Ancient DNA
Ancient samples against today's carriers of the same branches: far from home, at the root of living branches, lines that died out, and cultures where the male lines changed.
Ancient DNA: a branch far from home #
An ancient sample found far from where most of its branch lives today: at least 60% of its living carriers sit in one region of the world, the sample in another. Branches with 40+ kits. “?” means Discover is unsure of the sample's place on the tree.
Each arrow runs from where the branch is most common today to its ancient samples. Hover over an arrow or tap it.
As a list
- N-F1419: today 9,208 kits: Finland 6,128, Sweden 836, Russia 596 · in antiquity: Yumin, China, 6,906 BCE – 5,550 BCE ×5; Sitai, China, 5,745 BCE ×4
- E-FGC79645: today 409 kits: Saudi Arabia 314, Kuwait 52, Yemen 23 · in antiquity: Bronze Age Caucasian, Armenia, 1,407 BCE; Lchashen–Metsamor culture, Armenia, 1,370 BCE – 1,368 BCE ×2; Iron Age Caucasian, Armenia, 75 BCE
- Q-YP3953: today 63 kits: Chechnya 57, Russia 3, Spain 1 · in antiquity: Iron Age Central Asian, China, 565 BCE ×3; Iron Age Chinese, China, 500 BCE
- N-FGC28421: today 48 kits: Serbia 23, Bosnia and Herzegovina 5, Croatia 4 · in antiquity: Bronze Age Central Asian, Kazakhstan, 2,378 BCE – 1,854 BCE ×3; Kushan Empire, Uzbekistan, 1 BCE
- C-F3830: today 60 kits: Kazakhstan 35, Poland 3, Kyrgyzstan 3 · in antiquity: Avars, Austria, 700 CE ×58
5 more
- N-P189: today 52 kits: Serbia 23, Bosnia and Herzegovina 5, Croatia 4 · in antiquity: Neolithic Central Asian, Kazakhstan, 5,350 BCE ×2
- N-L1025: today 1,237 kits: Lithuania 256, Poland 175, Finland 154 · in antiquity: Slavs, early period, Croatia, 790 CE – 795 CE ×2 ?
- Q-YP4024: today 57 kits: Chechnya 54, Russia 2, Georgia 1 · in antiquity: Iron Age Central Asian, China, 496 BCE ?; Polabian Slavs, Germany, 1,000 CE ?
- R-KMS133: today 50 kits: Saudi Arabia 19, Kuwait 8, United States 7 · in antiquity: Turkmenistan, 852 BCE ?; Sauromatian culture, Kazakhstan, 656 BCE ?; Medieval Chinese, China, 1,338 CE ?
- N-F3271: today 40 kits: Kazakhstan 12, Uzbekistan 8, Turkey 4 · in antiquity: Avars, Austria, 700 CE ×2 ?
Ancient DNA: at the root of living branches #
The sample sits right on the node of a big living branch (1,000+ kits) and is dated within 1,000 years of its common ancestor — one of its first known carriers. “?” means Discover is unsure of the sample's place on the tree.
- R-M269: 109,204 kits, common ancestor 4,458 BCE · Eneolithic Steppe, Russia, 3,714 BCE
- R-L151: 100,513 kits, common ancestor 3,024 BCE · Bell Beaker culture, France, 2,500 BCE – 2,453 BCE ×2; Corded Ware culture, Czech Republic, 2,893 BCE – 2,719 BCE ×5 ? and 11 more
- N-L839: 9,207 kits, common ancestor 6,330 BCE · Neolithic Trans-Baikal, Russia, 5,443 BCE
- N-M2005: 9,083 kits, common ancestor 5,049 BCE · Neolithic Trans-Baikal, Russia, 4,605 BCE
- I-S19848: 2,820 kits, common ancestor 3,771 BCE · Bronze Age Balkan, Bulgaria, 2,838 BCE
Ancient DNA: lines all but absent today #
A line formed after 3,500 BCE is found among a country's ancient men at 4+ sites and makes up at least 4% of its ancient samples, yet under 0.2% of the country's testers today, on a sample large enough to rule out more than 0.5%. Samples with an uncertain place on the tree are left out.
- Russia · Q-BZ2197: 21 of 426 ancient, 16 sites, today 2 of 7,200 kits, 3,583 BCE – 1,981 BCE (Neolithic Cis-Baikal, Ust-Belaya, Glazkovo culture)
- Poland · I-L233: 13 of 73 ancient, 5 sites, today 3 of 7,410 kits, 1,507 BCE – 1,313 BCE (Trzciniec culture)
- Czech Republic · R-FTC352: 8 of 69 ancient, 5 sites, today 0 of 2,371 kits, 5,250 BCE – 2,655 BCE (Funnel Beaker culture, Neolithic Central European, Chalcolithic Central European)
- Ukraine · I-L703: 7 of 71 ancient, 4 sites, today 2 of 4,447 kits, 6,676 BCE – 5,056 BCE (Mariupol culture, Cucuteni–Trypillia culture, Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherer)
- Denmark · I-V4921: 6 of 136 ancient, 6 sites, today 0 of 1,635 kits, 7,184 BCE – 70 BCE (Iron Age Scandinavian, Kongemose culture, Ertebølle culture)
1 more
- Ukraine · I-Y8551: 4 of 71 ancient, 4 sites, today 2 of 4,447 kits, 5,397 BCE – 4,661 BCE (Dnieper–Donets, Mariupol culture, Cucuteni–Trypillia culture)
Ancient DNA: the oldest in the Caucasus #
The earliest Caucasian sample of every branch with 1,000+ kits. A sample that is the oldest for several nested branches is shown under the narrowest; in grey, the age of the branch's common ancestor. “?” means Discover is unsure of the sample's place on the tree.
