 years ago), belonged to haplogroups CT, C1a, C1b, F and haplogroup I (to which my M223 belongs).
Haplogroup Y-M223 (formerly I2a2a) has a peak in Germany and another in the northeast of Sweden, but also appears in Romania/Moldova, Russia, Greece, Italy and around the Black Sea. Haplogroup I-M223 has been found in over 4% of the population only in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, and England (excluding Cornwall) – also the southern tips of Sweden and Norway in Northwest Europe; the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Perche in northwestern France; the province of Provence in southeastern France; the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, and Latium in Italy; Moldavia and the area around Russia’s Ryazan Oblast and Mordovia in Eastern Europe. Of historical note, both haplogroups I-M253 and I-M223 appear at a low frequency in the historical regions of Bithynia and Galatia in Turkey. Haplogroup I-M223 also occurs among approximately 1% of Sardinians.
Haplogroup I-M223 variants:
M223, CTS10093, CTS10125, CTS10262, CTS11545, CTS12861, CTS2312, CTS5015, CTS7032, CTS7172, CTS7865, CTS9266, FGC3540, GC3554,FGC3563, L34, L36, P219, P223, S2363, S2472, Z26370, Z77.
He lived in Europe—probably. He lived 14,000 to 18,000 years ago—probably. We will never really know, because the only people we can test are his sons’ sons’ sons’ … sons’ sons who are alive today, including you. His father was not I-M223. Neither were his brothers. They were I-M170. One of his father’s sperm had a Y-chromosome that had mutated, creating a slightly different order of base pairs. That sperm fertilized his mother’s egg at his conception and the I-M223 “family” was created in that moment.
The only reason this “type” (I-M223) shows up among the noise of history is because his male line survived. The first I-M223 had sons. If they had been named Rubble and kept his surname, they all would have been Rubbles. All of their sons were I-M223, and would have been Rubbles. My paternal cousins (people you can trace to with only this male line) were probably among the first (re)settlers of Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia as the ice sheets receded. The “surname” stayed with them. Sometimes it grew in population in a particular area when a man had a lot of sons; sometimes it died out in a particular area when all the men with the “surname” had no sons.
- Age: 25,000 BCE
- Region: Middle East and/or Europe
Y-DNA Haplogroup I-M170 is a component of the European Y-chromosome gene pool, accounting, on average, for 18% of the total paternal lineages. Its virtual absence elsewhere, including the Near East, suggests that it arose in Europe, likely before the Last Glacial Maximum. Haplogroup I-M170 is predominantly a European haplogroup and it is considered as the only native European Haplogroup. It can be found in the majority of present-day European populations with peaks in Northern and South-Eastern Europe.
Available evidence suggests that I-M170 was preceded into areas in which it would later become dominant by haplogroups K2a (K-M2308) and C1 (Haplogroup C-F3393). K2a and C1 have been found in the oldest sequenced male remains from Western Eurasia (dating from circa 45,000 to 35,000 years BP), such as: Ust’-Ishim man (modern west Siberia) K2a*, Oase 1 (Romania) K2a*, Kostenki 14 (south west Russia) C1b, and Goyet Q116-1 (Belgium) C1a. The oldest I-M170 found is that of an individual known as Krems WA3 (lower Austria), dating from circa 33,000-24,000 BP. At the same site, two twin boys were also found, both were assigned to haplogroup I*.
Haplogroup IJ was in the Middle East and/or Europe about 40,000 years ago.The TMRCA (time to most recent common ancestor) for I-M170 was estimated to be 22,200 years ago, with a confidence interval between 15,300–30,000 years ago. This would make the founding event of I-M170 approximately contemporaneous with the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which lasted from 26,500 years ago until approximately 19,500 years ago. TMRCA is an estimate of the time of subclade divergence.
I-FGC15105 interesting data
Like North America, the population of Western Europe has been shaped by migration from the east — but multiple times and thousands of years earlier. This chart shows longitude vs time to help visualize these migrations. The meaning of the colors and thick solid/dashed lines are shown in the inset, and the thin horizontal dotted lines show south-to-north lines at notable longitudes.
Note that haplogroup I precedes nearly all of the others; it can be found in the west during the Paleolithic, staying south of the glaciers of the last Ice Age
Since we have dates and locations for the SNP dots on the map, we can calculate the average speed of migrations. All of the usual caveats about accuracy apply, especially for anything in the last 2000 years, but the older speeds should be reasonably accurate. Note the log time scale so that you can see the whole path.
Most paths are boring: Haplogroup Q for example trudges from Africa and back to Sweden or Pakistan at a leisurely average of about 0.2 kilometers per year. Haplogroup I moves west across Europe, south of the glaciers, at the same pace. Of course no one should think of constant migration: groups probably settled down for centuries and only moved on when hunting, grazing, competition, or other forces made them move.
It is interesting to see that the migration speed of nomadic cultures with horses and carts shows up to be much faster. Look at any R1b subclade (= Halogroup subgroup) and note the speed between SNPs R-L23 to R-P312, averaging about 2 km/year up the Danube valley — ten times faster than the pace of Paleolithic tribes on foot.
This diagram shows all of the samples with ancient DNA in this lineage. Each ancient sample is represented by two dots connected by a line: the upper dot shows the formation date of the SNP, and the lower dot shows the date (usually radiocarbon date) of a skeleton with that SNP. If the person lived at the time when the SNP first appeared, the line will be vertical and the site may be close to where the SNP arose. But highly tilted lines indicate sites where the people lived far after the SNP arose — these can be thousands of years and thousands of kilometers from the SNP origin.
In many cases of European ancestry, the only era with ancient sites near to SNP origins is the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age, shown by a high density of near-vertical lines.
For SNPs in a path:
- The number of descendants counts men who have done Y DNA testing with FTDNA.
- The skull symbol indicates ancient DNA samples with this last known SNP.
- The anchor symbol indicates a SNP with location established by the archeaology literature, not dependent on user-reported ancestry. SNPs between anchor points are interpolated assuming a constant rate of travel.
- The six most prevalent countries are shown in each row for SNPs after the last anchored SNP. A weighted average of these countries determines the SNP dot location on the map.
The legend right of the main table identifies country icons, and its bar graph shows contribution to locations, weighted by time (most recent with greatest weight). All dates are shown to only two significant figures; the statistical uncertainty of SNP counting does not merit any greater precision.
The Y chromosome, like the patrilineal surname, passes down virtually unchanged from father to son. Every now and then occasional mistakes in the copying process occur, and these mutations can be used to estimate the time frame in which the two individuals share a most recent common ancestor or MRCA. STR or Short Tandem Repeat testing is useful for comparing the relationships between individuals in a genealogically relevant timeframe.
STR give you a Genetic Distance, which is the number of differences, or mutations, between two sets of results. A genetic distance of zero means there are no differences in the results being compared against one another, i.e., an exact match. This is the meaning when comparing Y-chromosome DNA or mitochondrial DNA.
- Big Y Block Tree
The Big Y Block Tree is a vertical-block diagram of the Y-DNA Haplotree showing the relationships between me and other Big Y testers. This tool helps to visualize how my paternal lineages adm my matches are related to each other. You will also be able to see your matches’ branches and discover which and Paternal Countries of Origin have been reported for your branch and others.
Please note that Big Y test is an exploratory test that is constantly discovering previously unknown SNPs. As new SNPs are discovered and added to the Y-DNA haplotree, this will alter the structure of the branches, and potentially move your branch further downstream. In addition, as more people test, it can help to refine SNPs currently thought to be equivalent to build an ever-increasingly accurate SNP lineage.
At the bottom of the above screen it shows that I am sharing branch Y-FGC15105 with one person from Germany.
On the Big Y Block Tree, you will see blocks labeled Private Variants. Private Variants are one of the following;
- mutations that are not named nor are shared between any branch members.
- mutations that have not yet been validated and placed on the Haplotree.
It is important to note that Private Variants are filtered to only include SNP calls from regions of the Y chromosome that can be reliably mapped with NGS technology.
You will notice in my branch on the right of the Block Tree (green part) that it says there is an average of 34 private variants between the two men in that branch. They are considered to be a match because matches at FTDNA only include people who have no more than 30 total SNP differences which include private variants and named SNPs
- Calculating SNP Dates and TMRC
Using the Bottoms Up Approach; I have 34 Private Variants. Each Private variant has an average age of 144 years, that makes 34 x 144 = 4896 years CE.
This means that my Haplogroup Y-FGC151095 formed around 4896 years ago, 2896 years BCE.
How much of this is random?
Well, areas populated predominantly with this lineage do seem to be associated with Germanic languages—not because the first I-M223 man spoke a Germanic language (he most definitely did not), but because by about 1000 BCE many proto-Germanic groups had large numbers of I-M223 men—like the areas in northern Sweden and the centre of Germany that are dark blue in the modern map. The regional concentrations may be due to particular “branches of the Rubble family” that became dominant patrilineal clans in various Germanic tribes.
It is, in one way, very much like a surname—just a name. BUT a name with a lot more history.
My mtDNA
The mitochondria are passed from mother to child remaining mostly unaltered across generations, except for small traceable changes in DNA. By tracking these changes, it is possible to construct a family tree of humankind where all female lineages trace back to a single common ancestor who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago. This human tree allows to explore lineages through time and place and to uncover the modern history of your direct maternal line and the ancient history of our shared ancestors.
- The H1c1k maternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor H1c1 and the rest of humankind around 1000 BCE. The woman who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 500 CE.
She is the ancestor of at least 7 descendant lineages known as H1c1k2, H1c1k+16311 and 5 yet unnamed lineages.
Notable mtDNA connections
- The notable mt-DNA haplogroup connections from my direct mother’s line are based on direct DNA testing or deduced from testing of relatives and should be considered as fun facts.
Yes, Yes fun …, but remember DNA does not lie, DNA never lies, so they are real facts!.
ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Ludwig van Beethoven and I (H1c1k) share a distant common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn to Johann van Beethoven and Maria Keverich. He was one of three children who survived infancy. At a young age, Johann promoted his son as a “child prodigy” after seeing the success of Mozart.
Beethoven had his first composition published at only 11 years old. By 22 years of age, he had composed a number of pieces, only to have them published later in his life. In his 30s, after years of public performances, his hearing loss led to a decline in concerts and a withdrawal from his social life. Despite the auditory problems, Beethoven continued to compose and perform music.
Beethoven died on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. His last complete piece of music, Symphony No. 9, was premiered in 1824. Symphony No. 10 was left unfinished.
Previously, the cause of his death was attributed to heavy alcohol consumption. He was noted to often have episodes of fever, jaundice, and “wretched” gastrointestinal problems. But new DNA analysis shows he also may have had hepatitis B and genetic factors that played a role in his death.
Beethoven asked that scientists study his body after he died in hopes of finding the causes of his illnesses, and for the results to be made public. Now, researchers investigating his genome have made good on his request, Science News reports. They tracked down locks of the composer’s hair, which were clipped after his death and preserved by family members and collectors throughout the years, and analyzed its DNA.
From the Victorian era through the early twentieth century, giving hair to friends and loved ones was seen as a sign of sentimentality. Although it was originally used as a sign of mourning, giving a loved one your hair was later used as a memento to give to them.
The University of Cambridge, with help from FamilyTreeDNA and others, examined the hair in an effort to understand more about Beethoven. Members of the FamilyTreeDNA Research and Development team were able to assist with confirming the validity of Beethoven’s hair.
Testing Beethoven’s hair
Five of the eight tested locks of hair were determined to be from the same male individual. The DNA results of that individual were compared to FamilyTreeDNA’s autosomal, mitochondrial, and Big Y databases. Geographic ancestral origins of triangulated autosomal matches were analyzed and found to cluster around the Rhine River and within present-day North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, which fits with Beethoven’s reported geographic origins.
Beethoven’s Y-DNA
Researcher’s determined that Beethoven’s Y-DNA haplogroup is I-FT396000. This haplogroup was likely formed during the middle ages, with an Eastern or Central European origin
The closest living Y chromosome relatives are (I-Z139), the living Aert van Beethoven descendants (R-Z2565), and the Cramolini-Brown Lock (R-Z283). The Haplogroup I-Z139, which was formed over 1,000 years ago. The FamilyTreeDNA Big Y database includes several tested descendants of this lineage with reported earliest known paternal ancestral locations in Germany and other countries.
The FamilyTreeDNA R&D team was able to analyze living relatives from Beethoven’s genealogy who currently live in Belgium. While their family trees show a common ancestor between the late 1500s and early 1600s, they did not match on the Y-chromosome. This led researchers to believe that there was an extra-pair paternity event along Beethoven’s direct line.The research team sought out living descendants of Aert van Beethoven (c1535-1609), Ludwig’s supposed 5x great grandfather. Five of them agreed to take part in the research and do a DNA test.
The two results were not a match. In fact, the two father lines, one from the living descendants of Aert van Beethoven and the other from Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair DNA, are separated by over 45,000 years. This means that Beethoven’s documented family tree does not match his genetic family tree and that one of the recorded fathers was not the biological parent.
Although it is not clear in which generation this occurred, Johann, Ludwig’s father, has no baptismal record. His mother, Maria Ball suffered from alcoholism and it is possible that Beethoven’s grandfather Lodewijk was not his biological grandfather.
- Beethoven’s mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is H1b1+16,362C, plus a private mutation at C16,176T.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Gregor Mendel and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 1050 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 155
Only 1731 persons who have done a mtDNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Gregor Mendel
Gregor Mendel, born Johann Mendel in Hynčice, Vražné (now part of the Czech Republic), known as the father of genetics, was a pioneering scientist who laid the foundations of modern genetics. Growing up on a large farm in a German-speaking family, Mendel learned to speak Czech fluently and identified himself as “a Moravian of the German language.”
Mendel pursued a diverse education, studying mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, and paleontology at the University of Olomouc and the University of Vienna. His professors included the renowned physicist Christian Doppler.
In 1843, after his father’s death and at the request of his mother, he entered the seminary at the Augustinian monastery of St. Thomas in Brno. It was at the monastery where he officially took the religious name Gregor. There he was engaged in experiments with the crossing of peas and laid the foundations of the field of genetics.
The principles he formulated in his work Experiments with Plant Hybrids (1866, in the original Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden) are now known as Mendel’s Laws of Heredity. He was one of the first to use biostatistical methods in his work.
There are two museums in Brno dedicated to his life and work. The Augustinian Monastery in Brno is a stop for many important figures of world science, including Nobel Prize winners, who come there to honor his memory. Every year the Mendel Festival is held in Brno, with lectures and concerts.
In his honor, the planet 3313 and craters on the Moon and Mars bear Gregor’s name.
In June 2021, the skeletal remains of Gregor Johann Mendel, the father of genetics, were exhumed and subjected to scientific examination, including analysis of his genome. In Czech popularization publications, scientists have mentioned only Y-DNA haplogroup R1a and mtDNA haplogroup H1c. Pavel Mikel, PhD, and Ela Nekardova, PhD, from the Czech Society for Genetic Genealogy (gengen.cz) recruited Jan Mendel to take a Big Y test to learn the detailed Y-DNA haplogroup of the Mendel family.
Jan Mendel, PhD, born 1970 in Brno, Czech Republic, shares the common ancestor Andreas Mendel (c. 1689 – 6 March 1746, both Hyncice) with Gregor Mendel. Like his famous relative Gregor, Jan (informally Honza) is a geneticist. He is a scientist at the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He has a brother Josef (born 1968), who is a Catholic priest and theologian, also similar to Gregor. The family’s private Y-SNPs were named GJM1-GJM7 in honor of Gregor Johann Mendel.
Pictured: Gregor Mendel, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Garsenda, Countess of Provence and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Garsenda, Countess of Provence (c.1180-1257), was a remarkable figure in 13th-century France. She ruled as regent for her son, Raymond Berenger IV, and was a renowned patron of the arts. Garsenda herself was a talented trobairitz (female troubadour), exchanging verses with famous poets like Gui de Cavaillon.
Her legacy extends far beyond her own accomplishments. Through her granddaughter Beatrice of Provence, Garsenda is the maternal ancestor of numerous European monarchs. Among her famous descendants are Kings Philip IV, Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV of France, as well as Charles I and Joanna I of Naples. Later descendants include Holy Roman Emperors like Charles IV and Frederick III, and members of the powerful Habsburg, Bourbon, and Stuart dynasties.
Garsenda’s matriline shaped the course of European history for centuries, showcasing the often-overlooked impact of female lineage in medieval and early modern times.
References
- Rogaev, E. I., Grigorenko, A. P., Moliaka, Y. K., Faskhutdinova, G., Goltsov, A., Lahti, A., Hildebrandt, C., Kittler, E. L., & Morozova, I. (2009). Genomic identification in the historical case of the Nicholas II royal family. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(13), 5258-5263. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0811190106
- Europe’s Hidden Matrilineal Dynasty | House of Garsenda (YouTube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.

