MtDNA haplogroup L is the oldest maternal branch of humanity comprises almost all the lineages in sub-Saharan Africa. All Eurasian haplogroups descend from L3, the subclade that is the most common in the Arabian peninsula and North-East Africa. All four top branches of L (L0, L1, L2 and L3) are nevertheless found in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
The correlation between mtDNA L and Y-DNA E1b1b (the main African paternal lineage) is striking, although expected. But what is more interesting is the lack of correlation between E-V13, the main European branch of E1b1b, and mtDNA L. While the distribution of Franco-Iberian E-M81 and the Near Eastern E-M123 match fairly well that of mtDNA L, one could wonder why the southern Balkans, where E-V13 makes up between 10 and 50% of the paternal lineages, have only 0.4% of mtDNA L. Haplogroup L is actually present at trace frequency (0.2 to 0.5%) in most of Eastern and Central Europe, and is only totally absent in Finland, Baltic countries, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, and North-East Italy, and the Caucasus (except among the Ossetians and Nogays). This actually correlates well with the distribution of E-V13, which means that when the E-V13 population reached Europe, only about 1% of the women who accompanied them belonged to mtDNA L. In contrast, in Iberia and France, the percentage of mtDNA L women accompanying E-M81 men would have been between 20 and 40% (U6 would have been another major lineage).
In Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Syria, mtDNA L makes up almost exactly half the percentage of E1b1b lineages. In Lebanon, Turkey and Kurdistan, the proportion falls to 10-15%, which means that E1b1b men advanced (presumably during the Neolithic) north marrying more often local women than women from their tribe. By the time they reached the Balkans and southern Italy, most maternal lineages had become local or picked up on the way. The same phenomenon could have happened for both E-M123 and E-V13, with the difference that E-V13 would have boomed in the Balkans due to a founder effect in the Early Neolithic population. An alternative possibility is that E-V13 mixed with non-African women (probably haplogroup H) in North Africa during the Late Palaeolithic or Mesolithic before crossing over to southern Europe. This hybrid population could have been living in North Africa for millennia before crossing the Mediterranean, perhaps during one of the periods when the Sahara was green and teeming with large animals.
In Western Europe, E-M81 and mtDNA L were almost certainly in Europe before the Neolithic. They were one of the many groups of hunter-gatherers roaming across Europe, alongside Y-DNA I and R1a and mtDNA H1, H3, U2, U4, U5, U6, V and W. Considering that H1, U5, U6 and V are all present among the Berbers of Northwest Africa, it is likely that E-M81 men belonged to these lineages as well. It is interesting how Cantabria and Auvergne both have unusually elevated percentages of both E-M81 and R1a-SRY1532 (the Mesolithic variant) and both have a higher percentage of mtDNA L, U4, U5 and V than their neighbours.
The L lineages in Central Italy were surely brought by the Etruscans from Anatolia. Additional lineages may have come to Rome during the imperial period.
The slightly higher percentage (0.5%) of L in Serbia and Bosnia corresponds to a known hotspot of Y-haplogroup T (a lineage closely linked to E1b1b).
EDIT : It's also interesting to see the correlation between mtDNA L and the African autosomal admixture from the Dodecad K=12.
The correlation between mtDNA L and Y-DNA E1b1b (the main African paternal lineage) is striking, although expected. But what is more interesting is the lack of correlation between E-V13, the main European branch of E1b1b, and mtDNA L. While the distribution of Franco-Iberian E-M81 and the Near Eastern E-M123 match fairly well that of mtDNA L, one could wonder why the southern Balkans, where E-V13 makes up between 10 and 50% of the paternal lineages, have only 0.4% of mtDNA L. Haplogroup L is actually present at trace frequency (0.2 to 0.5%) in most of Eastern and Central Europe, and is only totally absent in Finland, Baltic countries, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, and North-East Italy, and the Caucasus (except among the Ossetians and Nogays). This actually correlates well with the distribution of E-V13, which means that when the E-V13 population reached Europe, only about 1% of the women who accompanied them belonged to mtDNA L. In contrast, in Iberia and France, the percentage of mtDNA L women accompanying E-M81 men would have been between 20 and 40% (U6 would have been another major lineage).
In Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Syria, mtDNA L makes up almost exactly half the percentage of E1b1b lineages. In Lebanon, Turkey and Kurdistan, the proportion falls to 10-15%, which means that E1b1b men advanced (presumably during the Neolithic) north marrying more often local women than women from their tribe. By the time they reached the Balkans and southern Italy, most maternal lineages had become local or picked up on the way. The same phenomenon could have happened for both E-M123 and E-V13, with the difference that E-V13 would have boomed in the Balkans due to a founder effect in the Early Neolithic population. An alternative possibility is that E-V13 mixed with non-African women (probably haplogroup H) in North Africa during the Late Palaeolithic or Mesolithic before crossing over to southern Europe. This hybrid population could have been living in North Africa for millennia before crossing the Mediterranean, perhaps during one of the periods when the Sahara was green and teeming with large animals.
In Western Europe, E-M81 and mtDNA L were almost certainly in Europe before the Neolithic. They were one of the many groups of hunter-gatherers roaming across Europe, alongside Y-DNA I and R1a and mtDNA H1, H3, U2, U4, U5, U6, V and W. Considering that H1, U5, U6 and V are all present among the Berbers of Northwest Africa, it is likely that E-M81 men belonged to these lineages as well. It is interesting how Cantabria and Auvergne both have unusually elevated percentages of both E-M81 and R1a-SRY1532 (the Mesolithic variant) and both have a higher percentage of mtDNA L, U4, U5 and V than their neighbours.
The L lineages in Central Italy were surely brought by the Etruscans from Anatolia. Additional lineages may have come to Rome during the imperial period.
The slightly higher percentage (0.5%) of L in Serbia and Bosnia corresponds to a known hotspot of Y-haplogroup T (a lineage closely linked to E1b1b).
EDIT : It's also interesting to see the correlation between mtDNA L and the African autosomal admixture from the Dodecad K=12.
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