- J-M267 19k years: Caucasian Hunter-Gatherer, Georgia, 11,332 BCE
- J-Z529 15k years: Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherer, Georgia, 7,773 BCE
- J-CTS7683 19k years: Kotias, Georgia, 7,728 BCE
- J-PF5160 16k years: Neolithic Caucasian, Armenia, 5,910 BCE ?
- J-Z1827 15k years: Shulaveri–Shomu culture, Azerbaijan, 5,750 BCE
10 more
- R-M207 28k years: Shulaveri–Shomu culture, Georgia, 5,660 BCE ?
- J-Z2227 15k years: Neolithic Caucasian, Armenia, 5,582 BCE
- L-M2357 18k years: Copper Age Caucasian, Armenia, 4,206 BCE ?
- R-L389 17k years: Eneolithic Steppe, Kabardino-Balkaria, 4,195 BCE
- G-M201 28k years: Copper Age Caucasian, Azerbaijan, 3,719 BCE ?
- R-M198 8,500 years: Maykop culture, Kabardino-Balkaria, 3,495 BCE ?
- J-Z1842 6,400 years: Bronze Age Caucasian, Georgia, 3,300 BCE ?
- Q-M346 21k years: Maykop culture, Kabardino-Balkaria, 3,235 BCE ?
- G-L156 23k years: Kura–Araxes culture, Armenia, 3,213 BCE ?
- J-M241 9,500 years: Kura–Araxes culture, Georgia, 3,000 BCE ?
Ancient DNA: a sample older than its branch #
Even the latest possible date of the sample is earlier than the earliest Discover estimate of its parent branch's common ancestor. This points to a dating error, a contaminated sample or a wrong place on the tree. “?” means Discover is unsure of the sample's place on the tree.
- Iron Age Central Asian, China, 271 BCE ? · C-FTH935: common ancestor of C-FT411734: 1,097 CE, a gap of at least 950 years
- Yangshao culture, China, 4,106 BCE · Q-FGC85993: common ancestor of Q-Y144860: 1,626 BCE, a gap of at least 800 years
- Seima-Turbino culture, Russia, 2,025 BCE · Q-FTF55436: common ancestor of Q-FT131545: 206 BCE, a gap of at least 670 years
- El Argar, late period, Spain, 1,625 BCE · R-FTC604: common ancestor of R-BY69029: 119 BCE, a gap of at least 500 years
- Iron Age Central Asian, China, 588 BCE · R-SK2081: common ancestor of R-BY40329: 387 CE, a gap of at least 290 years
Cultures that share far more mt lines than Y lines #
Pairs of cultures with a shared sample country (3+ samples from it in each), the younger at most 3,000 years after the older. We take cultures with at least 30 Y and 30 mt samples and count shared lines at the depth of the tree the comparison page picks for each pair by itself. Shown are pairs where mt shares at least 30 points more lines than Y, and Y shares no more than 25%. This looks like new men arriving among local women, but different samples look the same way: the male and female samples may come from different burial grounds, or from relatives buried together. Across all 296 pairs the median difference is 17 points. Each older culture keeps only its pair with the largest difference. We check each gap against chance: up to 10,000 times we reshuffle the samples between the two cultures, keeping group sizes, and keep the pairs where such a gap rarely comes up. The correction covers all 296 pairs, with a false discovery rate of 5%.
- Yamnaya culture → Bronze Age Steppe: shared lines by Y 4%, by mt 75% · samples: Y 119 and 36, mt 162 and 34 · compare
- Neolithic British Isles → Bell Beaker culture: shared lines by Y 6%, by mt 72% · samples: Y 139 and 147, mt 121 and 249 · compare
- Wartberg culture → Hallstatt culture: shared lines by Y 6%, by mt 63% · samples: Y 81 and 62, mt 80 and 77 · compare
- Funnel Beaker culture → Únětice culture: shared lines by Y 7%, by mt 63% · samples: Y 112 and 117, mt 92 and 161 · compare
- Qijia culture → Iron Age Chinese: shared lines by Y 21%, by mt 76% · samples: Y 50 and 48, mt 93 and 74 · compare
7 more
- Hallstatt culture → Polabian Slavs: shared lines by Y 6%, by mt 60% · samples: Y 62 and 91, mt 77 and 173 · compare
- Khvalynsk culture → Yamnaya culture: shared lines by Y 8%, by mt 62% · samples: Y 33 and 119, mt 40 and 162 · compare
- Bell Beaker culture → Wielbark culture: shared lines by Y 10%, by mt 64% · samples: Y 147 and 56, mt 249 and 95 · compare
- Neolithic French → Bell Beaker culture: shared lines by Y 15%, by mt 68% · samples: Y 149 and 147, mt 163 and 249 · compare
- Neolithic Iberian → Bell Beaker culture: shared lines by Y 15%, by mt 68% · samples: Y 47 and 147, mt 40 and 249 · compare
- Linear Pottery culture → Bell Beaker culture: shared lines by Y 12%, by mt 65% · samples: Y 248 and 147, mt 279 and 249 · compare
- Thuringii → Polabian Slavs: shared lines by Y 10%, by mt 60% · samples: Y 36 and 91, mt 68 and 173 · compare
Other topics: Branches · Countries and peoples · Kin · YFull and FTDNA