La Salle’s Expedition to Louisiana in 1684, painted in 1844 by Jean Antoine Théodore de Gudin. La Belle is on the left, Le Joly is in the middle, and L’Aimable is grounded on the right.
La Belle Individual Two and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
La Belle Individual Two was a French man, who probably was born around 1626, likely a sailor or colonist, whose remains were discovered in the wreckage of La Belle, a French ship that sank in 1686 CE in Matagorda Bay, Texas.
The human skeleton was found in the bow section, or forward hold of the boat. Lying face down, with arms and legs drawn up, the individual was splayed over a coil of anchor rope. Near him were a leather shoe, a small wooden cask, a leather wallet with two combs inside, and a pewter cup bearing the inscription, “C. Barange.” The pewter cup found near his remains suggests his name was Charles Barange, offering a rare personal detail from the ill-fated colonial venture. His body was located in the bow section of the ship, face down over a coil of anchor rope, hinting at his possible role in managing the vessel during its final moments.
Genetic analysis identified his ancestry through Y-haplogroup R1b and mtDNA haplogroup H1n3, consistent with Western European, particularly French, origins, aligning with the crew of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle’s expedition. For researchers, other questions remained to be answered: Who was the sailor on La Belle? Archeologist James Bruseth, who had overseen the skeleton’s excavation, had hopes that, with viable DNA samples, the sailor’s identity might be tracked in France. He had located numerous individuals with the name, Barange, living in Rouen, the port city from which La Belle set sail more than 300 years ago.

Pewter cup found near the skeleton engraved with C. Barange. Photo from Texas Historical Commission.
A final question regarding the skeleton, then, is: How did the sailor die? Analyst Steele found no evidence of disease or trauma serious enough to have caused the man’s death. Indeed, the condition of the skeleton indicated that the man had been in relatively good health, with the exception of having very bad teeth, arthritis and other joint problems. Rather than finding clues from the bones, the answer to this question may lie in an historic journal kept by one of La Salle’s most trusted companions, Henri Joutel. As the ship lay wrecked on the sandbar in the days following the storm, Joutel wrote, conditions became increasingly desperate. Although they were only about a quarter mile from shore, few sailors knew how to swim. A small boat with five men was sent ashore to obtain fresh water, but the men never returned and were presumed drowned.
Standing between 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 7 inches tall and estimated to be 35 to 45 years old at death, he bore signs of a labor-intensive life, with abscessed teeth and herniated disks. His presence on La Belle ties him to La Salle’s ambitious but doomed effort to establish a French foothold in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2004, his remains were reburied at the Texas State Cemetery in a ceremony attended by the French ambassador, honoring his place in this chapter of colonial history.
Of the original 27 people assigned to stay on board the ship, apparently only six survived. With the captain, who had been drinking brandy for days, they finally made it to a small peninsula where they set up camp. Over the next several weeks, La Belle sunk further into the bay, taking with it, the body of the sailor.
In the view of Bruseth and other researchers, the sailor likely died of dehydration. He may have gone to the bow area, where hammocks or bunks were provided for the sailors, and fallen asleep. When La Belle ran aground during the storm, he may have fallen from his resting place onto the coil of rope. Or he may have survived the storm and died afterward. As in the case of the sailor’s identity, there are some questions that will remain unanswered.
On February 3, 2004, the sailor’s remains were buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. The French ambassador to the United States and the Texas Secretary of State were in attendance, along with some 400 members of the public.
- Ambers, A., Bus, M. M., King, J. L., Jones, B., Durst, J., Bruseth, J. E., Gill-King, H., & Budowle, B. (2020). Forensic genetic investigation of human skeletal remains recovered from the La Belle shipwreck. Forensic Science International, 306, 110050. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.110050
- Karankawas.com. La Salle’s doomed 17th century French colony on the Texas Gulf Coast.
- Texas Beyond History. The skeleton from La Belle.
- Texas State History Museum. The American Indian story.
- Hakai Magazine. La Belle’s mysterious bones.
- Pictured: La Belle in La Salles Expedition to Louisiana in 1684 by Théodore Gudin (1844), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Pewter cup found near the skeleton engraved with C. Barange. Photo from Texas Historical Commission.
- Biography: in part generated using xAI (2025) Grok (Version 3) [Artificial intelligence model] and from Skeleton on La Belle: Tracing the Life of a French Sailor

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Sigurður Arason and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Sigurður Arason met a tragic end as one of the last people to be executed at Iceland’s Kópavogur assembly. Born in 1678, the 26-year-old lived with his mother when he became entangled in an affair with Steinunn Guðmundsdóttir, a 43-year-old married woman. Their relationship led to the murder of Steinunn’s husband, Sæmundur Þórarinsson, whose body was found in the Elliðaá river in September 1704.
Though Sigurður initially denied any involvement, he eventually confessed that Steinunn had encouraged him to commit the murder. Both were sentenced to death on November 14, 1704. The following day, Sigurður was beheaded, and his head was mounted on a stake as a warning to others, while Steinunn was drowned. They were buried in unconsecrated ground at a site called Hjónadysjar, where passersby threw stones on their graves—a folk custom believed to prevent the dead from rising.
In 1988, road construction in Kópavogur led to the discovery of their remains. Archaeologists found Sigurður’s skeleton in a shallow grave without a coffin, his legs crossed and his skull missing. The 9-centimeter hole where the stake had displayed his head was still visible near his feet, and his lower jaw was found atop the pile of stones covering his grave. In 2018, as part of a groundbreaking study by Ebenesersdóttir et al., Sigurður’s remains (designated as sample KOV-A2) were DNA sequenced, contributing to our understanding of early Iceland’s population genetics while confirming the historical identification of his remains.
References
- Ebenesersdóttir, S. S., Sandoval-Velasco, M., Gunnarsdóttir, E. D., Jagadeesan, A., Guðmundsdóttir, V. B., Thordardóttir, E. L., Einarsdóttir, M. S., S. Moore, K. H., Sigurðsson, Á., Magnúsdóttir, D. N., Jónsson, H., Snorradóttir, S., Hovig, E., Møller, P., Kockum, I., Olsson, T., Alfredsson, L., Hansen, T. F., Werge, T., . . . Helgason, A. (2018). Ancient genomes from Iceland reveal the making of a human population. Science. https://doi.org/aar2625
- Bertelsen, L., & Ólafsson, G. (2019). Det henrettede par i dobbeltgravhøjene i Kópavogur syd for Reykjavík i Ísland. Scripta Islandica, 70, 37–59. https://doi.org/10.33063/diva-400603
Biography in part generated using Anthropic (2024) Claude 3.5 Sonnet [Large language model].

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Sigurður Arason and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 6850 BCE.

Reconstruction of Sweyn’s head from 1911 based on his cranium. Photo: Arne Kvitrud, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sweyn Estridsen was King of Denmark (Sweyn II) from 1047 to 1074. He took the matronymic surname Estridsson after his mother Estrid Svendsdatter, emphasizing his link to the Danish royal house through her lineage. Sweyn was the last Viking king of Denmark, and marked the transition between the Viking Age to the Middle Ages in Danish history.
He was married twice, first to Gyda of Sweden – daughter of King Anund Jacob – in 1047 and then to to Gunnhildr Sveinsdóttir in 1050. Sweyn fathered at least twenty children throughout his life, of whom only one was born in wedlock. Despite his complex personal life, he maintained strong ties with the church and was instrumental in strengthening Christianity in Denmark. His reign was notable for strengthening the Danish church, and establishing a stable succession of Danish kings through his many sons.
His burial in Roskilde Cathedral began a tradition that would continue through the centuries, with the cathedral serving as the main burial church for Danish monarchs.
In a groundbreaking ancient DNA analysis published by Dissing et al. in 2007 titled “The last Viking King: A royal maternity case solved by ancient DNA analysis.” His remains were genetically tested, and shown to belong to Haplogroup H. This finding became crucial in solving a historical mystery, as a separate DNA analysis of the tomb that was thought to contain his mother showed that she belonged to haplogroup H5a, making it impossible for her to have been his mother. The tomb is now believed to contain one of his daughters-in-law, possibly Margareta Hasbjörnsdatter, who was married to his son Harald Hen.
References
- Dissing, J., Binladen, J., Hansen, A., Sejrsen, B., Willerslev, E., & Lynnerup, N. (2006). The last Viking King: A royal maternity case solved by ancient DNA analysis. Forensic Science International, 166(1), 21–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.03.020
Pictured: Coin of Sweyn Estridsen. Peter Christian Hauberg (1844-1928), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Biography in part generated using Anthropic (2024) Claude 3 Opus [Large language model].

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Birger Jarl and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 6850 BCE.
Birger Jarl, also known as Birger Magnusson, was a Swedish statesman and regent from the House of Bjälbo who played a pivotal role in consolidating Sweden. He used the Latin title “dux sveorum et guttorum” (duke of Swedes and Geats).
Born around 1210, he spent his childhood in Bjälbo, Östergötland. His strategic marriage to Princess Ingeborg Eriksdotter, sister of King Erik XI, in the mid-1230s significantly strengthened his position. He became jarl (earl) in 1248 under King Erik and proved to be a powerful military leader, defeating the Folkung forces at the Battle of Sparrsätra in 1247 and establishing Swedish rule in Finland through the Second Swedish Crusade. When King Erik died in 1250, Birger’s son Valdemar became king while Birger served as regent, holding the true power in Sweden.
After Ingeborg’s death in 1254, he married Mechtilde of Holstein, widow of King Abel of Denmark, in 1261. Through his first marriage to Ingeborg, he had several children including King Valdemar and his successor King Magnus III. Birger is traditionally credited with the foundation of Stockholm around 1250, though historical records only show his interest in the location through two letters from 1252.
He died on October 21, 1266, at Jälbolung in Västergötland and was buried in Varnhem Abbey alongside his son Erik and his second wife Mechtilde. Their remains were rediscovered during restoration work in the 1920s and later confirmed through modern DNA analysis, which revealed Birger’s mitochondrial haplogroup to be H.
References
- Malmström, H., Vretemark, M., Tillmar, A., Durling, M. B., Skoglund, P., Gilbert, M. T. P., Willerslev, E., Holmlund, G., & Götherström, A. (2012). Finding the founder of Stockholm – A kinship study based on Y-chromosomal, autosomal and mitochondrial DNA. Annals of Anatomy – Anatomischer Anzeiger, 194(1), 138-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aanat.2011.03.014
Pictured: Birger Jarl in Varnhem Church. Axel Forssén (1888-1961), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Historical information sourced from Wikipedia. Biography in part generated using Anthropic (2025) Claude 3.5 Sonnet [Large language model].

