DNA & Genealogy
Recent analysis of genetic mutations throughout the ages has revealed a fascinating genealogical tool. National Geographic's "Genographic Project" provides a more detailed, interactive discussion of DNA genealogic research, and the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) has a nice site on Y-chromosome research.
But here I'll only provide a layman's overview as it applies to our ancestors.
| Surname | Y-DNA Haplogroup | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| GOSS | Haplogroup I (M170) | M168: East Africa (79,000-45,000 years ago),
F/M89: Middle East (45,000 years ago), I/M170: Balkans (20,000 years ago), Northern Europe (Sweden) |
| MALUGANI | Haplogroup R1b1 (P25) | M168: East Africa (79,000-45,000 years ago),
F/M89: Middle East (45,000 years ago), K/M9: Persia (40,000 years ago), P/M45: Central Asian Steppes (40,000-35,000 years ago), R/M207-R1/M173: Europe (35,000 years ago), R1b/M343: Southwestern Europe "Cro-Magnon Man" (35,000 years ago), R1b1/P25: Western Europe (10,000-12,000 years ago) (Italy) |
| MILLER/ MÜLLER |
Haplogroup R1b1c (P25+) | M168: East Africa (79,000-45,000 years ago),
F/M89: Middle East (45,000 years ago), K/M9: Persia (40,000 years ago), P/M45: Central Asian Steppes (40,000-35,000 years ago), R/M207-R1/M173: Europe (35,000 years ago), R1b/M343: Southwestern Europe "Cro-Magnon Man" (35,000 years ago), R1b1/P25: Western Europe (10,000-12,000 years ago) R1b1c/P25+: Western Europe (Germany & Western Poland) |
| WARGIN | ||
| (Surname) | mtDNA Haplogroup | Summary |
| (CERINI) | Haplogroup T3 (mtDNA) | L: East Africa (170,000-80,000 years ago),
L3: East Africa (80,000 years ago), N: Eurasia T: Eurasia, Near East (10,000 years ago), T3: Western Europe (Italy/Switzerland) |
(SKROCKA)
 |
Haplogroup H (mtDNA) | L: East Africa (170,000-80,000 years ago),
L3: East Africa (80,000 years ago), R Pre-HV: Near East/Middle East, especially Red Sea and Arabia (40,000 years ago) H: Near East, especially Turkey and Caucasus and into Europe (20,000 years ago) (Galicia/Eastern Poland) |
DNA Research
The first thing to grasp is the way two types of genetic analysis applies to genealogy. The first is Y-chromosomal research. All males contain a complete genetic history of their paternal ancestry dating back nearly 80,000 years to a so-called genetic "Adam" in Africa. Similarly, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is transmitted from mother to child, both male and female, but is only transmitted through the female line, thus revealing a complete maternal ancestry back as far as 170,000 years to a so-called "Mitochondrial Eve".Every so many dozens of generations or so there occurs a minor mutation in these two subsets of DNA. From the study of current isolated populations, analysis of migration patterns throughout history, and corroborating Y-chromosomal conclusions with mtDNA research conclusions, a high-level picture of all Homo sapiens genealogy is forming. These genetic markers are categorized as lettered haplogroups such as "F" and the genetic markers themselves given an "M" designation such as "M89" (for Haplogroup F) in Y-chromosome research and numbers such as 12705 for mtDNA Haplogroup R.
In this write-up I'll treat Y-chromosome results first, since this research conforms to patrilineal surname conventions, and mtDNA later since given our patrilineal naming it is more confusing to illustrate.
Patrilineal Y-Chromosome DNA
As noted above, markers in Y-chromosomes are passed from father to son back thousands of years to a common male ancestor.Y-chromosome testing comes in three levels of fidelity: 12, 37, and 67 allele samples -- the more samples the more precise a genetic match. These tests in turn yield a probability that you and someone who shares the same markers have a common ancestor within X number of generations. The more allele samples that are taken the higher the fidelity (as well as the price of the test!):
| Allele Samples | Matches (%) | Generations | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95% | 90% | 50% | ||
| 12 | 12 (100%) | 29 | 23 | 7 |
| 11 (92%) | 47 | 39 | 17 | |
| 37 | 37 (100%) | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| 36 (97%) | 10 | 8 | 4 | |
| 35 (95%) | 14 | 12 | 6 | |
| 67 | 67 (100%) | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 66 (99%) | 14 | 8 | 4 | |
| 65 (97%) | 14 | 12 | 6 | |
For example, a perfect match on a 12-allele test puts you within 29 generations (95%) and perhaps as close as 7 generations (50%), whereas a perfect match on a 37-allele test will narrow that to between 7 and 2 generations.
