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In the paragraphs below, we describe the results to
date of the Doty-Doten Y-DNA Project as they pertain to our deep
ancestral roots. For an analysis of our results as they pertain to our
more recent past, please click on Analysis
of Results – Our Doty-Doten Heritage. To see all our test results
in one table, please go to
Y-DNA Test Results.
DNA and Haplogroups
In addition to being members of a family with a particular surname or
one of its variants, we are all part of much larger
population groups called haplogroups by population geneticists. The
origins of these haplogroups, which are based on genetic mutations in
different peoples that occur over time, can be traced back to the dawn
of “modern humans” some 60,000 to 50,000 years ago.
The same Y-DNA test that our participants take to clarify their family
heritage can be used to project, with a very high level of probability,
the larger paternal haplogroup to which they might belong. In addition,
further DNA tests can be taken to pinpoint these deeper paternal
ancestral roots with even greater specificity and certainty.
Deep maternal ancestral roots can also be uncovered through DNA testing,
and both male and female members of our group may participate in this
project. To date, one person has chosen to do so, though we expect
others to follow. Instead of using our Y-DNA for these tests, our mtDNA,
the DNA that we inherit from our mothers, is used.
Results
Of our 37 participants who have received the complete results of
their 37-marker Y-DNA tests, 33 apparently belong to what
population geneticists call haplogroup R1b. The remaining 4 belong
to haplogroup I, and probably to I1a. The haplogroup of each individual in our Project is
shown in the gray shaded column of our
Y-DNA Test Results
table.
The ancient ancestors of both the R1b and the I1a haplogroups most
likely were part of a band of humans that apparently left Africa between
about 50,000 and 45,000 years ago. This was a small group, estimated
variously at only about 150 people. Over time, this band of people
multiplied, and through successive generations, some of their descendants
gradually made their way along the coast of what today would be the
Arabian peninsula, Iran, Pakistan and India, eventually reaching South
East Asia and beyond. Others from this little band gradually expanded
through successive generations to the north toward the Middle East and
beyond. Those expanding to the east gave rise to haplogroup C and
perhaps D, while those expanding northward included the ancestors of haplogroups R1b, I1a
as well as others.
The R1b Haplogroup
Perhaps some 45,000 years ago, the clan of people that had settled in the
Middle East apparently split into two major groups, with one which came
to be known as the Eurasian Clan and that included the ancestors of the
R1b haplogroup, gradually expanding eastward toward the Hindu Kush, the Tian Shan and the Himalayas, while the other to include the ancestors of
the I1a haplogroup remained in the Middle East. Upon reaching the
virtually impassable mountain ranges of Eastern Asia, the Eurasian Clan
broke into a few different groups with one, to include again the
ancestors of the R1b haplogroup, expanding northward.
This group that expanded north eventually separated again into two major
population groups. One of these groups would again resume its eastward
expansion, eventually reaching the northeastern edge of Asia and
crossing into North America, while the other would expand toward the
west. It is this latter group that would come to dominate the first
major human migration into Europe, and members of what we today call the
R1b haplogroup are direct descendants of this European Clan.
As the European continent cooled and ice sheets expanded during the last
Glacial Maximum some 20,000 to 15,000 years ago, the R1b haplogroup most likely took refuge on the
Iberian Peninsula. With the subsequent warming trend, the R1b’s moved
back up into Western Europe and on into the British Isles some 15,000 to
12,000 years ago. From there, most of the ancestors of our Group’s
participants came to this country.
The I1a Haplogroup
The ancestors of what we today have labeled the I1a haplogroup
apparently remained in the Middle East for thousands of years after the
Eurasian Clan split away. Perhaps between 30,000 and 20,000 years ago,
these I1a ancestors began to expand toward the north and west into the
Balkans, and many of them eventually continued on into Central Europe.
During the last Glacial Maximum, parts of this group apparently took
refuge in the Balkans, while others found refuge in Italy and on the
Iberian Peninsula. It would appear that the progenitor of the I1a
haplogroup was one who found refuge in the last of these areas, and as
the earth warmed and the ice sheets receded between about 15,000 and
12,000 years ago, his descendants began to re-populate many parts of
Europe and the Scandinavian countries. It is likely that much of the
Viking population descended from this group.
Concluding Comments
With the sequencing of the human genome in the year 2000, geneticists
and genealogists can now join as full partners with anthropologists,
linguists, sociologists and other scientists in the search for our human
origins. With every passing day, it seems that more and more information
about these deep ancestral roots comes to light.
By far the largest and broadest effort to
discover the deep ancestral roots of today’s human population and to
track the expansion of haplogroups around the world over the past 50,000
years is being conducted by The National Geographic Society, IBM and the
Waitt Family Foundation. Information about their
progress may be seen at
Genographic
Project. If you join the
Doty-Doten Y-DNA Project, we can help you to see that your test results
are included in the database of the Genographic Project as well as our
own.
To participate in our Doty-Doten Y-DNA Project:
• Go to the
Doty-Doten project on the Family Tree DNA Website.
• Scroll down the page to the order form, fill it out and click on
“Submit”. That’s all there is to it. You will receive a test kit in the
mail within a few days.
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