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Agnes of Waiblingen and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 29.000 BCE.
Agnes of Waiblingen, also known as Agnes of Germany, Agnes of Franconia and Agnes of Saarbrücken, was a significant figure in medieval German history as the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and a key link between several powerful dynasties. Through her strategic marriages, she played a crucial role in shaping European politics.
First married at age 14 to Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, she had several children including Frederick II of Swabia and Conrad III, who would later become King of Germany. After Frederick’s death in 1105, she married Leopold III, Margrave of Austria, with whom she had at least 11 children, including Otto of Freising, the famous medieval chronicler, and several other children who formed important political alliances through marriage.
When her brother Emperor Henry V died childless in 1125, Agnes inherited the extensive Salian family estates. This inheritance, combined with her marriages and numerous offspring, helped establish both the Hohenstaufen and Babenberg dynasties as powerful forces in medieval Germany.
An interesting fact about Agnes is that her second marriage inspired a famous legend: her lost veil, found years later by Leopold while hunting, allegedly led to his founding of the Klosterneuburg Monastery, which became an important religious and cultural center.
Her mtDNA haplogroup was reported in Christiane Maria Bauer et al, Molecular genetic investigations on Austria’s patron saint Leopold III, Forensic Science International: Genetics, Volume 7, Issue 2, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2012.10.012
Biographical information sourced in part from Wikipedia and in part from Anthropic (2025) Claude 3.5 Sonnet [Large Language Model]. Pictured: 15th century painting of Agnes by Hans Part, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Ancient mtDNA connections
- Here are some ancient relatives from my direct mother’s line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world. They were found in the regions now known as:
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ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Árpád 53 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 1050 BCE.
Rare Connection
1 in 156
Only 1742 persons who have done a mtDNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Árpád 5.
Árpád was a man who lived 1100 – 1300 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Saint Stephen Basilica, Székesfehérvár, Hungary. He was associated with the Árpád Dynasty cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup E-BY4992.
Árpád dynasty
The Árpád dynasty consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (Hungarian: Árpád-ház), also known as Árpáds (Hungarian: Árpádok, Croatian: Arpadovići). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1301. The dynasty was named after the Hungarian Grand Prince Árpád who was the head of the Hungarian tribal federation during the conquest of the Carpathian Basin, c. 895. Previously, it was referred to as the Turul dynasty or kindred.
Both the first Grand Prince of the Hungarians (Álmos) and the first king of Hungary (Saint Stephen) were members of the dynasty. Christianity was adopted as the state religion for the Kingdom of Hungary by the dynasty, and the Árpád’s kings used the title of the apostolic king, the descendants of the dynasty gave the world the highest number of saints and blesseds from one family.
The Árpád dynasty ruled the Carpathian Basin for four hundred years, influencing almost all of Europe through its extensive dynastic connections. Eight members of the dynasty were canonized or beatified by the Catholic Church; therefore, since the 13th century the dynasty has often been referred to as the Kindred of the Holy Kings. Two Árpáds were recognized as Saints by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The dynasty came to end in 1301 with the death of King Andrew III of Hungary, while the last member of the House of Árpád, Andrew’s daughter, Blessed Elizabeth of Töss, died in 1336 or 1338. All of the subsequent kings of Hungary (with the exception of King Matthias Corvinus) were cognatic descendants of the Árpád dynasty. The House of Croÿ and the Drummond family of Scotland claim to descend from Géza and George, sons of medieval Hungarian kings: Géza II and Andrew I, respectively.
Reference: HU53 from Nagy et al. 2020
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025).
Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Abasar 390 – Abasar 450 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1c) who lived around 2100 BCE.
- Abasar 390 was a man who lived between 1169 – 1222 CE during the Late Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Abasár Bolt-tető, Abasar, Hungary. He was associated with the Medieval Hungary cultural group. His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-S20602.
- Abasar 450 was a man who lived between 1301 – 1396 CE during the Late Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Abasár Bolt-tető, Abasar, Hungary. He was associated with the Medieval Hungary cultural group. His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-FGC20778.
Abasár is a village in Heves County, Hungary, under the Sár mountain (500 m), in the Mátra mountain ranges. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 2501 (see Demographics). The village located 7.4 km from (Nr. 85) Vámosgyörk–Gyöngyös railway line, 4.3 km from the main road 3 and 11.7 km from the M3 motorway. The closest train station with public transport in Gyöngyös.
The Abas Hungarian noble family
The Abas were one of the most prominent Hungarian noble families, holding extensive territories in Heves County (Northern Hungary) during the Middle Ages. The ethnic origin of the Aba family is a subject of controversy in historical records.
According to the first surviving Hungarian medieval historical text Anonymus’ Gesta, Ed and Edemen, the progenitors of the clan, were identified as Cuman chiefs who had aligned themselves with the tribal alliance of the conquering Hungarians in present-day Russia prior to the Hungarian Conquest. As a result, they were granted extensive territories in Northern Hungary by Prince Árpád.
Since we know that the Cumans only moved to this area in the mid-11th century, it seems that Anonymus’ text anachronistically referred to the population, which living here before the arrival of the people of Almos and Árpád as Cuman. According to the 13th-century historian Simon of Kéza and later the 14th-century Chronicon Pictum, the forefathers of the clan, Ed and Edemen were the sons of Csaba, who was the legendary son of Attila, the grand King of Huns, according to medieval Hungarian historical tradition.
The latest historical work, Chorincon Pictum was the first to claim that the Abas and the Árpáds would have had a direct common ancestor, Attila’s son Csaba. Modern historians propose an Eastern origin for the family, as both the Cumans and Huns can trace their origins back to the East. The most plausible ancestral groups linked to the Aba lineage are the Kabar clans, who separated from the Khazar Khaganate and joined the Hungarians shortly before the conquest.
Excavations
Between 2020 and 2022, the Department of Archaeology at the Institute of Hungarian Research conducted excavations at the Abasár Bolt-tető site in Northern Hungary, unveiling the remains of the church, primarily established by Sámuel Aba. The excavation revealed various phases of the church’s existence, providing evidence of constructions, renovations, and instances of destruction.
Although the tomb of the king could not be identified, graves belonging to notable members of the Aba family were discovered within the church building. In the sanctuary, an unearthed tomb with a stone cover featured a carved depiction of the Aba family’s coat of arm).
The inscription on the border of the cover stone revealed that János and Mihály, two individuals from the Aba clan, were laid to rest there during the early years of the 15th century. Different branches of the Abas did rule extensive areas in Heves County in the 13th–14th centuries, 23 and according to the medieval diplomas the monastery belonged to at least three different branches of the clan, as mentioned earlier.25 Thus, it is not clear which branch they exactly belonged to.
Additionally, a double grave was found at the geometrical center of the church building, with its stone covers also adorned with the clan’s coat of arms. Two more graves were uncovered within the sanctuary bringing the total count to at least five prominent burials that clearly belonged to significant family members. As in these graves multiple skeletons were discovered in multiple layers, in some cases it was hard to identify the prominent individuals with archaeological methods alone.
Reference: HUAS390F and HUAS390F from Varga et al. 2024
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Törökszentmiklós 2793 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1 +16189) who lived around 4442 – 4250 BCE.
Törökszentmiklós 2793 was a man who lived between 4442 – 4250 BCE during the Chalcolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Site 3, Törökszentmiklós, Hungary. He was associated with the Tiszapolgar cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-PH800.
Tiszapolgár culture
The Tiszapolgár culture, a fascinating part of the early Chalcolithic or Copper Age of Central Europe, flourished approximately between 4500 and 4000 BCE in the Carpathian Basin, predominantly in what is now Hungary. This era marked a transition from the Neolithic way of life, characterized by stone tool use and agricultural settlements, to a period where the early use of metal, especially copper, began to appear alongside traditional practices. This transition period is critical in understanding the evolution of European societies towards more complex social structures and technological advancements.
Geography and Settlement
The Tiszapolgár culture is named after the town of Tiszapolgár in Hungary, where significant archaeological finds have been made. It occupied the Great Hungarian Plain, which provided rich alluvial soil and a hospitable environment for early farming communities. The settlements of this period were typically located near rivers or water bodies, facilitating agriculture and providing resources for daily activities.
These communities usually consisted of small, dispersed settlements rather than large, centralized towns. The typical settlement pattern suggests a community of interconnected but autonomous groups, each managing its agricultural activities and communal resources. Houses were generally rectangular, constructed using wattle-and-daub techniques, and often featured thatched roofs.
Economy and Subsistence
The subsistence strategy of the Tiszapolgár people was diverse, involving agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, and gathering. They cultivated crops such as wheat, barley, peas, and lentils, utilizing the fertile plains to their advantage. Livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, played a significant role in their economy, not only providing meat but also secondary products like milk, wool, and leather. The Tiszapolgár culture also shows evidence of trade and exchange networks for goods not locally available. This is exemplified by the presence of materials like obsidian and flint, which were used for tool-making and were likely obtained through trade or travel.
Technology and Craftsmanship
One of the defining features of the Chalcolithic period is the early use of copper, and the Tiszapolgár culture is no exception. Although stone tools were still predominantly used, copper began to appear in the form of small tools and ornaments, indicating a nascent metallurgical industry. This included the production of simple axes, awls, and jewelry, which were likely status symbols or used in trade. Ceramics from the Tiszapolgár culture are particularly noteworthy. Pottery was often decorated with intricate geometric patterns or incised designs, and the quality of craftsmanship suggests a high level of skill. These ceramics were not only utilitarian but also played a role in cultural and ritual practices.
Social Structure and Culture
The Tiszapolgár culture exhibits signs of increasing social complexity. The presence of different burial practices suggests a stratified society, possibly with distinct social classes or roles within the community. Burial sites often contain grave goods, such as pottery, tools, and personal ornaments, indicating beliefs in an afterlife or social status display. Rituals and spiritual life during this period are less clearly understood but are integral to understanding the cultural fabric. The presence of figurines and decorated objects suggests a symbolic or religious aspect to their material culture, possibly revolving around fertility, ancestry, or natural elements.
Reference: I2793 from Lipson et al. 2017; Szécsényi-Nagy et al. 2025 (bioRxiv).
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
* In some cases, the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) estimate is younger than the ancient sample’s age either because of lack of mtDNA coverage where the sample could otherwise split the branch or because of incorrect sample dating based on radiocarbon or archaeological context.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Pericei 3 (Báthory) was a man who lived between 1550 – 1600 CE during the Historical Age and was found in the region now known as Church Burial, Pericei, Romania. He was associated with the Romanian Aristocracy cultural group and the Báthory aristocratic family (believed to be either Elek or Ferencz Báthory).
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-BY18860.
The House of Báthory (Polish: Batory) was an old and powerful Hungarian noble family of the Gutkeled clan. The family rose to significant influence in Central Europe during the Late Middle Ages, holding high military, administrative and ecclesiastical positions in the Kingdom of Hungary. In the early modern period, the family produced several Princes of Transylvania and one King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (Stephen Báthory).
Origins
The Báthory family belonged to the Gutkeled, a clan of Hungarian nobles, which traced its descent to the Swabian brothers Gut and Kelad, who immigrated into Hungary from the castle Stof (probably Staufen im Breisgau or Hohenstaufen in Württemberg) during the reign of King Peter (reigned 1038–1046), who himself was partly of Venetian descent.
In 1279, King Ladislaus IV rewarded Andrew’s brother Hodos and Andrew’s sons George (d. 1307), Benedict (d. 1321) and Briccius (d. 1322) for their military services by granting them Bátor in the county of Szabolcs. Bátor had been the estate of Vajda son of Lángos, who had married a relative of Andrew but died without issue In 1310, Bátor came into the sole possession of Briccius when he reached an agreement with his nephew Michael and his cousin Vid to divide the joint possessions. After this, Briccius and his descendants named themselves Báthory, i.e. “of Bátor”.
Legend and coats of arms
A legendary account, placing the Báthorys’ origin in the year 900 (preceding the advent of the Gutkeled clan), relates how a god-fearing warrior called Vitus (a namesake of a member of the first generation of the Gutkeled clan) set out to fight a dragon, which lurked in the swamps next to the castle of Ecsed (actually built only in the 14th century) and harassed the countryside. Vitus killed it with three thrusts of his lance and as a reward received the castle. The grateful people honoured him with the names Báthory, meaning “good hero”, and animus magnanimus. In Hungarian the word bátor means “brave”.
Reference: PER03-1 from Gînguță et al. 2023
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
- Urziceni 7136 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived * before 3900 BCE.
Urziceni 7136 was a 30–55 year old man who lived between 4233 – 3994 BCE during the Chalcolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Urziceni, Romania. He was associated with the Chalcolithic Balkans cultural group.
His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup C-BY36620.
- Urziceni 15620 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 3900 BCE.
Urziceni 15620 was a 25-35-year man who lived between 4500 – 3504 BCE during the Chalcolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Urziceni, Romania. He was associated with the Chalcolithic Balkans cultural group.
His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup G-CTS8388.
Urziceni 7136 :Reference: I7136 from Lazaridis et al. 2022; Szécsényi-Nagy et al. 2025 (bioRxiv)
Urziceni 15620: Reference: I15620 from Lazaridis et al. 2022
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
* In some cases, the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) estimate is younger than the ancient sample’s age either because of lack of mtDNA coverage where the sample could otherwise split the branch or because of incorrect sample dating based on radiocarbon or archaeological context.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Dereivka 3719 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1+16189) who lived before 3900 BCE.
Dereivka 3719 was a man who lived between 4983 – 4795 BCE during the Middle Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Deriivka, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine. He was associated with the Dnieper-Donets cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-FTH81.
Deriivka
Deriivka is an archaeological site located in the village of the same name in Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine, on the right bank of the Dnieper. The site dates to c. 4500—3500 BC and is associated with the Sredny Stog culture, now is under waters of artificial Kamianske Reservoir.
The Dnieper–Donets culture complex (DDCC) (ca. 5th—4th millennium BC) is a Mesolithic and later Neolithic archaeological culture found north of the Black Sea and dating to ca. 5000-4200 BC. It has many parallels with the Samara culture, and was succeeded by the Sredny Stog culture.
Origin
David Anthony (2007: 155) dated the beginning of the Dnieper–Donets culture I roughly between 5800 BC and 5200 BC. It quickly expanded in all directions, eventually absorbing all other local Neolithic groups. By 5200, BC the Dnieper–Donets culture II followed; it ended between 4400 BC and 4200 BC.
Burials
The Dnieper–Donets culture is well known for about thirty of its cemeteries that have been discovered. This includes several large collective cemeteries of the Mariupol type. These contain around 800 individuals. It is evident that funerals were complex events that had several phases.
Burials are mostly in large pits where the deceased were periodically placed and covered with ocher. In some cases, the deceased may have been exposed for a time before their bones were collected and buried. In most cases, however, the deceased were buried in the flesh without exposure. Deceased Dnieper-Donets people sometimes had only their skulls buried, but most often the entire bodies. The variants of Dnieper-Donets burial often appear in the same pits. Animal bones has also been found in the graves.
Certain Dnieper-Donets burials are accompanied with copper, crystal or porphyry ornaments, shell beads, bird-stone tubes, polished stone maces or ornamental plaques made of boar’s tusk. The items, along with the presence of animal bones and sophisticated burial methods, appear to have been a symbol of power. Certain deceased children were buried with such items, which indicates that wealth was inherited in Dnieper-Donets society.
Very similar boar-tusk plaques and copper ornaments have been found at contemporary graves of the Samara culture in the middle Volga area. Maces of a different type than those of Dnieper-Donets have also been found. The wide adoption of such a status symbol attests to the existence of the institute of power in DDCC. Individual, double and triple burials have also been found at DDCC cemeteries. These have been attributed to the earlier period of DDCC. Radiocarbon dates confirm the earlier chronology of individual DDCC burials compared to collective graves in large pits.
Physical type
The physical remains recovered from graves of the Dnieper–Donets culture have been classified as “Proto-Europoid”. They are predominantly characterized as late Cro-Magnons with large and more massive features than the gracile Mediterranean peoples of the Balkan Neolithic.Males averaged 172 cm in height, which is much taller than contemporary Neolithic populations. Its rugged physical traits are thought to have genetically influenced later Indo-European peoples.
Reference: I3719 from Lazaridis et al. 2025; Mathieson et al. 2018.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
* In some cases, the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) estimate is younger than the ancient sample’s age either because of lack of mtDNA coverage where the sample could otherwise split the branch or because of incorrect sample dating based on radiocarbon or archaeological context.
Credit map: This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Sugaar at English Wikipedia.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Hjelmars rör 9 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived before 3500 -2900 BCE.
Hjelmars rör 9 was a man who lived between 3500 – 2900 BCE during the Late Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Hjelmars rör, Västergötland, Sweden. He was associated with the Funnel Beaker cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-S2703

Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia,
Vikings
The dramatic history of the Vikings – who continue to fascinate young and old – dates back to AD700 and stretches into the 11th century. So where are Vikings from and what was their agenda? Leaving their homelands in Scandinavia – Sweden, Norway and Denmark – these fearless seafarers set off in expertly engineered longships to trade and raid – and find better places to live. They traversed the coastlines of Europe, staking claims in countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Italy and modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. One well-documented raid, which has contributed to the Vikings’ coldblooded reputation, played out in AD793 when the Vikings attacked a monastery at Lindisfarne in northeast England’s Northumbria. Armed with axes and swords, the Vikings burned down buildings and raided monasteries for treasure.
Figuratively, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid’ in Old Norse language and the Vikings were rightly feared for their ruthless raids. Nevertheless, the Vikings were a lot more nuanced than their terrifying reputation. Free-spirited, courageous and innovative, they were true explorers and travelled the world as far as north America and Asia. And while the more barbaric Viking stories – portraying an unashamed level of greed, violence and cruelty – tend to dominate popular culture today, most Vikings led peaceful, farmer-style lives close to nature with their families, with strong women at the fore. Viking Age women took charge of the farms while the men went seafaring – unless they chose to join them as shield maidens. They also had more rights than other women at the time, free to divorce their husbands, for example.
Alongside growing crops and keeping animals, Vikings were inventive and craft-focused. They were expert silversmiths and enjoyed wearing jewellery and ornaments made of silver, gold and other metals. Highly resourceful, they used every scrap of natural materials to create textiles and objects such as the Vikings’ famous ‘drinking horn’, made from the horns of their farm animals. This craft-focused, ‘back to basics’ attitude is reflected in Swedish society today, with sustainability and resourcefulness becoming ever more important.
Reference: HJE009 from Seersholm et al. 2024.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Sweden Skara 101 and Sweden Skara 274 and I (H1c1k) hare a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 2050 BCE.
Sweden Skara 101 and Sweden Skara 274 were men who lived between 900 – 1200 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Varnhem, Skara, Sweden. They were associated with the Viking Sweden cultural group.
- Sweden Skara 101 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-BY33037
- Sweden Skara 274 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Y18232.

Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia,
Vikings
The dramatic history of the Vikings – who continue to fascinate young and old – dates back to AD700 and stretches into the 11th century. So where are Vikings from and what was their agenda? Leaving their homelands in Scandinavia – Sweden, Norway and Denmark – these fearless seafarers set off in expertly engineered longships to trade and raid – and find better places to live. They traversed the coastlines of Europe, staking claims in countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Italy and modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. One well-documented raid, which has contributed to the Vikings’ coldblooded reputation, played out in AD793 when the Vikings attacked a monastery at Lindisfarne in northeast England’s Northumbria. Armed with axes and swords, the Vikings burned down buildings and raided monasteries for treasure.
Figuratively, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid’ in Old Norse language and the Vikings were rightly feared for their ruthless raids. Nevertheless, the Vikings were a lot more nuanced than their terrifying reputation. Free-spirited, courageous and innovative, they were true explorers and travelled the world as far as north America and Asia. And while the more barbaric Viking stories – portraying an unashamed level of greed, violence and cruelty – tend to dominate popular culture today, most Vikings led peaceful, farmer-style lives close to nature with their families, with strong women at the fore. Viking Age women took charge of the farms while the men went seafaring – unless they chose to join them as shield maidens. They also had more rights than other women at the time, free to divorce their husbands, for example.
Alongside growing crops and keeping animals, Vikings were inventive and craft-focused. They were expert silversmiths and enjoyed wearing jewellery and ornaments made of silver, gold and other metals. Highly resourceful, they used every scrap of natural materials to create textiles and objects such as the Vikings’ famous ‘drinking horn’, made from the horns of their farm animals. This craft-focused, ‘back to basics’ attitude is reflected in Swedish society today, with sustainability and resourcefulness becoming ever more important.
Credit Viking expansion map: Wikipedia Commons
Reference: VK308 and VK 407 from Margaryan et al. 2020
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Frälsegården 9 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived before 2050 BCE.
Frälsegården 9 was a man who lived between 3323 – 3019 BCE during the Late Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Frälsegården, Gökhem, Västergötland, Sweden. He was associated with the Funnel Beaker cultural group and the Early Plague.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-FTG799

Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia,
Vikings
The dramatic history of the Vikings – who continue to fascinate young and old – dates back to AD700 and stretches into the 11th century. So where are Vikings from and what was their agenda? Leaving their homelands in Scandinavia – Sweden, Norway and Denmark – these fearless seafarers set off in expertly engineered longships to trade and raid – and find better places to live. They traversed the coastlines of Europe, staking claims in countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Italy and modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. One well-documented raid, which has contributed to the Vikings’ coldblooded reputation, played out in AD793 when the Vikings attacked a monastery at Lindisfarne in northeast England’s Northumbria. Armed with axes and swords, the Vikings burned down buildings and raided monasteries for treasure.
Figuratively, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid’ in Old Norse language and the Vikings were rightly feared for their ruthless raids. Nevertheless, the Vikings were a lot more nuanced than their terrifying reputation. Free-spirited, courageous and innovative, they were true explorers and travelled the world as far as north America and Asia. And while the more barbaric Viking stories – portraying an unashamed level of greed, violence and cruelty – tend to dominate popular culture today, most Vikings led peaceful, farmer-style lives close to nature with their families, with strong women at the fore. Viking Age women took charge of the farms while the men went seafaring – unless they chose to join them as shield maidens. They also had more rights than other women at the time, free to divorce their husbands, for example.
Alongside growing crops and keeping animals, Vikings were inventive and craft-focused. They were expert silversmiths and enjoyed wearing jewellery and ornaments made of silver, gold and other metals. Highly resourceful, they used every scrap of natural materials to create textiles and objects such as the Vikings’ famous ‘drinking horn’, made from the horns of their farm animals. This craft-focused, ‘back to basics’ attitude is reflected in Swedish society today, with sustainability and resourcefulness becoming ever more important.
Reference: FRA009 from Seersholm et al. 2024
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Fröjel 464 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 900 – 1050 BCE.
Fröjel 464 was a woman who lived between 900 – 1050 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Fröjel, Gotland, Sweden. She was associated with the Viking Sweden cultural group.

Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia,
Vikings
The dramatic history of the Vikings – who continue to fascinate young and old – dates back to AD700 and stretches into the 11th century. So where are Vikings from and what was their agenda? Leaving their homelands in Scandinavia – Sweden, Norway and Denmark – these fearless seafarers set off in expertly engineered longships to trade and raid – and find better places to live. They traversed the coastlines of Europe, staking claims in countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Italy and modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. One well-documented raid, which has contributed to the Vikings’ coldblooded reputation, played out in AD793 when the Vikings attacked a monastery at Lindisfarne in northeast England’s Northumbria. Armed with axes and swords, the Vikings burned down buildings and raided monasteries for treasure.
Figuratively, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid’ in Old Norse language and the Vikings were rightly feared for their ruthless raids. Nevertheless, the Vikings were a lot more nuanced than their terrifying reputation. Free-spirited, courageous and innovative, they were true explorers and travelled the world as far as north America and Asia. And while the more barbaric Viking stories – portraying an unashamed level of greed, violence and cruelty – tend to dominate popular culture today, most Vikings led peaceful, farmer-style lives close to nature with their families, with strong women at the fore. Viking Age women took charge of the farms while the men went seafaring – unless they chose to join them as shield maidens. They also had more rights than other women at the time, free to divorce their husbands, for example.
Alongside growing crops and keeping animals, Vikings were inventive and craft-focused. They were expert silversmiths and enjoyed wearing jewellery and ornaments made of silver, gold and other metals. Highly resourceful, they used every scrap of natural materials to create textiles and objects such as the Vikings’ famous ‘drinking horn’, made from the horns of their farm animals. This craft-focused, ‘back to basics’ attitude is reflected in Swedish society today, with sustainability and resourcefulness becoming ever more important.
Reference: VK464 from Margaryan et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Rombäck 1 and Rombäck 4 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Rombäck 1 and Rombäck were 2 men who lived between 450 – 500 CE during the Pre-Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Rombäck, Torp, Medelpad, Sweden. They were associated with the Pre-Viking Sweden cultural group.
- Rombäck 1 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Y104534.
- Rombäck 4 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Z74.

Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia,
Vikings
The dramatic history of the Vikings – who continue to fascinate young and old – dates back to AD700 and stretches into the 11th century. So where are Vikings from and what was their agenda? Leaving their homelands in Scandinavia – Sweden, Norway and Denmark – these fearless seafarers set off in expertly engineered longships to trade and raid – and find better places to live. They traversed the coastlines of Europe, staking claims in countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Italy and modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. One well-documented raid, which has contributed to the Vikings’ coldblooded reputation, played out in AD793 when the Vikings attacked a monastery at Lindisfarne in northeast England’s Northumbria. Armed with axes and swords, the Vikings burned down buildings and raided monasteries for treasure.
Figuratively, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid’ in Old Norse language and the Vikings were rightly feared for their ruthless raids. Nevertheless, the Vikings were a lot more nuanced than their terrifying reputation. Free-spirited, courageous and innovative, they were true explorers and travelled the world as far as north America and Asia. And while the more barbaric Viking stories – portraying an unashamed level of greed, violence and cruelty – tend to dominate popular culture today, most Vikings led peaceful, farmer-style lives close to nature with their families, with strong women at the fore. Viking Age women took charge of the farms while the men went seafaring – unless they chose to join them as shield maidens. They also had more rights than other women at the time, free to divorce their husbands, for example.
Alongside growing crops and keeping animals, Vikings were inventive and craft-focused. They were expert silversmiths and enjoyed wearing jewellery and ornaments made of silver, gold and other metals. Highly resourceful, they used every scrap of natural materials to create textiles and objects such as the Vikings’ famous ‘drinking horn’, made from the horns of their farm animals. This craft-focused, ‘back to basics’ attitude is reflected in Swedish society today, with sustainability and resourcefulness becoming ever more important.
Reference: rtp001 from Rodríguez-Varela et al. 2023.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Öland 13 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Öland 13 was a woman who lived between 300 – 500 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Stora Brunneby, Öland, Sweden.
- She was associated with the Viking Sweden cultural group.

Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia,
Vikings
The dramatic history of the Vikings – who continue to fascinate young and old – dates back to AD700 and stretches into the 11th century. So where are Vikings from and what was their agenda? Leaving their homelands in Scandinavia – Sweden, Norway and Denmark – these fearless seafarers set off in expertly engineered longships to trade and raid – and find better places to live. They traversed the coastlines of Europe, staking claims in countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Italy and modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. One well-documented raid, which has contributed to the Vikings’ coldblooded reputation, played out in AD793 when the Vikings attacked a monastery at Lindisfarne in northeast England’s Northumbria. Armed with axes and swords, the Vikings burned down buildings and raided monasteries for treasure.
Figuratively, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid’ in Old Norse language and the Vikings were rightly feared for their ruthless raids. Nevertheless, the Vikings were a lot more nuanced than their terrifying reputation. Free-spirited, courageous and innovative, they were true explorers and travelled the world as far as north America and Asia. And while the more barbaric Viking stories – portraying an unashamed level of greed, violence and cruelty – tend to dominate popular culture today, most Vikings led peaceful, farmer-style lives close to nature with their families, with strong women at the fore. Viking Age women took charge of the farms while the men went seafaring – unless they chose to join them as shield maidens. They also had more rights than other women at the time, free to divorce their husbands, for example.
Alongside growing crops and keeping animals, Vikings were inventive and craft-focused. They were expert silversmiths and enjoyed wearing jewellery and ornaments made of silver, gold and other metals. Highly resourceful, they used every scrap of natural materials to create textiles and objects such as the Vikings’ famous ‘drinking horn’, made from the horns of their farm animals. This craft-focused, ‘back to basics’ attitude is reflected in Swedish society today, with sustainability and resourcefulness becoming ever more important.
Reference: VK522 from Margaryan et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Öland 1073 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Öland 1073 was a 50-60 year old man who lived between 690 – 977 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Kastlösa, Öland, Sweden. He was associated with the Viking Sweden cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-BY167052

Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia,
Vikings
The dramatic history of the Vikings – who continue to fascinate young and old – dates back to AD700 and stretches into the 11th century. So where are Vikings from and what was their agenda? Leaving their homelands in Scandinavia – Sweden, Norway and Denmark – these fearless seafarers set off in expertly engineered longships to trade and raid – and find better places to live. They traversed the coastlines of Europe, staking claims in countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Italy and modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. One well-documented raid, which has contributed to the Vikings’ coldblooded reputation, played out in AD793 when the Vikings attacked a monastery at Lindisfarne in northeast England’s Northumbria. Armed with axes and swords, the Vikings burned down buildings and raided monasteries for treasure.
Figuratively, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid’ in Old Norse language and the Vikings were rightly feared for their ruthless raids. Nevertheless, the Vikings were a lot more nuanced than their terrifying reputation. Free-spirited, courageous and innovative, they were true explorers and travelled the world as far as north America and Asia. And while the more barbaric Viking stories – portraying an unashamed level of greed, violence and cruelty – tend to dominate popular culture today, most Vikings led peaceful, farmer-style lives close to nature with their families, with strong women at the fore. Viking Age women took charge of the farms while the men went seafaring – unless they chose to join them as shield maidens. They also had more rights than other women at the time, free to divorce their husbands, for example.
Alongside growing crops and keeping animals, Vikings were inventive and craft-focused. They were expert silversmiths and enjoyed wearing jewellery and ornaments made of silver, gold and other metals. Highly resourceful, they used every scrap of natural materials to create textiles and objects such as the Vikings’ famous ‘drinking horn’, made from the horns of their farm animals. This craft-focused, ‘back to basics’ attitude is reflected in Swedish society today, with sustainability and resourcefulness becoming ever more important.
Reference: VK349 from Margaryan et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Hesselbjerg 5 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 2050 BCE.
Hesselbjerg 5 was a woman who lived between 850 – 900 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Hesselbjerg, Jutland, Denmark. She was associated with the Vikirg Denmark cultural group.
Danes
The Danes were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting southern Scandinavia, including the area now comprising Denmark proper, northern and eastern England, and the Scanian provinces of modern-day southern Sweden, during the Nordic Iron Age and the Viking Age. They founded what became the Kingdom of Denmark. The name of their realm is believed to mean “Danish March”, viz. “the march of the Danes”, in Old Norse, referring to their southern border zone between the Eider and Schlei rivers, known as the Danevirke.
Why Denmark played a central role in the Viking Age
Denmark was the heartland of the Vikings and served as the starting point for many of their expeditions. Denmark’s geographical location gave the Vikings access to important trade routes and offered strategic advantages for their raids. Denmark was also a center of political power, where important Viking leaders and kings ruled.
Danelaw
In the British Isles, Danes landed three Viking ships at the isle of Portland, Dorset in 786 AD, where they met and killed a local reeve and his men. In 793 AD, a Viking raid and plunder of the monastery at Lindisfarne took place, but no further activity in England followed until 835 AD. In that year, the Danes raided and built a permanent camp on the Isle of Sheppey in south east England and settling followed from 865, when brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless wintered in East Anglia. Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured Northumbria in 867 and York as well. Danelaw – a special rule of law – was soon established in the settled areas and shaped the local cultures there for centuries. Cultural remains are still noticeable today.
Reference: VK340 from Margaryan et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Lejre 92 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 2050 BCE.
Lejre 92 was a woman who lived between 850 – 900 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Lejre, Sealand, Denmark. She was associated with the Viking Denmark cultural group
Danes
The Danes were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting southern Scandinavia, including the area now comprising Denmark proper, northern and eastern England, and the Scanian provinces of modern-day southern Sweden, during the Nordic Iron Age and the Viking Age. They founded what became the Kingdom of Denmark. The name of their realm is believed to mean “Danish March”, viz. “the march of the Danes”, in Old Norse, referring to their southern border zone between the Eider and Schlei rivers, known as the Danevirke.
Why Denmark played a central role in the Viking Age
Denmark was the heartland of the Vikings and served as the starting point for many of their expeditions. Denmark’s geographical location gave the Vikings access to important trade routes and offered strategic advantages for their raids. Denmark was also a center of political power, where important Viking leaders and kings ruled.
Danelaw
In the British Isles, Danes landed three Viking ships at the isle of Portland, Dorset in 786 AD, where they met and killed a local reeve and his men. In 793 AD, a Viking raid and plunder of the monastery at Lindisfarne took place, but no further activity in England followed until 835 AD. In that year, the Danes raided and built a permanent camp on the Isle of Sheppey in south east England and settling followed from 865, when brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless wintered in East Anglia. Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured Northumbria in 867 and York as well. Danelaw – a special rule of law – was soon established in the settled areas and shaped the local cultures there for centuries. Cultural remains are still noticeable today.
Reference: VK92 from Margaryan et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Gerdrup 213 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Gerdrup 213 was a woman who lived between 391 – 527 CE during the Late Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Gerdrup, Sealand, Denmark. She was associated with the Iron Age Denmark cultural group.
The Denmark Iron Age
The Early Iron Age in Denmark covers the period from 500 BC until 400 AD and is divided into three periods: Pre-Roman or Celtic Iron Age (500 – 1 BC), Early Roman Iron Age (1 – 200 AD) and Late Roman Iron Age (200 – 400 AD).
In the time around 500 BC people began to extract iron from local deposits. People were no longer dependant on bronze from distant areas of Europe. In addition, iron was a much stronger and more suitable metal for weapons and tools. The farmers in the Early Iron Age lived together in small, fenced villages. That it was not always peaceful and friendly though is testified by the weapon offering from Hjortspring Mose. You can also read more about the woman from Huldremose, who was laid in the bog dressed in her finest clothes.
Danes
The Danes were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting southern Scandinavia, including the area now comprising Denmark proper, northern and eastern England, and the Scanian provinces of modern-day southern Sweden, during the Nordic Iron Age and the Viking Age. They founded what became the Kingdom of Denmark. The name of their realm is believed to mean “Danish March”, viz. “the march of the Danes”, in Old Norse, referring to their southern border zone between the Eider and Schlei rivers, known as the Danevirke.
Why Denmark played a central role in the Viking Age
Denmark was the heartland of the Vikings and served as the starting point for many of their expeditions. Denmark’s geographical location gave the Vikings access to important trade routes and offered strategic advantages for their raids. Denmark was also a center of political power, where important Viking leaders and kings ruled.
Danelaw
In the British Isles, Danes landed three Viking ships at the isle of Portland, Dorset in 786 AD, where they met and killed a local reeve and his men. In 793 AD, a Viking raid and plunder of the monastery at Lindisfarne took place, but no further activity in England followed until 835 AD. In that year, the Danes raided and built a permanent camp on the Isle of Sheppey in south east England and settling followed from 865, when brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless wintered in East Anglia. Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured Northumbria in 867 and York as well. Danelaw – a special rule of law – was soon established in the settled areas and shaped the local cultures there for centuries. Cultural remains are still noticeable today.
Reference: VK213 from Margaryan et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
s.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Ladby 2 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Ladby 2 was a woman who lived around 800 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Ladby, Funen, Denmark. She was associated with the Viking Denmark cultural group
Danes
The Danes were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting southern Scandinavia, including the area now comprising Denmark proper, northern and eastern England, and the Scanian provinces of modern-day southern Sweden, during the Nordic Iron Age and the Viking Age. They founded what became the Kingdom of Denmark. The name of their realm is believed to mean “Danish March”, viz. “the march of the Danes”, in Old Norse, referring to their southern border zone between the Eider and Schlei rivers, known as the Danevirke.
Why Denmark played a central role in the Viking Age
Denmark was the heartland of the Vikings and served as the starting point for many of their expeditions. Denmark’s geographical location gave the Vikings access to important trade routes and offered strategic advantages for their raids. Denmark was also a center of political power, where important Viking leaders and kings ruled.
Danelaw
In the British Isles, Danes landed three Viking ships at the isle of Portland, Dorset in 786 AD, where they met and killed a local reeve and his men. In 793 AD, a Viking raid and plunder of the monastery at Lindisfarne took place, but no further activity in England followed until 835 AD. In that year, the Danes raided and built a permanent camp on the Isle of Sheppey in south east England and settling followed from 865, when brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless wintered in East Anglia. Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured Northumbria in 867 and York as well. Danelaw – a special rule of law – was soon established in the settled areas and shaped the local cultures there for centuries. Cultural remains are still noticeable today
Reference: VK319 from Margaryan et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
s.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Vatnsdalur A6 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 2050 BCE.
Vatnsdalur A6 was a 25-35 year old man who lived between 850 – 1050 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Vatnsdalur, Patreksfjörður, Iceland. He was associated with the Pre-Christian Icelander cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-YP1120.
Historical sources set the beginning of Norse settlement in Iceland at approximately 870 CE, a date that is generally collaborated by the archaeological evidence. There was no prior inhabitation with the exception of a few Irish monks who may have periodically visited the island beginning in the eighth century. The relative proportion of Norse (primarily Norwegian) and Celtic (from the northern British Isles) contributions to the original Icelandic population has been debated. Recent DNA analyses of the modern population indicate that the relative contributions are dramatically skewed by gender with the majority of females deriving from Celtic origins whereas the males appear to have been predominately Norse. Estimates of total population based on a survey of independent farmers conducted around the year 1100 indicate roughly 60,000 – 70,000 individuals.
Acculturation and Culture Contact
The first settlers claimed lands and established dispersed farmsteads. Many of the economic practices were unsuitable to the fragile Icelandic environment and resulted in deforestation and land erosion, especially in the uplands. As population grew, settlement expanded, and new farmsteads were divided from previous land claims. In 930 A.D. the General Assembly (ALÞINGI) was founded, providing an institution integrating the entire island. The same assembly accepted Christianity as the religion of the land in 1000 A.D. The thirteenth century was a period of escalating conflict (STURLUNGAÖLD) chieftains attempted to exert control beyond their local regions. The system of autonomous chieftains ended after 1262 A.D. when Iceland came under Norwegian rule.
Viking history
The Viking Age expansion into the North Atlantic did not end at Iceland. In the late tenth century Eirík the Red led a major venture to colonize Greenland and his son, Leifur Eiríksson, has been credited with the European discovery of North America. Early Icelanders maintained close ties with Scandinavia and the British Isles. Continental trading and raiding expeditions were common activities for those with the means to take a share in a boat. Their travels sometimes took them as far as Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.
Reference: VDP-A6 from Ebenesersdóttir et al. 2018.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Salme 1-6 + 2-B + 2-C + 2-P + 2-W + 2-Z and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Salme 1-6 + 2-B + 2-C + 2-P + 2-W + 2-Z were 6 men who lived between 700 – 800 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Salme, Saaremaa, Estonia. They were associated with the Viking Estonia cultural group.
- Salme 1-6 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Y36105.
- Salme 2-B direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Z73.
- Salme 2-C direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-FT373923.
- Salme 2-P direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-SK1234.
- Salme 2-W direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-BY198216.
- Salme 2-6 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-R-S6752.
Viking Age in Estonia
The Viking Age in Estonia was a period in the history of Estonia, part of the Viking Age (793–1066 AD). It was not a unified country at the time, and the area of Ancient Estonia was divided among loosely allied regions. It was preceded by the Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Estonia, during which an agrarian society had developed, the Migration Period (450–550 AD), and Pre-Viking Age (550–800 AD) with the Viking Age itself lasting between 800 and 1050 AD. It is often considered to be part of the Iron Age period which started around 400 AD and ended around 1200 AD. Some 16th-century Swedish chronicles attribute the Pillage of Sigtuna in 1187 to Estonian raiders.
The society, economy, settlement and culture of the territory of what is in the present-day the country of Estonia is studied mainly through archaeological sources. The era is seen to have been a period of rapid change. The Estonian peasant culture came into existence by the end of the Viking Age. The overall understanding of the Viking Age in Estonia is deemed to be fragmentary and superficial, because of the limited amount of surviving source material. The main sources for understanding the period are remains of the farms and fortresses of the era, cemeteries and a large amount of excavated objects.
The landscape of Ancient Estonia featured numerous hillforts, some later hillforts on Saaremaa heavily fortified during the Viking Age and on to the 12th century.The areas of Northern and Western Estonia belonged in the Scandinavian cultural sphere during the Viking Age.There were a number of late prehistoric or medieval harbour sites on the coast of Saaremaa, but none have been found that are large enough to be international trade centres.The Estonian islands also have a number of graves from the Viking Age, both individual and collective, with weapons and jewelry.Weapons found in Estonian Viking Age graves are common to types found throughout Northern Europe and Scandinavia.
Reference: VK509 /495 /492 /495 /482 /496 /498 from Margaryan et al. 2020
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025).
Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Bodzia 153 and Bodzia 157 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 2050 BCE.
Bodzia 153 and Bodzia 157 were two men who lived between 900 – 1100 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Bodzia, Poland.
- They were associated with the Viking Poland cultural group
Bodzia 153 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-M198.
Bodzia 157 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Y58442
Vikings Poland Link: Interactions and Influence
It’s well-documented that Vikings explored and often settled in many parts of Europe, including territories of present-day Poland. Truso, now Elbląg in northern Poland, was a major trading port in the Baltic Sea during the Viking Age. Vikings established trade links with the local Slavic tribes, and there were instances of intermarriage and cultural exchange.
Archaeological finds across Poland, such as rune stones, Viking weaponry, and artifacts of Norse design, provide tangible evidence of the Vikings’ presence and interaction with the Polans. However, these influences didn’t transform the Polans into Vikings, just as interaction with other cultures across Europe did not turn those communities into Vikings.
Reference: VK153 and VK157from Margaryan et al. 2020
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placement