M168
M168 is the marker of the so-called "Eurasian Adam," a mutation that occured in the ancestor of all European and Asian males. This marker is believed to have started some 31,000 to 79,000 years ago in the Ethiopia and Sudan region of East Africa.Haplogroup F (M89)
Some 45,000 years ago the descendants of "Eurasian Adam" began migrating to the Arabian peninsula and beyond. Haplogroup F is associated with the branch that concentrated in the Middle East and then split into various lines that span the entire northern hemisphere. Two lines that concern our lineage are Haplogroup K (M9) and Haplogroup I (M170) which are the ancestral lines of at least the Italian-Swiss MALUGANI and Swedish GOSS families.
Haplogroups K, P, and R
40,000 years ago Haplogroup K (M9) split off from Haplogroup F (M89) and moved into Persia (modern Iran) and spread throughout the northern hemisphere.
From Haplogroup K (M9) we see Haplogroup P (M45) form some 35,000 years ago as they spread into central Asia. From there Haplogroup R (M207) and its subgroup R1 (M173) moved into Europe and split into subgroups, R1a (M17), ancestors of the Slavs and other proto-Indo-Europeans, and our R1b (M343) subgroup of Western Europe, appearing in over 70% of Western European males, which we know better as "Cro-Magnon Man." The R1b (M343) likely...
Subclade R1b1c (P25+)
Our WARGIN family from Western Poland is a further branch that split off from the R1b1 subgroup.
Haplogroup I (M170)
Stemming from Haplogroup F (M89) in the Middle East some 20,000 years ago, Haplogroup I (M170) is formed likely in Anatolia (modern Turkey) and moved into the Balkans (Greece, the former Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria) before migrating into southeastern and central Europe. From there we see at least some migrated to Scandinavia where our Swedish GOSS family originates.
Matrilineal Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
Mitrochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed matrilineally from mother to child. As such it traces a direct line from you through your mother and on through her mother's mother to a commom homo sapiens mother. mtDNA, however, mutates at an average rate about 2.4 times slower than Y-DNA so determining genealogical matches from among random matches is more difficult. An exact mtDNA HVR1+HVR2 match only indicates that a common grandmother lived within the last 56 generations (i.e. within the last 1,200 years), and that there is a 50% probability that she lived within the last 28-32 generations ago (i.e. some 600-700 years ago).
Between 150,000 and 170,000 years ago, "Mitochondrial Eve," the ancestor of all living humans lived in Southern Ethiopia or Kenya in East Africa. Note that after the next 70,000-90,000 years only one male succeeded to become the common genetic "Adam" around 60,000-80,000 years ago.
mtDNA L3 (3594)
Very roughly about the same time and location as genetic "Adam", mtDNA L3 was formed in an East African woman some 80,000 years ago. Her descendants spread along the rim of the Indian Ocean (Haplogroup M/10400) and into Europe and Asia (Haplogroup N/10873). Descendants of "Mitorchondrial Eve" that had mtDNA L1 and L2 mitochondrial DNA stayed on in Africa.
Interestingly, as evident from archeologic digs in Israel, some populations of Haplogroup N in the Near East show settlements of both Haplogroup N and Neanderthals in close proximity about 60,000 years ago.
Haplogroup R (12705)
As descendants with Haplogroup N (10873) spread into Europe and Asia some 60,000 years ago it split into three main groups: Haplogroup A in northeast Asia; Haplogroup R (12705) in the Middle East, Near-East, parts of Europe, and throughout Asia; and Haplogroup X, which scattered back into Northeast Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Haplogroup R comprises 75% of European descendants.
Haplogroup T
Haplogroup R (12705) split into subgroups spanning from parts of Europe all the way to East Asia. One of these subgroups, Haplogroup T, originated some 10,000 years ago in the Near East and is credited with starting neolithic agriculture-based civilizations in the Near East.
From Haplogroup T split subgroup T3 which spread throughout Europe but forming notable pockets in Germany and the British Isles. Our grandmother Aurelia CERINI, as evident from DNA samples from her son and a grandson, descendend matrilineally from Haplogroup T3. Born in the Italian-Swiss canton of Ticino, this doesn't necessarily mean that Aurelia was from Germany or the British Isles but that she descended from ancestors who had descendants that concentrated in these areas.
Haplogroup H
A Haplogroup the predates both the "H" and "V" Haplogroups (referred to as "Pre-HV") formed some 40,000 years ago from Haplogroup R in the Near East and Middle East, notably around the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula. Haplogroups H and V split some 20,000 years ago and Haplogroup H migrated from the Near East (Turkey and the Caucasus) into Europe following the last ice age and, as associated with "Cro-Magnon Man," supplanted the Neandertals in Europe.
Haplogroup H now is found in 40% of Europeans. Ongoing research of this haplogroup has identified 11 sub-groups and a further 12 sub-branches. Our grandmother Alice Blanche SIKORSKA, as identified through her grandchildren, carried Haplogroup H mtDNA from her ancestors in Eastern Poland.