# Population Genetics > mtDNA Haplogroups >  Confusion over R0a

## Mamamia

I am not able to find much information about my 23andme results - citing R0a.. they told me it's rare in europe, but my Mother was Italian, her mother was Italian (Naples region), and her mother was Italian (so on and so forth for 100s of years that we know). Is this a common group for Italians? If so why doe 23andme say it is not, and is only found in europe vary rarely in Jewish populations (once again none in my known history). 

Thanks

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## Mamamia

Also I should add, every time I look at maps and breakdowns I never see R0a or the aka pre-hv - is there something else this is called? Sorry for the double post.

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## Fire Haired14

Check out my spreadsheet of Haplogroup Frequencies in Europe: mHG Frequencies

R0a is very rare in Europe including Italy. But it probably exists in every part of Europe. And its prescence can't be explained by recent Middle Eastern immigration like the migration of Jews. 23andme is wrong about R0a in Europe being derived from Jews.

Here's a summary of R0a frequencies outside of Europe. R0a peaks in Arabia and Egypt at 10-20%. The rest of the Near East(Syria, Lebanon, Turkey) has about 5% R0a. R0a reaches above 1% in all of the Middle East and even has a strong presence in India and Morocco. 

Ancient DNA from the Levant(Isreal, Jordan) show R0a has been there for at least 10,000 years. R0a can safetley be called a Western Asian or at least Middle Eastern haplogroup. Its existence in Europe might have many different sources. My guess is most derives from a mysterious Near Eastern migration to Southern Europe which occurred in an unknown date after 3000 BC. These mysterious migrations no one knows a lot about yet affected Southern Italy the most. That could be why 1% of Southern Italians in my spreadsheet have R0a and why you have it.

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## Hauteville

Your mtDNA is one of the rarest in Italy. Overall 1% of R0 on Boattini et al and less than 1% on Sarno et al for Southern Italy and Sicily of R0 (3 case on 313 samples) ;)
Rare and weird

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## Angela

ROa, or at least RO has been found in Iron Age Catalonia and Denmark and in Magdalenian Europe. 

See:
http://www.ancestraljourneys.org/ironagedna.shtml

Iberian
Spain
Puig de Sant Andreu (Ullastret), Girona, Catalonia [UE 14015-1]
M
535-200 BC



R0
16362 7028T, 14766C. Recorded as Pre-HV
Sampietro 2005




Denmark
Bøgebjerggård [B2]
M
0 BC/AD



R0a
7028T, 16126C, 16355T, 16362C
Melchior 2008a







We also have it in far older periods, in Magdalenian Spain. No need to limit its arrival necessarily to periods after 3000 BC or to Italy.

Magdalenian
Spain
La Pasiega (Cantabria) [PS-1]





R0 or HV
rCRS in HVRI, G73A, reported as H
Hervella 2012



I have no idea why 23andme would label it as necessarily "Jewish" in Europe. Very odd.

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## Sile

in the Levant ..............7600 years ago

*Ain Ghazal T	
ID	I1707 AG83_5 
Y DNA	T1-PF5610 (xT1a1-Z526, T1a1a-CTS9163, T1a1a-CTS2607, T1a2-S11611, T1a2-Y6031, T1a2a1-P322, T1a3a-Y9189)
Population	Neolithic Farmers
Language	-
Culture	Late Middle PPNB
Date (YBP)	9573 ± 39
House / Location	Ain Ghazal
mtDNA	R0a
Eye Color: Green or Hazel
Hair Color: Brown
Skin Pigmentation	Light
ABO Blood Group	Likely O or B


*'Ain Ghazal (" Spring of the Gazelles") is situated in a relatively rich environmental setting immediately adjacent to the Wadi Zarqa, the longest drainage system in highland Jordan.

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## Valerius

From Geno 2.0

"Branch: R0
*Age: About 41,000 Years Ago*

*Location of Origin: West Asia*


_Some individuals moved across West Asia into Central Asia and then the Indus Valley. Others moved south, heading back into the African homeland from where their ancestors had recently departed.
_
_Later, members of this lineage moved north across the Caucasus Mountains and west across Anatolia into Europe. These were Cro-Magnon. Their arrival in Europe heralded the end of the era of the Neanderthals._

_Today, members of this lineage are present around the Red Sea and widely throughout the region. While this genetic lineage is common in Ethiopia and Somalia, individuals from this group are present at highest frequency in Arabia. Those living in East Africa are the likely result of more recent migrations back into the continent_.

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