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Kierzkowo 2440 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Kierzkowo 2440 was a man who lived between 3100 – 2900 BCE during the Chalcolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Kierzkowo, Wójcin, Poland. He was associated with the Globular Amphora cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-CTS2257.
Globular Amphora culture
The Globular Amphora culture (GAC, German: Kugelamphoren-Kultur (KAK); c. 3400–2800 BCE, is an archaeological culture in Central Europe. Marija Gimbutas assumed an Indo-European origin, though this is contradicted by newer genetic studies that show a connection to the earlier wave of Early European Farmers rather than to Western Steppe Herders from the Ukrainian and south-western Russian steppes.
The GAC preceded the Corded Ware culture in its central area. Somewhat to the south and west, it was bordered by the Baden culture. To the northeast was the Narva culture. It occupied much of the same area as the earlier Funnelbeaker culture. The name was coined by Gustaf Kossinna because of the characteristic pottery, globular-shaped pots with two to four handles.
The Globular Amphora culture was located in an area defined by the Elbe catchment on the west and that of the Vistula on the east, extending southwards to the middle Dniester and eastwards to reach the Dnieper. West of the Elbe, some globular amphorae are found in megalithic graves. The GAC finds in the steppe area are normally attributed to a rather late expansion
Reference: I2440 from Mathieson et al. 2018.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements., which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Straubing 241 (H1 + 16239) and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4600 BCE.
Straubing 241 was a 50-60 year old man who lived between 480 – 510 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Bajuwarenstraße, Straubing, Germany. He was associated with the Bavarian cultural group.
Straubing-Bajuwarenstraße
In the Late Classical Age, the site at Straubing-Bajuwarenstraße in Bavaria, Germany, was a significant settlement area for the early Bavarians, known as the Baiuvarii. This population emerged from a blend of local Celtic, Roman, and migrating Germanic peoples. The Bavarians in this region practiced a mixed agrarian lifestyle, cultivating crops such as barley, wheat, and rye, and raising cattle, pigs, and sheep. Archaeological excavations at Straubing-Bajuwarenstraße have revealed a wealth of artifacts, including everyday items like pottery, tools, and weapons, as well as more opulent finds such as jewelry and Roman coins, indicating both local craftsmanship and far-reaching trade connections. Burial sites uncovered here showcase both cremation and inhumation practices, reflecting a transitional phase between Roman traditions and new Germanic customs.
History of Straubing
The area of Straubing has been continuously settled since the Neolithic. The conquest by the Romans in 16–14 BC had a dramatic impact on the whole region. Even today many traces of the 400-year Roman occupation can be found: for example, the famous ‘Römerschatz’ (Roman treasure) which was excavated in 1950 and which is shown in the Gäubodenmuseum. Sorviodurum, as the Romans called it, was an important military support base.
After the fall of the Roman Empire Straubing became a centre of settlement of the Bavarii, mostly around St. Peter’s Church (built in the 9th century) between Allachbach and Danube. According to the customs of the Bavarii the settlement was named after their leader Strupinga, which later evolved into the name Straubing.
In 1218 a new part of the city (called ‘new town’) was founded by Duke Ludwig I Wittelsbach of Bavaria. Straubing became the capital of the Duchy of Bavaria-Straubing under Duke Wilhelm I when Bavaria was divided among the sons of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1349. In 1429 Straubing passed to Ernest, Duke of Bavaria-Munich, who ordered the murder of Agnes Bernauer in Straubing. The grave of Agnes Bernauer cannot be found. But in the graveyard of St. Peter’s Church is a chapel built by Duke Ernest
Reference: STR_241 from Veeramah et al. 2018.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credit photo: Wikipedia public domain. Georg Braun; Frans Hogenberg: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Band 1, 1572 (Ausgabe Beschreibung vnd Contrafactur der vornembster Stät der Welt, Köln 1582; [VD16-B7188)Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Schleswig 10 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 2100 BCE.
Schleswig 10 was a man who lived between 1070 – 1140 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as Schleswig Rathausmarkt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He was associated with the Medieval Germany cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Z78.
![Tijdens de Noordse Middeleeuwen was het vasteland van Sleeswijk verdeeld in drie eilanden, namelijk Barvidsyssel [da], Ellumsyssel [da] en Istedsyssel [da]. De Noord-Friese eilanden stonden bekend als Utlande. Tijdens de Noordse Middeleeuwen was het vasteland van Sleeswijk verdeeld in drie sýslur, namelijk Barvidsyssel [da], Ellumsyssel [da] en Istedsyssel [da]. De Noord-Friese eilanden stonden bekend als Utlande.](https://kloosterman-1add0.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/Sonderjylland_i_middelalderen-222x300.png)
Tijdens de Noordse Middeleeuwen was het vasteland van Sleeswijk verdeeld in drie sýslur, namelijk Barvidsyssel [da], Ellumsyssel [da] en Istedsyssel [da]. De Noord-Friese eilanden stonden bekend als Utlande.
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig. Its capital city is Kiel; other notable cities are Lübeck and Flensburg. It covers an area of 15,763 km2 (6,086 sq mi), making it the 5th smallest German federal state by area (including the city-states). Historically, the name can also refer to a larger region, containing both present-day Schleswig-Holstein and the former South Jutland County (Northern Schleswig; now part of the Region of Southern Denmark) in Denmark.
Schleswig was under Danish control during the Viking Age, but in the 12th century it became a duchy within Denmark. It bordered Holstein, which was a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Beginning in 1460, the King of Denmark ruled both Schleswig and Holstein as their duke. Schleswig was still part of Denmark, while Holstein remained part of the Holy Roman Empire.
Medieval Germany (circa 481 – 1350 CE)
The German state covered a large geographic area but for most of its early history it was subdivided into various tribal territories that eventually formed into competing principalities of feudal lords who were all under one ruler. Various dialects of the German language helped to form a German culture and forged ethnic connections with Slavic and Baltic groups as well as imperial alliances with Italy and the Germanic-speaking areas of modern Austria and Poland.
Northern European and pre-Roman Iron Age Celtic influences also played a role in the formation of modern Germany. The transformation from tribal to monarchical and feudal rule in Germany led to an increased emphasis on the importance of property, natural resources, and political alliances but the significance of familial ties and internal allegiances remained important factors in medieval Germany and helped to foster the culture that defined the territory. Continual territorial and political changes on the regional and imperial levels greatly impacted medieval Germans, with endemic conflict and warfare due to conflicts between outside ethnic groups as well as between German polities.
A Corner of Tenth-Century Europe
The kingdom of East Francia was the main source of later German culture and politics. East Francia and much of the Kingdom of Lothair, also called the Middle Kingdom, would make up the modern German state, established in 880 CE as a newly unified empire.
Successive German leaders inherited the title of emperor, ruling what was known as the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 CE. The various principalities were under the protection of the emperor but could make decisions independently within their own regions. Although separated into tribes, ethnicities and linguistic regions, Germans developed into a cohesive ethnic and cultural group by the time of Otto I, crowned in 962 CE, the first official Holy Roman Emperor, ushering in the Ottonian or Saxon dynasty. Geographically at this time Germany had recognizable boundaries apart from the addition of most of Italy but continued to fluctuate over time to include parts of the kingdoms of France, Poland, and Hungary.
Holy Roman Empire: (962 C.E. – 1806 CE)
On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne Roman emperor, reviving the title more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. The title lapsed in 924, but was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor by Pope John XII, as Charlemagne’s and the Carolingian Empire’s successor. From 962 until the 12th century, the empire was one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe. It depended on cooperation between emperor and vassals; this was disturbed during the Salian period. The empire reached the apex of territorial expansion and power under the House of Hohenstaufen in the mid-13th century, but overextension led to a partial collapse. The imperial office was traditionally elective by the mostly German prince-electors. In theory and diplomacy, the emperors were considered the first among equals of all of Europe’s Catholic monarchs.
Reference: SWG010 from Gretzinger et al. 2022.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credit Map: Wikipedia, this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Rostokva 4 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Rostokva 4 was a man who lived between 2202 – 1983 BCE during the Late Bronze Age and was found in the region now known as Rostokva, Omsk Oblast, Russian Federation.He was associated with the Seima-Turbino cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup Q-BZ1474.
Seima-Turbino culture
The Seima-Turbino culture is an ancient archaeological culture that emerged in the forest-steppes of southern Siberia during the Late Bronze Age, around 1900 to 1400 BCE. This culture is of great interest to archaeologists and historians due to its widespread influence and potential role in the transmission of metallurgical knowledge in ancient Eurasia.
This culture is named after two significant archaeological sites: Seima in the Altai Mountains and Turbino in the Minusinsk Basin, both located in present-day Russia.
Territorial Extent: The Seima-Turbino culture is known for its vast territorial extent, spanning across a large portion of present-day Siberia and reaching into parts of Mongolia and northern China. This wide distribution suggests that the culture was highly mobile, possibly composed of semi-nomadic or nomadic communities.
Bronze Technology: The culture is characterized by its distinctive bronze artifacts. The culture is known for producing a variety of bronze artifacts, including weapons such as daggers, knives, and spearheads, as well as ornaments like belt buckles, beads, and pendants. These artifacts showcase intricate and elaborate designs, indicating a high level of craftsmanship..
Burial Practices: Archaeological evidence from Seima-Turbino sites indicates specific burial practices. Some burials contained chariots and horses, suggesting the importance of these animals in their culture. The presence of bronze artifacts in the graves further emphasizes the significance of metallurgy and metal objects in their societal practices.
Cultural Exchange and Trade: The Seima-Turbino culture is believed to have been primarily nomadic, with evidence suggesting a reliance on herding domesticated animals such as horses, cattle, and sheep. Their mobile lifestyle facilitated interactions and trade with neighboring cultures, contributing to the spread of their cultural influence over a wide geographical area.
The Seima-Turbino people likely engaged in extensive interactions with neighboring cultures. Some researchers propose that the Seima-Turbino culture played a pivotal role in the spread of early bronze metallurgy, influencing neighboring cultures and contributing to the development of the Bronze Age in the region.
Reference: ROT004 from Childebayeva et al. 2024.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements. 2950 and 2350 cal. BC from a centre in Wolhynia and Podolia.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Dorset 3722 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 2050 BCE.
Dorset 3722 was a man who lived between 970 – 1025 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Ridgeway Hill, Dorset, England. He was associated with the Viking Britain cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-YP5718.
Viking activity in the British Isles occurred during the Early Middle Ages, the 8th to the 11th centuries CE, when Scandinavians travelled to the British Isles to raid, conquer, settle and trade. They are generally referred to as Vikings, but some scholars debate whether the term Viking represented all Scandinavian settlers or just those who used violence.
At the start of the early medieval period, Scandinavian kingdoms had developed trade links reaching as far as southern Europe and the Mediterranean, giving them access to foreign imports, such as silver, gold, bronze, and spices. These trade links also extended westwards into Ireland and Britain.
In the last decade of the eighth century, Viking raiders sacked several Christian monasteries in northern Britain, and over the next three centuries they launched increasingly large-scale invasions and settled in many areas, especially in eastern Britain and Ireland, the island’s north and west of Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Reference: VK256 from Margaryan et al. 2020
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
Photo credit :
Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Rare Connection
1 in 156
Only 1747 persons who have done a mtDNA test with FamilyTreeDNA are this closely related to Heslerton 11583.
Heslerton 11583 was a ca 35-year-old man who lived between 450 – 650 CE during the Medieval Age and was found in the region now known as West Heslerton, Yorkshire, England. He was associated with the Medieval Britain cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-S18632.
Location
The village lies within the historic county boundaries of the East Riding of Yorkshire. It was part of the Ryedale district between 1974 and 2023. It is now administered by North Yorkshire Council.
History
The village is the site of one of Britain’s largest archaeological excavations, that of a large settlement which seems to have been occupied for several centuries until about 800 AD.[ The settlement flourished during late Roman/early Anglo-Saxon times, but may have been occupied for a considerable length of time before the arrival of Romans in Britain. The site covers over 110 acres (45 hectares) and contains the traces of more than 200 buildings. Excavations of Cook’s Quarry in the village, unearthed a cemetery containing 250 skeletons of people buried between the 4th and 7th centuries AD
Reference: I11583 from Gretzinger et al. 2022.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Buckland 59, Buckland 27, Buckland 53, Buckland 73 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 2100 BCE.
- Buckland 59 was a 35–45-year-old man who lived between 425 – 545 CE during the Medieval Age.
- Buckland 27 was an 8-1-year-old boy who lived between 400 – 800 CE during the Medieval Age.
- Buckland 53 was a 40–45-year-old man who lived between 400 – 800 CE during the Medieval Age.
- Buckland 73 was a 35–45-year-old man who lived between 400 – 800 CE during the Medieval Age.
The all four remains were found in the region now known as Dover Buckland, Kent, England. They were all four associated with the Medieval Britain cultural group.
- Buckland 59 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-FGC23213.
- Buckland 27 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-Z304.
- Buckland 53 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Z165.
- Buckland 73 direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-FTB5040.
Location
Buckland is a suburban village in Kent. It lies to the north-west of Dover, of which it now sometimes considered a suburb. Buckland Anglo-Saxon cemetery on Long Hill was discovered in 1951. It is within the council area of Dover (Kent). The cemetery is located on the southern slope of Long Hill, on the eastern bank of the River Dour. The site is visible from the river valley coming from the coast line. Geologically, the base rock was unbroken solid chalk.
Archaeological investigation
In 1951, construction began on the Buckland Estate, a housing project on the site of the cemetery. Workmen uncovered a number of artefacts when they began clearing the soil, before coming across skeletal remains. A late prehistoric barrow ditch was located in the highest part of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery, on a false crest of the hill. There was also evidence for Romano-British activity on the site, with a small circular pit 2 feet deep cut into the chalk, containing a few sherds of Roman-era pottery.
Buckland Anglo-Saxon cemetery was a place of burial. It is located on Long Hill in the town of Dover in Kent, South East England. Belonging to the Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England. Buckland was an inhumation-only cemetery, with no evidence of cremation. The cemetery was on a false crest on the hill, having wide views of the surrounding landscape. Many of the dead were interred with grave goods, which included personal ornaments, weapons, and domestic items.
Background
With the advent of the Anglo-Saxon period in the fifth century CE, the area that became Kent underwent a radical transformation on a political, social, and physical level. In the preceding era of Roman Britain, the area had been administered as the civitas of Cantiaci, a part of the Roman Empire, but following the collapse of Roman rule in 410 CE, many signs of Romano-British society began to disappear, replaced by those of the ascendant Anglo-Saxon culture.
Later Anglo-Saxon accounts attribute this change to the widescale invasion of Germanic language tribes from northern Europe, namely the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.[8] Archaeological and toponymic evidence shows that there was a great deal of syncretism, with Anglo-Saxon culture interacting and mixing with the Romano-British culture.
The Old English term Kent first appears in the Anglo-Saxon period, and was based on the earlier Celtic-language name Cantii. Initially applied only to the area east of the River Medway, by the end of the sixth century it also referred to areas to the west of it.
The Kingdom of Kent was the first recorded Anglo-Saxon kingdom to appear in the historical record, and by the end of the sixth century, it had become a significant political power, exercising hegemony over large parts of southern and eastern Britain.]At the time, Kent had strong trade links with Francia, while the Kentish royal family married members of Francia’s Merovingian dynasty, who were already Christian.
Kentish King Æthelberht was the overlord of various neighbouring kingdoms when he converted to Christianity in the early seventh century as a result of Augustine of Canterbury and the Gregorian mission, who had been sent by Pope Gregory to replace England’s pagan beliefs with Christianity. It was in this context that the Finglesham cemetery was in use.
Reference: BUK059, BUK027, BUK053 and BUK073 from Gretzinger et al. 2022.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
Credit map: Author Hel-hama. Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Totty Pot 1 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1c) who lived around 2100 BCE.
Totty Pot 1 was a man who lived between 2831 – 2461 BCE during the Late Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Totty Pot Cave, Wells, England. He was associated with the Neolithic Britain cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-P214.
Totty Pot is located some 5 km east of Cheddar, on the plateau that forms the top of the Mendip Hills, at approx. 245m OD. It was found by Christopher Hawkes during a family outing in 1960, and excavated by Hawkes, geologist Willie Stanton and the Wessex Cave Club between 1960 and 1965.
The present entrance is via a narrow, vertical shaft approximately 0.75 m wide and 4 m deep, leading to a short tunnel giving access into several small chambers, which open up to approximately two metres at the highest end. The approximate length of the cave is 10m. Although having the surface appearance of a swallet, Totty Pot is probably a relict section of an ancient stream cave whose entrance was formed by breaching of the cave roof through sub-aerial lowering of the plateau surface. The current vertical entrance was dug out in the 1960s and is probably not that used in antiquity, when the cave was most likely accessed via a relatively wide and low entrance on the south side of the depression.
Initial excavations at the site were primarily intended to explore its caving potential, and the recovery of archaeological material was unexpected, though it soon became apparent that bone material in particular was present, including both faunal and human remains. Work proceeded more carefully after this, as shown by the recovery of a small flint assemblage of 20 worked pieces, including seven convex backed blades, three rod and seven scalene microliths, and two microburins.
A small surviving human bone assemblage was identified as being from six individuals. The results confirmed the presence of one previously identified Mesolithic individual (7445-7080 cal BC), but unexpectedly placed the other five individuals spanning the Middle to Late Neolithic, from ca. 3500 to ca. 2600 cal BC.
Reference: I5374 from Brace et al. 2019; Olalde et al. 2018.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
* In some cases, the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) estimate is younger than the ancient sample’s age either because of lack of mtDNA coverage where the sample could otherwise split the branch or because of incorrect sample dating based on radiocarbon or archaeological context.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.

