# Population Genetics > mtDNA Haplogroups > H >  The first reported case of the rare mitochondrial haplotype H4a1 in ancient Egypt

## kingjohn

*abstract

*



T*akabuti, was a female who lived in ancient Egypt during the 25th Dynasty, c.660 BCE*. Her mummified remains were brought to Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1834 and are currently displayed in the Ulster Museum. To gain insight into Takabuti’s ancestry, we used deep sampling of vertebral bone, under X-ray control, to obtain non-contaminated bone tissue from which we extracted ancient DNA (aDNA) using established protocols. We targeted the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), known to be highly informative for human ancestry, and identified 38 single nucleotide variants using next generation sequencing. *The specific combination of these SNVs suggests that Takabuti belonged to mitochondrial haplogroup H4a1*. Neither H4 nor H4a1 have been reported in ancient Egyptian samples, prior to this study. *The modern distribution of H4a1 is rare and sporadic and has been identified in areas including the Canary Islands, southern Iberia and the Lebanon. H4a1 has also been reported in ancient samples from Bell Beaker and Unetice contexts in Germany, as well as Bronze Age Bulgaria.* We believe that this is an important finding because first, it adds to the depth of knowledge about the distribution of the H4a1 haplogroup in existing mtDNA, thus creating a baseline for future occurrences of this haplogroup in ancient Egyptian remains. *Second, it is of great importance for archaeological sciences, since a predominantly European haplogroup has been identified in an Egyptian individual in Southern Egypt, prior to the Roman and Greek influx (332BCE).*


source: 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-74114-9

----------


## Maciamo

H4a was found in several Neolithic European individuals, including the Cardium Pottery culture in Portugal and Spain, as well as in Neolithic Scotland and southern France, so it's likely that it originated with Middle Eastern Neolithic farmers. As it was absent from the Balkan Neolithic, I imagine it could have spread through North Africa to Iberia then Western Europe. Another possibility is by the maritime route via Anatolia, Greece and Italy, but so far it hasn't been found in these places during the Neolithic.

----------


## kingjohn

> *H4a was found in several Neolithic European individuals, including the Cardium Pottery culture in Portugal and Spain, as well as in Neolithic Scotland and southern France*, so it's likely that it originated with Middle Eastern Neolithic farmers. As it was absent from the Balkan Neolithic, I imagine it could have spread through North Africa to Iberia then Western Europe. Another possibility is by the maritime route via Anatolia, Greece and Italy, but so far it hasn't been found in these places during the Neolithic.


you can see there is a case of modern bulgarian in h4a1 

https://yfull.com/mtree/H4a1/
maybe he is a descendent of the early bronze age remains in bulgaria  :Thinking: 

in the h4a1 downstream clades 
we have some vikings  :Cool V: 
to me it look european mtdna ( inline with occurence in neolithic european remains that you mention )

p.s
your first theory sounds logic  :Good Job: 
very interesting that it was found in egypt
but i am not sure that i would write all paper on just one case ..... :Thinking:

----------


## Philjames100

> H4a was found in several Neolithic European individuals, including the Cardium Pottery culture in Portugal and Spain, as well as in Neolithic Scotland and southern France, so it's likely that it originated with Middle Eastern Neolithic farmers. As it was absent from the Balkan Neolithic, I imagine it could have spread through North Africa to Iberia then Western Europe. Another possibility is by the maritime route via Anatolia, Greece and Italy, but so far it hasn't been found in these places during the Neolithic.




Have you changed your mind about this:

"Among more common subclades, the origins of H4 remain controversial. It hasn't been found in any Mesolithic European or Neolithic Near Eastern samples to date. No H4 emerged from the hundreds of Neolithic samples from Southeast or Central Europe. Its first appearance (as H4a1a) was in the Cardium Pottery culture in Spain and Portugal some 7,000 years ago. The Basques and the Sardinians have higher than average levels of H4, and both descend from Cardium Pottery farmers, but with relatively high Mesolithic South European ancestry. Could it be native to Southwest Europe? It is possible as very few Mesolithic samples have been tested from France, Iberia, or even Italy for that matter. I have longed argued that southern Mesolithic Europeans could have carried various H lineages, including H1 and H3, but also possibly H4."

https://www.eupedia.com/forum/thread...p-H4-originate

----------


## Philjames100

Oldest H4a1 (H4a1a), c.5300 BC:




Oldest U5b2b5, c.3500 BC:




--------

Takabuti, 660 BC, Thebes, Upper Egypt, H4a1
Djehutynakht, 2000 BC, Deir el-Bersha, Middle Egypt, U5b2b5

--------

----------


## Philjames100

H4a1 has also been found in three Neolithic samples from Ireland (oldest c.3900-3700 BC). Two are males, with y-dna I2a1a and I2a1b. Two were from Megalithic burials.

Y-dna H2 (identified in a 1900BC Egyptian) has also been found in two Neolithic samples from Ireland (c.3500 BC). Both from Megalithic burials. Their mtDNAs are K1a4a1 and T2c1d1. 

K1a4a1 has been found in Kelif El Baroud (KEB), Morocco c.3500 BC, and K1a4 in Egypt c.750 BC.


All Irish samples were published in Cassidy et al. 2020. 





(The Newgrange 'god king' was I2a1b / U5b. Djehutynakht (Egypt c.2000 BC) was U5b2b5.

----------

