European men descend from 10 forefathers — study

The researchers, led by Dr Ornella Semino of Pavia University in Italy, studied the Y-chromosomes of 1,007 men across Europe and West Asia. Only men have Y-chromosomes and they are passed down virtually unchanged from father to son.

Mutations in the Y-chromosome can be used as a kind of molecular clock, and the researchers found that 95 per cent of the men’s genes could be traced to one of 10 categories.

“Ten lineages account for about 95 per cent of the 1,007 European Y-chromosomes studied,” the researchers wrote in their report, published in the journal Science. The genes match up nicely to what experts know aboutEuropean society.

“It is possible to see three clusters of distinct geography and culture,” the researchers wrote.

“The first comprises Basques and Western Europeans, the second Middle Eastern and the third Eastern European populations from Croatia, Ukraine, Hungary and Poland.”

Although Basques in Spain, Sardinians in Italy and Saami people in Finland have distinct cultures, their genes look like those of other Europeans, the researchers said.

The oldest male lineage they found dates back to the Old Stone Age or Paleolithic period, which ended 15,000 years ago. It is characterised by a genetic variation or mutation called M173 And is found in half the men they looked at.

There are two sub-types that share M173, Called Eu18 andEu19, the researchers said. “The frequency of Eu18 decreases from West to East, being most frequent in Basques,” they wrote.

“In contrast, haplotype Eu19, which is derived from the M173 lineage and is distinguished by M17, is virtually absent in Western Europe,” they added. “Its frequency increases eastward and reaches a maximum in Poland, Hungary and Ukraine.”

These people first showed up in the archeological record as the Aurignacian people, who were known for their rock art and fine tools. Some of the genes also show up in Native American and Siberian people.

“This observation suggests that M173 Is an ancient Eurasiatic marker that was brought in or arose in the group of Homo sapiens (modern humans) who entered Europe and diffused from East to West about 40,000 to 35,000 years ago, spreading the Aurignac culture,” the researchers wrote.

“This culture appeared almost simultaneously in Siberia, from which some groups eventually migrated to the Americas.”

Some of the genetic variations tie in with theories that groups became isolated during the last Ice Age, which ended 13,000 years ago, the researchers said.

Another marker, called M170, dates to about 22,000 years ago, the researchers said, and is associated with the Gravettian culture. This group was known for its Venus figurines, shell jewelry and for using mammoth bones to build homes.

The third group — about 20 per cent of the men — seem to date from more recent times, having come into Europe between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago, the researchers said.

These men were probably the first Neolithic farmers who migrated from the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East and, as might be expected, their genes are found most frequently along the Mediterranean, the researchers said.