Slonk Hill man. Reconstruction photo by O D NilssonSlonk Hill and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Slonk Hill and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4600 BCE.
Slonk Hill man lived around 300 BCE during the Late Iron Age in Great Britain. He was about 24 years old when he died. His remains were found in a burial on Slonk Hill in Brighton, England. He was associated with the Iron Age Britain cultural group.
- Sculptor and archaeologist Oscar D. Nilsson reconstructed the face of the man, and the model is on display at the Brighton Museum in England.
Patterson et al. 2021 studied the DNA of the man and many others in the large study “Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age”. The supplementary material describes the burial:
Rescue excavations on Slonk Hill, Brighton were undertaken by Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society in 1968–74 in advance of the building of a bridge over the River Adur. The excavations uncovered a small enclosed Iron Age settlement with occupation spanning the sixth–first centuries BCE and a later Romano-British settlement spanning the first/second–fourth centuries CE, incorporating two earlier Bronze Age barrows, as well as two Iron Age burials (Graves 1 and 2). Grave 1 comprised an oval-shaped storage pit containing the complete articulated skeleton of a male aged c. 24 years, flexed on his left side with his head to the north and his right hand in front of his face. The body had been placed on top of a layer of shells, mainly mussels, but also winkles and barnacles, which covered the bottom of the pit. The human remains were accompanied by a flint ‘Shepherd’s crown’ (a fossilised sea urchin) and some fragments of pottery dating typologically to the Iron Age. Further potsherds and the shaft of a small iron implement were recovered from the grave fill.
Grave 2 comprised a small purpose-built grave containing the skeleton of a female aged 35–45 years, buried flexed on her left side with her skull to the north, facing east. A shale bracelet was found on the left forearm and an involuted iron brooch was recovered from near her shoulder. The lower 23cm of grave fill included part of a quern stone and the right half of an ox sacrum. MtDNA analysis revealed that these two individuals are second or third degree relatives.
- His direct maternal line belonged to mtDNA haplogroup H1.
Reconstruction photo provided by O D Nilsson

