A new paper on haplogroup G by Rootsi et al. was published two days ago. They compiled a new database of some 1500 members of hg G spread over nearly 100 regions and listed frequencies in all these regions for 17 subclades of G. This is by far the most comprehensive study of hg G so far.
I am happy to see that the Adyghei of the Northwest Caucasus, living in the area corresponding to the Bronze Age Maykop culture, have 45% of hg G, and that most of it falls under G2a3b1a1 (G-U1), which has been associated with the spread of R1b1b2 (M269) in Central, Western and Northern Europe. The worldwide peak for G2a3b1a is actually the southern Pontic Steppes, between the North Caucasus and the River Don, almost exactly the extend of the Maykop Culture.
The paper also re-confirms that G2a3b1a is the main subclade of G in parts of Europe where R1b is dominant. Most of it falls under G2a3b1a2 (L497), with a peak around southern Romania and Bulgaria, and another around the Alps from central Germany to northwest Italy, which correspond to the two regions where Steppe people (and R1b) stopped for a while before continuing their invasion of Europe.
This goes a long way to confirm the place of origins from which haplogroup R1b-M269 expanded to Europe. It would seem that most of the R1b people migrated away from the region, leaving mostly G2a3b1a1 behind.
Also interesting is that the highest genetic diversity is found in the north of the Fertile Crescent, namely in Eastern Anatolia, Armenia and Northeast Iran, roughly the same area as the one with the highest diversity of haplogroup R1b. It is also the region where cattle, goats, sheep and pigs were first domesticated.
The peak frequencies of G in Southwest Asia are found in Palestine (22%) and Israel (14% for non-Ashkenazi Jews and 12% for the Druzes), the cradle of agriculture.
The highest frequency of G in Europe is no longer Sardinia (15% in the Eupedia data and 13% in Rootsi et al.) but Corsica (21.5% with a reasonable sample size of 330) for which data was scarce so far. Obviously, most of the subclades present in Corsica and Sardinia are Neolithic, not the Bronze Age G2a3b1a1 from the Southern Pontic Steppes. Corsica even has 11.2% of G2a2b, Ötzi's hapogroup. There are nevertheless 5.8% of G2a3b1a1 (and subclades) in Corsica and 2.4% in Sardinia, which probably dates from the Italic and Roman periods (like the R1b on both islands). They come in about the same proportion to R1b as in the rest of Europe.
I am happy to see that the Adyghei of the Northwest Caucasus, living in the area corresponding to the Bronze Age Maykop culture, have 45% of hg G, and that most of it falls under G2a3b1a1 (G-U1), which has been associated with the spread of R1b1b2 (M269) in Central, Western and Northern Europe. The worldwide peak for G2a3b1a is actually the southern Pontic Steppes, between the North Caucasus and the River Don, almost exactly the extend of the Maykop Culture.
The paper also re-confirms that G2a3b1a is the main subclade of G in parts of Europe where R1b is dominant. Most of it falls under G2a3b1a2 (L497), with a peak around southern Romania and Bulgaria, and another around the Alps from central Germany to northwest Italy, which correspond to the two regions where Steppe people (and R1b) stopped for a while before continuing their invasion of Europe.
This goes a long way to confirm the place of origins from which haplogroup R1b-M269 expanded to Europe. It would seem that most of the R1b people migrated away from the region, leaving mostly G2a3b1a1 behind.
Also interesting is that the highest genetic diversity is found in the north of the Fertile Crescent, namely in Eastern Anatolia, Armenia and Northeast Iran, roughly the same area as the one with the highest diversity of haplogroup R1b. It is also the region where cattle, goats, sheep and pigs were first domesticated.
The peak frequencies of G in Southwest Asia are found in Palestine (22%) and Israel (14% for non-Ashkenazi Jews and 12% for the Druzes), the cradle of agriculture.
The highest frequency of G in Europe is no longer Sardinia (15% in the Eupedia data and 13% in Rootsi et al.) but Corsica (21.5% with a reasonable sample size of 330) for which data was scarce so far. Obviously, most of the subclades present in Corsica and Sardinia are Neolithic, not the Bronze Age G2a3b1a1 from the Southern Pontic Steppes. Corsica even has 11.2% of G2a2b, Ötzi's hapogroup. There are nevertheless 5.8% of G2a3b1a1 (and subclades) in Corsica and 2.4% in Sardinia, which probably dates from the Italic and Roman periods (like the R1b on both islands). They come in about the same proportion to R1b as in the rest of Europe.