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Ship Street Great 12 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Ship Street Great 12 was a man who lived between 665 – 865 CE during the Viking Age and was found in the region now known as Ship Street Great, Dublin, Ireland. He was associated with the Viking Ireland cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-DF105.
The vikings in Ireland
Viking raids on Ireland began in 795. Rathlin Island on the north east coast was attacked and in the same year Inishmurray, Co. Sligo and Inishbofin, Co. Galway were also raided. Later, the attacks became more frequent and fleets of Viking ships appeared on the major rivers such as the Shannon, Boyne, Liffey and the Erne. By 841 the annals report that the Vikings were already spending the winter in Ireland, using temporary ship fortresses as bases for more extensive raiding. Some of these ship fortresses, or longphuirt, such as Dublin, Waterford and Wexford, were later to develop into towns but others, such as the ship base at Annagassan, Co. Louth were to lapse into obscurity. In this early period the principal targets were the monasteries which were the only large centres of population and wealth and the main quest was for loot and slaves. The Vikings did not only fight against Irish: by the mid-ninth century they served as mercenaries in battles between Irish kings.
The effects of the earliest attacks on Ireland are difficult to estimate. It is not likely that Vikings were responsible for the decline of the church and monastic culture. Many monasteries were never attacked, and attacks were not equally severe. Clearly the main target was the large wealthy monastic foundations such as Glendalough, Kildare and Clonmacnoise.
Although the Irish annals tell of the horror of the Viking raids and the destruction inflicted upon the monasteries, warfare was not new to Ireland. A number of monasteries, such as Clonmacnoise, maintained some form of militia. This force was probably in the form of lay tenants, and there are a number of records of battles prior to the advent of the Vikings to the Irish scene.
Trading cities and minting
In the tenth century, Vikings established towns at Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Wexford and possibly Cork. The first use of money in Ireland dates from 997 when Dublin started minting Ireland’s first coins. Dublin and Ireland became part of a wider international trade network than ever before. New trade routes were opened up by the Vikings into the silver- and gold-rich markets of Asia. Silver was acquired by trade, exchange and plunder, and came to Ireland largely in the form of coins which were melted down and made into ornaments. About 150 coin hoards are known from Ireland. These contain a combination of ornaments, chopped pieces of silver known as hack silver, ingots and coins. Viking Age silver in Ireland was converted into a variety of brooches and arm rings. Arm rings are hammered from a bar of silver, and sometimes bear stamped ornament. Other forms, such as torcs made of twisted silver wires, are less common. The fact that we have silver ornaments clearly made by Irish craftsmen indicates that significant amounts of silver found its way into Irish hands
Reference: VK545 from Margaryan et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
Photo credit :
Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Carrowkeel 531 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1+16189) who lived around 3900 BC
Carrowkeel 531 was a man who lived between 2883 – 2625 BCE during the Late Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Passage Tomb, Cairn K, Sligo, Ireland. He was associated with the Neolithic Europe cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-FT380380.
Carrowkeel is a cluster of passage tombs in south County Sligo, Ireland. They were built in the 4th millennium BC, during the Neolithic era. The monuments are on the Bricklieve Hills (An Bricshliabh, ‘the speckled hills’), overlooking Lough Arrow, and are sometimes called the Bricklieve tombs. They are named after the townland of Carrowkeel in which most of them are located. Nearby are the Caves of Kesh and Heapstown Cairn. The Carrowkeel tombs are protected National Monuments and are considered one of the “big four” passage tomb cemeteries in Ireland, along with Carrowmore, Brú na Bóinne and Loughcrew.
Passage tombs
Passage tombs are a category of Megalithic monument from the Neolithic period. They are found in most regions of Ireland but are more prevalent in the Northern half of the island. The usage period of Irish passage tombs date from c. 3750 B.C. to about 2500 B.C. About twenty clusters are recorded in Ireland, but the best known examples are found along a curved trajectory from the west coast to the east, including the centres of Carrowmore and Carrowkeel in County Sligo, and Loughcrew and the Boyne Valley in County Meath.
Credit photo passage tombs: This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Jon Sullivan (PD Photo.org). This applies worldwide
Reference: CAK531 from Cassidy et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Parknabinnia 675 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1+16189) who lived around 3900 BCE.
Parknabinnia 675 was a man who lived between 3362 – 3102 BCE during the Early Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Court Tomb, Parknabinnia, Clare, Ireland. He was associated with the Neolithic Europe cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-FT344602.
The Parknabinnia tomb is at the top of Roughan Hill on Co. Clare’s otherworldly landscape of the Burren. This area features at least six other similar monuments, in various states of preservation.4 The tomb sits within the remains of what once was its enclosing cairn. The two side slabs are each 23 cm (9 in) thick and are 3.7 and 4.6 m (12 and 15 ft) in length. The capstone, which may once have had a part of it broken away, is four m (13 ft) long and three m (10 ft) wide. Borlase estimated that the cairn surrounding the tomb, removed some time after 1839, was originally some 15 m (50 ft) in diameter, 5 Stones of the cairn are evident on the top of the tomb in an 1897 sketch.
Location
The tomb is located on Roughan Hill in the townland of Parknabinnia, in the parish of Kilnaboy. It is visible from the nearby road, but located on private property. There are a large number of other prehistoric structures on this hill: tombs, house remains and field walls. Creevagh wedge tomb is about 2.3 km away. Parknabinnia is one of eighty wedge tombs still extant in Clare. The largest concentration of them is found on Roughan Hill.
Description
The tomb is wedge-shaped in ground plan, with the widest part facing south west towards the setting sun like all tombs of this type. The setting sun is thus thought to have been of special significance to the builders. Two stones closed the entrance of the tomb, one of which may have been removable. No wedge tomb in the Burren has so far been excavated, but the Roughan Hill tombs are tentatively dated to 2300 to 2000 BCE.
Photo credit: Attribution: Andreas F. Borchert. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.
Reference: PB675 from Cassidy et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Cowah 448 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1+16189) who lived around 3900 BCE.
Cowah 448 was a man who lived between 3646 – 3383 BCE during the Middle Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Passage Tomb, Cohaw, Cavan, Ireland. He was associated with the Neolithic Europe cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-L1498.
Cohaw is a Neolithic double court tomb located 4 kilometres south-east of Cootehill, County Cavan, Ireland. The tomb lies on a ridge overlooking a small tributary of the River Annalee which flows into Lough Oughter.
History
Court-tombs are among the earliest megalithic monuments to be built in Ireland, and there are more than three hundred examples in the country. Court tombs often include a ceremonial courtyard set in front of a burial vault. Courts were built in a variety of shapes, with oval or circular forms predominating.
County Cavan has a large number of megalithic tombs, including eighteen court tombs. Cohaw was excavated by archaeologist, Howard Kilbride-Jones, in 1949. The excavation finds consisted of teeth, skull fragments, and the cremated remains of a child. A carinated, round-bottomed Neolithic bowl was also uncovered. An unusual feature to the site at the time of excavation was a bow-shaped bank across the entrance to the north court. The tomb lies on a ridge overlooking a small tributary of the Annagh river.
Description
Cohaw is a neolithic double court tomb located 4 kilometres south-east of Cootehill, County Cavan, Ireland and is visible from the R192 road between Shercock and Cootehill. The tomb is known locally as the “Giant’s Grave” and was originally built as two single tombs. Each tomb consists of a court at each end, connected by a long, five chambered burial gallery. The south court is two thirds of a circle in shape, while the north court is u-shaped. The northern court contains two post holes that would have held large pillar-stones. The tomb stands in an 82 ft (25m) long rectangular cairn.
Photo credit: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Reference: CH448 from Cassidy et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Glennamong 1076 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1c) who lived before 21.000 BCE.
Glennamong 1076 was a man who lived between 3366 – 2935 BCE during the Middle Neolithic Age and was found in the region now known as Natural Boulder Chamber, Glennamong, Mayo, Ireland. He was associated with the Neolithic Europe cultural group.
- His direct paternal line belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup I-Y3709.
History
On 1 August 2016, human bones were discovered by a local hillwalker in a natural boulder chamber in psammitic schists and quartzite geology, in Glennamong townland, Co. Mayo. The Gardaí were contacted and subsequently visited the site on 3 August, then removed a quantity of human bones that were delivered to the State Pathologist’s Office. The NMI and NMS were subsequently informed of the discovery.
A rescue excavation of the site was carried out by the author on behalf of the NMS over two days in August 2016. The natural boulder chamber at Glennamong is the result of the natural collapse of massive boulders on the mountain side. The ‘entrance’ is a small gap between boulders which provides cramped access into an internal chamber that measures 7m north-south x 3.5m x 1.45m maximum height. The ‘walls’ and ceiling comprise massive collapsed boulders. The chamber floor comprises medium- and large-sized stones and occasional small pieces of quartz.
The human bones removed by the Gardaí were localised to an area approximately 2m north-south x 0.6m. They had lain exposed on the surface of the chamber and were not buried in sediment or covered over. The rescue excavation focussed in on this area.
The earliest archaeological activity recorded was an artificial rectangular pit along the western side of the chamber. This had been created by removing stones that made up the natural floor of the chamber thereby creating a void in the rubble. The pit measured 1.4m north-south along the base, 0.6m east-west at the top, 0.4m deep at the northern end and 0.3m deep at the southern end. The floor and western side of the pit consisted of a massive sloping collapsed boulder. The three other sides of the pit were defined by large stones that are likely to have been naturally occurring but partially manipulated into place. Four relatively flat slabs partially stacked on one another were located on the surface of the rubble floor, against the northern end of the pit.
The pit contained two fills that, combined, filled approximately 0.25m of the 0.4m depth of the feature. The lowermost fill was a mid-grey blackish brown silt that rested on the natural boulder floor of the pit. It contained moderate quantities of small stones, occasional fragments of quartz, occasional fragments and flecks of charcoal, and human teeth and bone fragments. The uppermost fill was a mid-brown gravelly silt with a high gravelly inclusion. It contained moderate small and medium sized stones, occasional quartz fragments, charcoal and human bones. Further human bones rested on the surface of the pit fills. A smaller concentration of human bone rested on the natural rubble floor 0.55m to the south of the pit, spread over an area 0.4m x 0.4m.
Flecks and tiny fragments of charcoal were recovered from the surface of a shallow skim of sediment that rested on a natural boulder ledge located approximately 1m above ground level and 1.3m from the pit.
Analysis of the human remains recovered from the boulder chamber at Glennamong revealed the presence of eight individuals, each represented by a disarticulated quantity of remains. Nothing resembling a complete skeleton was retrieved. Represented in the deposit were two older adults (45+ years old), two adults, an adolescent, a 7-11 year old child, a 7-9 year old child, and a 3-5 year old child. No artefacts were recovered during the excavation.
Photo credit: Martin Abegglen, Bern, Switzerland. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Text credit: Maron Dowd, Excavations.ie
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
* In some cases, the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) estimate is younger than the ancient sample’s age either because of lack of mtDNA coverage where the sample could otherwise split the branch or because of incorrect sample dating based on radiocarbon or archaeological context.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Saint Lupien 1and I (H1c1k) share a common paternal line ancestor who lived around 4650 BCE.
Saint Lupien 1 was a woman who lived between 375 – 541 CE during the Late Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Saint Lupien Reze, Nantes, France. She was associated with the Iron Age Brittany cultural group.
Iron Age Brittany cultural group
A variety of tribes are mentioned in Roman sources, like the Veneti, Armoricani, Osismii, Namnetes and Coriosolites. Strabo and Poseidonius describe the Armoricani as belonging to the Belgae. Armorican gold coins have been widely exported and are even found in the Rhineland.
Salterns are widespread in Northern Armorica, for example at Trégor, Ebihens and Enez Vihan near Pleumeur-Bodou (Côtes-d’Armor) and the island of Yoc’h near Landuvez (Finistère) of late La Tène date.
An estimated 40–55 kg of salt per oven were produced at Ebihens. Each oven was about 2 m long. The site dates to the end of the early La Tène or the middle La Tène period. Numerous briquetage-remains have been found. At Tregor, boudins de Calage (hand-bricks) were the typical form of briquetage, between 2,5 and 15 cm long and with a diameter between 4–7 cm. At the salterns at Landrellec and Enez Vihan at Pleumeur-Bodou the remains of rectangular ovens have been excavated that are 2,5–3 m long and ca. 1 m wide and constructed of stones and clay. On the Gulf of Morbihan about 50 salterns have been found so far, mainly dating to the final La Téne period.
Saint-Lupien
Saint-Lupien in Rezé is one of the most important archaeological sites in this region. Recognized on a European scale, it is has been the object of programmed excavations and every year from June to July groups of 50 or so people have worked on exhumation of the Gallo-Roman remains. To explain the discoveries and the history of the city, a heritage interpretation and animation center (CIAP), or simply the Chronographe, has been constructed.
Rezé is a commune and former bishopric in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire region of western France (Britanny or Bretagne prior to 1789). It was named Ratiatum by the Roman settlers in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, Ratiate in the Middle Ages and Rezay in the High Middle Ages. Inhabitants of Rezé are called Rezéens
The history : the ancient city of Ratiatum
During the Roman conquest, independent tribes shared the Gallic territory. North of the Loire, the Namnetes founded the city of Condevicnum, future city of Nantes. In 56 BC, the Venetians, a people of the Armorican region, resisted. In order to defeat them, Caesar allied with Pictons, whose capital is Limonum (Poitiers), which provides him with wood, soldiers and ships. The Venetes are then defeated. It is possible that in the form of a reward, the Pictons could expand their territory to the Loire. They then founded Ratiatum, the future town of Rezé, which stretches for two kilometers along the banks and 500 meters deep inland. It does not seem like much today, but it was an important agglomeration. It was cited by geographers of the time, Strabo and Ptolemy.
The archaeological site of Saint-Lupien continues to unveil new secrets. Villas, workshops, thermal baths, a small temple, a main street with porticoes, warehouses and monumental docks make up the ancient port district of Ratiatum, on the site of the current Saint-Lupien area. In the Middle Ages, the use of some buildings for the necropolis allowed a conservation of the foundations which gives much information on the Gallo-Roman life but also on the evolution of the site. Today, the City of Rezé wishes to highlight this heritage and make the Saint-Lupien site a cultural and tourist center at the local and national levels.
Reference: fra001 from Alves et al. 2024.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.
Photo credit: Wikipedia, Author: Pymouss44. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Monte Sirai 797262 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (H1+16189) who lived around 3900 BCE.
Monte Sirai 797262 was a person who lived between 600 – 400 BCE during the Early Iron Age and was found in the region now known as Burial, Monte Sirai, Italy (Sardinia). They were associated with the Phoenicians cultural group.
Monte Sirai is an archaeological site near Carbonia, in the province of South Sardinia, Sardinia, Italy. It is a settlement built at the top of a hill by the Phoenicians of Sulci (today’s Sant’Antioco). The history of studies in Monte Sirai has a very precise date: the fall of 1962, when a local boy casually found a female figure carved on a stele of the tophet. Following further inspections, in August 1963, the local Soprintendenza and the Institute of Near Eastern Studies of the Sapienza University of Rome started excavations,[1] leading to a fairly comprehensive study of the entire town.
History
Given the excellent location of the hill, the site was inhabited since the Neolithic age. Some nuragic towers witness an important anthropization in the first half of the II millennium BC. The first Phoenician records date back to 730 BC circa, at the same time of other coastal cities of Sardinia. The town is built around the so-called mastio, a sacred place that undergone several renovations, perhaps with defensive function. The discovery of a statue of the goddess Astarte (now in the National Museum of Cagliari), discovered in 1964, confirms a use of religious type.
Model of the site
The town was affected by the Carthaginian conquest in the 6th century BC. A dozen new families settled subsequently in Monte Sirai, as witnessed by many hypogeum-tombs of Punic types; the rite of cremation, prevalent during the Phoenician period, was substituted by the entombment. The city wall was strengthened around 375 BC, roughly the period of appearance of the first local tophet. A subsequent restoration of the fortifications was carried out after the First Punic War; under the Roman rule all the military facilities were dismantled. Around 110 BC the site was inexplicably abandoned. Subsequent frequentations are witnessed by some Constantinian era coins found in the tophet area.
Ancient DNA
According to a study published in 2018, ancient Phoenician DNA found in the settlement suggests that there was integration and cultural assimilation between Sardinians and Phoenicians in Monte Sirai.
Photo credit: Archelogo, This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Zlatý kůň woman and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (N+8701) who lived around 51.000 BCE.
Zlatý kůň woman lived approximately 45,000 years ago during the Upper Paleolithic period in what is now the Czech Republic. She belongs to one of the earliest groups of modern humans to venture into Europe after leaving Africa, carrying about 3% Neanderthal DNA from relatively recent interbreeding in her family line.
Koněprusy Caves also known as Zlatý kůň (Golden Horse), is a cave system in the heart of the limestone region known as Bohemian Karst in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is located in the municipality of Koněprusy, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of Prague, 6 km (3.7 mi) south of Beroun.
Her remains were discovered in 1950 in the Zlatý kůň cave (meaning “Golden Horse” in Czech). Initially, archaeologists found her skull split in half and believed the remains belonged to two different individuals. Only decades later, through genome sequencing, did they confirm it was a single person. After her death, her remains were gnawed by either a wolf or hyena, which damaged portions of her skull, particularly the left side of her face.
She lived during one of the coldest periods of the last ice age, surviving in harsh tundra conditions as part of a small hunter-gatherer group. She died as a young adult, though the cause of death remains unknown.
In 2023, researchers led by Cícero Moraes created a facial reconstruction using CT scans of her skull. The reconstruction revealed distinctive features that blur the line between modern humans and Neanderthals: she had a notably robust facial structure with a strong jawline that initially led experts to mistake her remains for those of a male. Her brain cavity was larger than that of modern humans in the comparative database, another trait showing Neanderthal affinity. While the exact colors of her features cannot be determined from available evidence, researchers created both a scientific grayscale model and a speculative version showing her with dark curly hair and brown eyes.
Her genome remains one of the oldest modern human genome ever sequenced, though her lineage appears not to have contributed significantly to later European populations. She represents a fascinating glimpse into the early history of modern humans in Europe and their interaction with Neanderthals.

Zlatý kůň woman and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor (N+8701) who lived around 51.000 BCE.
- Photo credit: Facial reconstruction by Cicero Moraes, CC BY 4.
- Map: Wikipedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
- References:
Sümer, A. P., Rougier, H., Huang, Y., Iasi, L. N., Essel, E., Mesa, A. B., Furtwaengler, A., Peyrégne, S., De Filippo, C., Rohrlach, A. B., Pierini, F., Mafessoni, F., Fewlass, H., Zavala, E. I., Mylopotamitaki, D., Bianco, R. A., Schmidt, A., Zorn, J., Nickel, B., . . . Krause, J. (2024). Earliest modern human genomes constrain timing of Neanderthal admixture. Nature, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08420-x - A Aproximação Facial Digital 3D de Zlatý kůň 1 (45.000 AP)

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Sima de los Huesos and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 725.000 BCE.
Common Connection
Every modern human shares a connection with Sima de los Huesos.
Sima de los Huesos (Pit of Bones)
The Sima de los Huesos – the Pit of Bones – is a archaeological site of Atapuerca is located in the province of Burgos in the north of Spain and is notable for its evidence of early human occupation. Bone fragments from around 800,000 years ago, found in its Gran Dolina cavern, provide the oldest known evidence of hominid settlement in Western Europe and of hominid cannibalism anywhere in the worldSima de los Huesos (Pit of Bones) accounts for the greatest number of valuable scientific discoveries and knowledge acquired with far-reaching implications. This site is located at the bottom of a 13 m (43 ft) deep shaft, or “chimney”, accessible via the narrow corridors of the Cueva Mayor.
Since 1997, the excavators have located more than 5,500 human skeletal remains deposited during the Middle Pleistocene period, at least 350,000 years old, which represent 28 individuals of Homo heidelbergensis (also classified as early Neanderthals). Associated finds include Ursus deningeri fossils and a hand axe called Excalibur. It has received a surprisingly high degree of attention, and a number of experts support the hypothesis that this particular Acheulean tool made of red quartzite seems to have served as a ritual offering, most likely for a funeral. The idea sparked a renewal of the disputed evolutionary progress and the stages of human cognitive, intellectual and conceptual development.[16] Ninety percent of the known Homo heidelbergensis fossil record have been obtained at the site.
Around 400,000 years ago, a hominin died and their remains ended up in what would become known as Sima de los Huesos (Pit of Bones) in northern Spain. The individual’s remains, including a femur which would later yield crucial DNA evidence, were preserved alongside approximately 28 other individuals in the cave system at Atapuerca. While researchers cannot determine this individual’s biological sex, they know they belonged to a population that showed Neanderthal-like features in their skeletal morphology. In build they resemble Neanderthals, but their broad bone structure suggests they were heavier than modern humans, despite their smaller height.
One of these skulls, named Cranium 17 (Cr-17), is a 430,000-year-old, nearly complete specimen composed of 52 bone fragments preserving the complete facial skeleton. It belonged to a young adult individual and shows two penetrating lesions on the frontal bone, above the left eye. Relying on modern forensic techniques, such as contour and trajectory analysis of the traumas, Dr Sala and her colleagues from the United States and Spain showed that both fractures were likely produced by two separate impacts by the same object, with slightly different trajectories around the time of the individual’s death. According to the team, the injuries are unlikely to be the result of an accidental fall down the vertical shaft.
“It is possible the injuries in Cr-17 could have been produced either during the free-fall down the vertical shaft (the mode of entry of the hominin cadavers to the site) or inside the Sima de los Huesos chamber after the body arrived to the site,” the scientists wrote in a paper published in the journal PLoS ONE.
“The few cases of perimortem fractures in the postcranial remains might be attributable to the corpse landing on a hard object (e.g. limestone block) at the bottom of the vertical shaft. However, in the case of Cr-17, the same object likely produced the two fractures. Thus, any scenario related to the free-fall would require the highly improbable occurrence of the same object striking the skull twice.” Rather, the type of fracture, their location, and that they appear to have been produced by two blows with the same object led the scientists to interpret them as the result of an act of lethal interpersonal aggression – or what may constitute the earliest case of murder in human history.
The remarkable preservation of their DNA was made possible by the stable, cold conditions within the cave. When the femur was analyzed in 2014, the DNA retrieved from it represented the oldest human DNA ever sequenced, pushing back the boundaries of ancient DNA research by hundreds of thousands of years. The mitochondrial DNA unexpectedly showed closer affinity to Denisovans than to Neanderthals, despite the skeletal characteristics of the population.
The fossils are preserved in such an exceptional state of preservation that the oldest human DNA ever analyzed was extracted in 2013 (mitochondrial) and then in 2016 (nuclear), despite their age. This information made it possible to reconstruct the probable phylogenetic tree between recent human species whose DNA is already known: Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans. The original attribution of the fossils to Homo heidelbergensis 22 was rejected by Atapuerca’s team in 2014. These specimens are now attributed to Neanderthals. It is believed that the individuals from Sima de los Huesos are close descendants of the common ancestor of Denisovans and Neanderthals, who lived in Asia and Europe respectively for about 400,000 years, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago. Excavations have been taking place every summer since 1984. At a rate of a few centimeters per year, they still promise many discoveries.
The recovery of such ancient DNA was a major technical achievement that required innovative methods to deal with highly degraded genetic material. While we don’t know the details of this individual’s life – what they ate, how they lived, or how they died – their genetic legacy has provided crucial insights into human evolution and the complex relationships between ancient hominin populations.
Subsequent nuclear DNA analysis of Sima de los Huesos hominins revealed a closer connection to Neanderthals than the mtDNA initially suggested, adding another fascinating layer to this individual’s story.
References
- Meyer, M., Fu, Q., Aximu-Petri, A. et al. A mitochondrial genome sequence of a hominin from Sima de los Huesos. Nature 505, 403–406 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12788
- Meyer, M., Arsuaga, JL., de Filippo, C. et al. Nuclear DNA sequences from the Middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos hominins. Nature 531, 504–507 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17405
- Sala N et al. 2015. Lethal Interpersonal Violence in the Middle Pleistocene. PLoS ONE 10 (5): e0126589; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126589
Pictured: Cranium 17 of the Sima de los Huesos, from an individual from the same location and time period. Nohemi Sala, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Ana Pantoja-Pérez, Adrián Pablos, Ignacio Martínez, Rolf M. Quam, Asier Gómez-Olivencia, José María Bermúdez de Castro, Eudald Carbonell, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Reference: SdlH from Meyer et al. 2014.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placements.

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Common Connection
Every modern human shares a connection with Neanderthal.
Denisova 8 and I (H1c1k) share a common maternal line ancestor who lived around 725.000 BCE.
Denisova 8 was an adult Denisovan man who lived between 134,400 and 103,600 BCE in the Altai Mountains region of southern Siberia, Russia. This region of Central Asia was quite temperate, and thus, Denisova 8 and his kin would have been well-adapted to cold living. Only his molar tooth (pictured) was ever recovered. It was unearthed in Denisova Cave from where the species Homo denisova got its name.
Not much is known about Denisovans, except we have learned that some humans today still carry small remnants of autosomal Denisovan DNA. Denisovan DNA occurs in highest frequency (~5%) among people of Papuan and Aboriginal Australian ancestry. This suggests that humans encountered Denisovans in South or Central Asia upon exiting Africa and mated with them before first migrating across Indonesia to Australia and Papua New Guinea some 50,000 years ago.
Deniosova 8 lived over 100,000 years ago, making it the oldest Y-chromosome DNA ever extracted and sequenced from a hominin species. Given its distinctiveness from human and Neanderthal genomes, ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy) assigned it the haplogroup name A0000 in 2019. A0000 diverged from Neanderthal and human Y chromosomes some 700,000 years ago.
Pictured: Denisova 8 molar after restoration. Zubova et al. 2017, CC BY 4.0
Reference: denisova8 from Petr et al. 2020.
Phylogenetic mtDNA analysis by FamilyTreeDNA using Haplogrep 3 (Schönherr et al. 2023) and Mitotree (FamilyTreeDNA 2025). Ancient DNA samples are sometimes degraded and missing coverage, which can result in less specific haplogroup placeme

ANCIENT CONNECTIONS, from my direct mother's line based on DNA testing of archaeological remains from around the world.
Common Connection
Every modern human shares a connection with Neanderthal.
Neanderthals
Although the common evolutionary ancestor to Homo sapiens and Neanderthals lived more than half-a-million years ago, we now know that the Y chromosome of the male Neanderthals sequenced to date came from an introduction event (a mating) between a male archaic human and a female Neanderthal between 370,000 and 100,000 years ago. This, and other new findings, suggests that mixing between human ancestors and Neanderthals occurred early and possibly frequently while they co-existed for millennia in Europe and Asia, which was until approximately 35,000 years ago when Neanderthals went extinct.
Neanderthals were first named and unearthed in 1856 in the Neander Valley of Germany, three full years before Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species. In his writings, Darwin only briefly wrote about human evolution and did not mention anything about the newly named Neanderthals. Coincidentally, by 1848, a Neanderthal skeleton had already been discovered in Gibraltar. That specimen, however, had remained uncharacterized in science. So, as fate would have it, the German team is credited with discovering the new species, and the name Neanderthal still remains. Neanderthal Man (seen pictured as a reconstruction) from Feldhofer cave in Neander Valley lived approximately 40,000 years ago.
Coincidentally, by 1848, a Neanderthal skeleton had already been discovered in Gibraltar. That specimen, however, had remained uncharacterized in science. So, as fate would have it, the German team is credited with discovering the new species, and the name Neanderthal still remains.
- Neanderthal Man (seen pictured here as a reconstruction) from Feldhofer cave in Neander Valley lived approximately 40,000 years ago.
At the same time that Neanderthals evolved from H. Heidelbergensis in Europe, early modern humans arose in North and East Africa. There is as yet no indication of these early humans crossing open water: the first contacts across the Strait of Gibraltar seem to have only taken place during the Neolithic. The only early contacts can only have been through the Isthmus of Suez. Of particular interest are therefore the finds in the Levant. According to current understanding, these are essentially considered Neandertals, albeit with a small influence from African early modern humans.
The most recent Neanderthal finds in the Levant date from about 50,000 BC, which is remarkable because early modern humans, via a different route across the Bab el Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz, had reached South Asia and even Australia tens of thousands of years earlier. Genetic research also shows that the first modern humans in the Middle East were related to these Asian settlers, rather than coming through Sinai.
About 46,000 years ago, early modern humans first set foot on European soil. These European early modern humans brought with them the culture of the Aurignacian. In Europe and Western Asia, it is often referred to as Cro-Magnon humans, although strictly speaking this was only a sub-group.
Modern humans and Neanderthals then lived simultaneously for several thousand years in the same areas, gradually displacing Neanderthals to the fringe, such as south of the Ebro (Spain). The most recent Neanderthal finds are about 28,000 years old and were found in Gibraltar. Another late site is Byzovaja in Northern Russia.
In Western Europe, Neanderthals disappeared about 40,000 years ago. On the southern edges of the Iberian Peninsula, including Gibraltar, Neanderthals may have survived for several thousand more years. The last Neanderthals in Europe, as far as we know, lived in Gibraltar at least 39,000 years ago. However, that Gibraltar was the last place in Europe where Neanderthals could survive is doubted by other archaeologists. They suspect that the finds are rather the result of the very intensive archaeological research that the English are carrying out on such a small area
Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relative. Some defining features of their skulls include the large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose for humidifying and warming cold, dry air. Their bodies were shorter and stockier than ours, another adaptation to living in cold environments. But their brains were just as large as ours and often larger – proportional to their brawnier bodies.
Neanderthals made and used a diverse set of sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, were skilled hunters of large animals and also ate plant foods, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects. There is evidence that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead and occasionally even marked their graves with offerings, such as flowers. No other primates, and no earlier human species, had ever practiced this sophisticated and symbolic behavior.
- DNA has been recovered from more than a dozen Neanderthal fossils, all from Europe; the Neanderthal Genome Project is one of the exciting new areas of human origins research.
The divergence time between modern human and Neanderthal Y chromosomes was estimated by Petr et al. 2020. The evolutionary history of Neanderthal and Denisovan Y chromosomes. The A000-T haplogroup name comes from the ISOGG Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree 2019-2020.
Credit:
- Partial text from Ancient DNA and Neanderthals, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
The text from the website page page was developed primarily by Robin Teague and Ryan McRae, and edited by Briana Pobiner. - Neanderthaler map: Licenced Wikimedia Commons.
- Neanderthal hunters depicted in the Gallo-Romeins Museum Tongeren (Belgium), Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

mtDNA – Haplogroup H1c1k Origins

The H1c1k maternal lineage originated when it split from its ancestor H1c1 and the rest of humanity around 1000 BCE. It is the ancestor of at least 8 descendants, known as H1c1k2, and 7 as yet unnamed descendants.
- My mtDNA was H1c1 which is a subgroup of haplogroup H.
- YFull modified the subclade to H1c1k because of the mutation C7468T in the uploaded FASTA file.
- On 07-03-2025 FamilyTreeDNA confirmed this and changed my mtDNA haplogroup from H1c1 to H1c1k.
- On 19-04-2025 FamilyTreeDNA confirmed that a H1c1k2 maternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor H1c1k and the rest of humankind.
YFull is a DNA analysis service that allows persons who have done a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA to analyze raw data files (BAM, FASTA and CRAM) obtained from next-generation sequencing (NGS). It aims to study the origin in the direct paternal line (Y DNA or Y chromosome) and the direct maternal line (Mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).
Mitochondrial haplogroup H is a predominantly European haplogroup that originated outside of Europe before the last glacial maximum (LGM). It first expanded in the northern Near East and the southern Caucasus between 33,000 and 26,000 years ago, and later migrations from Iberia suggest it reached Europe before the LGM. It has also spread to Siberia and Inner Asia. Today, about 40% of all mitochondrial lineages in Europe are classified as haplogroup H.
Variants of H1C1: A9150G, T16263C
- Haplogroup group H1
H1 encompasses an important fraction of Western European mtDNA lineages, reaching its local peak among contemporary Basques (27.8%). The clade also occurs at high frequencies elsewhere in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as in the Maghreb(Tamazgha). The haplogroup frequency is above 10% in many other parts of Europe (France, Sardinia, parts of the British Isles, Alps, large portions of Eastern Europe), and surpasses 5% in nearly all of the continent. Its H1b subclade is most common in eastern Europe and NW Siberia.
Geographic distribution of haplogroup H1
Haplogroup H is the most common and most diverse maternal lineage in Europe, in most of the Near East and in the Caucasus region. The Saami of Lapland are the only ethnic group in Europe who have low percentages of haplogroup H, varying from 0% to 7%. The frequency of haplogroup H in Europe usually ranges between 40% and 50%. The lowest frequencies are observed in Cyprus (31%), Finland (36%), Iceland (38%) as well as Belarus, Ukraine, Romania and Hungary (all 39%). The only region where H exceeds 50% of the population are Asturias (54%) and Galicia (58%) in northern Spain, and Wales (60%). - Haplogroup H1c1
The woman who founded this line lived between 1.900 and 5.100 years ago. The branch was born in Northern Europe. Over time, groups containing women from this line have spread across Europe and are present in much of it at low frequencies of around 1% or less. Today this line is most common in Norway, where it is about 2% of material lineage - Haplogroup H1c1k
The H1c1k maternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor H1c1 and the rest of humankind around 1050 BCE. The woman who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 400 CE. This date is an estimate based on genetic information only. With a 95% probability, ancestor H1c1k was born between 193 and 594 CE. The most likely estimate is 400 CE, rounded to 400 CE.
She is the ancestor of at least 8 descendant lineages known as H1c1k2 and 7 yet unnamed lineages.
The majority of my mtDNA matches (H1c1 and H1c1k) are from England / Ireland (including emigrants to America), Denmark and Southern Scandinavia. - Haplogroup H1c1k2
The H1c1k2 maternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor H1c1k and the rest of humankind.H1c1k was born between the years 193 and 594 CE. The most likely estimate is 400 CE, rounded to 400 CE.The woman who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 450 CE. This date is an estimate based on genetic information only. With a 95% probability, the most recent common ancestor pf all members of Haplogroup H1c1k2 was born between 247 and 603 CE. The most likely estimate is 430 CE, rounded to 450 CE.
For SNPs in a path:
- The number of descendants counts women who have done mt-DNA testing with FTDNA.
- The skull symbol indicates ancient DNA samples with this last known SNP.
- The anchor symbol indicates a SNP with location established by the archeaology literature, not dependent on user-reported ancestry. SNPs between anchor points are interpolated assuming a constant rate of travel.
- The six most prevalent countries are shown in each row for SNPs after the last anchored SNP. A weighted average of these countries determines the SNP dot location on the map.
The legend right of the main table identifies country icons, and its bar graph shows contribution to locations, weighted by time (most recent with greatest weight). All dates are shown to only two significant figures; the statistical uncertainty of SNP counting does not merit any greater precision.
A hypervariable region (HVR) is a location within nuclear DNA or the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA in which base pairs of nucleotides repeat (in the case of nuclear DNA) or have substitutions (in the case of mitochondrial DNA).
There are two mitochondrial hypervariable regions used in testing human mitochondrial genealogical DNA.
- HVR1 is considered a “low resolution” region.
- HVR2 is considered a “high resolution” region.
Obtaining HVR1 and HVR2 DNA tests can help determine a person’s haplogroup. In the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence of the human mitogenome, the most variable sites of HVR1 are numbered 16024 – 16383 (this subsequence is termed HVR-I), and the most variable sites of HVR2 are numbered 57-372 (ie, HVR-II). ) and 438-574 (i.e. HVR-III).
* HVR Differences:
HVR1 = A16129G,T16187C,C16189T,T16223C,G16230A,T16263C,T16278C,C16311T
HVR2 = G73A,C146T,C152T,C195T,A247G,315.1C,T477C,522.1A,522.2C
* Additional mutations:
315.1C,522.1A,522.2C,C7468T
* Differences in encoding regions:
A769G, A825t, A1018G, G2706A, A2758G, C2885T, G3010A, T3594C, G4104A, T4312C, T7028C, G7146A, T7256C, C7468T, A7521G, T8468C, T8655C, G8701A, C9510889150G, C9510889150G117 , G13105A, G13276A, T13506C, T13650C, T14766C
MARS
- My DNA “Out of Africa” migration story ends here, with the landing of the Perseverance on Mars.
- Perseverance, nicknamed Percy, is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. It was manufactured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched on 30 July 2020, at 11:50 UTC.
The rover’s goals include identifying ancient Martian environments capable of supporting life, seeking out evidence of former microbial life existing in those environments, collecting rock and soil samples to store on the Martian surface, and testing oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere to prepare for future crewed missions.
In 2019 Nasa announced that it was accepting applications for wannabe space explorers who wish to fire their names to the Red Planet. More than 1.2 million names were submitted on the NASA web site over a one year period!
Some 20,000 visitors to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, wrote their names on pages that were scanned and reproduced at microscopic scale onto two chips the size of a dime. Engineers etched the names onto a silicon wafer or microchip. They used an electron beam “E-beam” machine at JPL that specializes in etching very tiny features (less than 1 micron, or less than the width of a human hair!). Three silicon chips (upper left corner) were stencilled with 10,932,295 names, including my name.
On February 18 (12.55pm PT/3.55pm ET/8.55pm GMT) 2021
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover landed on the red planet’s Jezero Crater,
carrying a tiny silicon chip engraved with 11 million names, including MY NAME!
“ The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood,
the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.
We are made of starstuff “
– Carl Sagan –