Haplogroup R1b (Atlantic Modal Haplotype)
The Atlantic Modal Haplotype is the most common variation of R1b. It is defined by the
six basic marker values below.
(DYS # 19/388/390/391/392/393)
14-12-24-11-13-13
This and related R1b haplotypes originated in Europe during the Paleolithic. During the Ice Age,
the carriers of R1b wintered in the Pyrenees. When the Ice Age ended, these carriers radiated across
Western Europe. They became the pre-Roman population of Spain, France, the British Isles, and large
portions of the Rhineland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Northern Italy.
Although the Celtic language itself has roots in Asia, the indigenous people of Western Europe
became its primary speakers. They comprised the largest proportion of those people we know from history
as "Celtic", and remain so today. Traditional areas of Celtic settlement are Ireland, Wales, Scotland,
Cornwall, Brittany, and Galicia in Northern Spain. Celtic culture is epitomized archaeologically by the La Tene
settlement, which existed near Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland during the Iron Age.
The Paleolithic population of Europe also became one of the earliest components of the Spanish,
Italian and German peoples, and were among the first speakers of the the Romance languages and the
Teutonic languages, even though the Indo-European source of these languages, too, lay elsewhere.
The Basques, who are perhaps the purest "Paleolithic" population in Europe, do not speak a
Celtic language and are not Celts, even though they are ancestrally related to those who are.
R1b does not mean "Celtic". And, even though R1b is found everywhere in Western Europe,
no country in Western Europe is entirely R1b, or has been so for a very long time.
The Chart Above Shows The Distribution of R1b (alias HG1) In Green
The most common variant of the Atlantic Modal Haplotype in the YHRD database has DYS389i,ii values
of 13 and 29, and DYS385a,b values of 11 and 14. The haplotype below differs only by one step upward
on the DYS389ii marker.
Of the top ten frequencies, all have a European origin, but only six can be traced to identifiable
European locations. The top frequency falls among the Basques, and the second highest falls among the
Cajuns of Louisiana, who are descended mostly from the people of Northwest France - such as those of
Saintonge, Poitou, Brittany and Normandy. The next four highest European frequencies include
two areas in Norway, Dresden in East Germany, and Zaragoza, which was at one time occupied
by the Normans.
Of the next ten frequencies, three occur in samples of Iberian origin, two appear in Scandinavia,
and one each occurs in Western Germany and the Netherlands.
This haplotype may indicate a "Celtic" origin in persons of British descent, but the numbers
clearly suggest that it might also have originated with the Vikings.
| 19 | 389i | 389ii | 390 | 391 | 392 | 393 | 385a | 385b |
| 14 | 13 | 30 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 14 |
Geographical Locale |
% |
| Pennsylvania [African-American] | 6.98 |
| Louisiana [African-American] | 6.89 |
| Northern Spain [Basque] | 4.76 |
| Cajun [European-American] | 4.55 |
| Dresden, Saxony | 4.41 |
| Southern Norway | 4.00 |
| Missouri [African-American] | 3.57 |
| Zaragoza, Aragon | 3.33 |
| Maryland [European-American] | 3.13 |
| Western Norway | 3.13 |
| Cordoba, Argentina | 3.00 |
| Indiana [European-American] | 2.94 |
| Oregon [Hispanic-American] | 2.85 |
| Ostergotland Jonkoping, Sweden | 2.38 |
| Netherlands | 2.29 |
| Northern Norway | 2.22 |
| Florida [African-American] | 2.08 |
| New York City [European-American] | 1.94 |
| Connecticut [Hispanic-American] | 1.92 |
| Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate | 1.92 |
| Paris, France | 1.83 |
| Barcelona, Catalonia | 1.79 |
| Lombardy, Northern Italy | 1.65 |
| Bolivia [Bolivian Amerindians] | 1.64 |
| Virginia [European-American] | 1.64 |
| London, England | 1.62 |
| Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt | 1.41 |
| Sao Paulo, Brazil [Europeans] | 1.34 |
| Buenos Aires, Argentina [Europeans] | 1.33 |
| Texas [European-American] | 1.28 |
| Emilia Romagna, Central Italy | 1.12 |
| Central Portugal | 1.08 |
| Leiden, Western Netherlands | 1.04 |
| Cantabria, Northern Spain | .99 |
| Rostock, Mecklenburg | .98 |
| Brussels, Belgium | .80 |
| Sweden | .74 |
| Bogota, Colombia` | .68 |
| Andulacia, Southern Spain | .61 |
| Gdansk, Northern Poland | .55 |
| Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemburg | .46 |
| Tuscany, Central Italy | .46 |
| Munich, Bavaria | .39 |
| Berlin, Brandenburg | .36 |
| Antioqua, Northern Spain | .25 |
| Chemnitz, Saxony | .24 |
| Leipzig, Saxony | .15 |
Atlantic Modal Haplotype #14
This haplotype exhibits its highest frequencies in Iberia, Italy and the Netherlands. The Dutch locales
fall close to the Flemish areas of Europe, which saw Sephardic immigration from Portugal during The
Late Middle Ages. Cologne and Bern, both of which have long histories of Jewish settlement, also appear.
Again, as always, custom compels us to suggest a "Celtic" origin for this haplotype, but its alternate
origins may be quite different. A Flemish or Anglo-Saxon origin is possible, in the light of the
Dutch and German hits. So is a Roman origin.
| 19 | 389i | 389ii | 390 | 391 | 392 | 393 | 385a | 385b |
| 14 | 13 | 30 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 15 |
Geographical Locale |
% |
| Maryland [Hispanic-American] | 3.85 |
| Oregon [European-American] | 2.86 |
| Limburg, Southern Netherlands | 2.00 |
| Virginia [European-American] | 1.64 |
| Madrid, Central-East Spain | 1.35 |
| Texas [Hispanic-American] | 1.35 |
| Bern, Switzerland | 1.09 |
| Caceres, Central-West Spain | 1.09 |
| Leiden, Western Netherlands | 1.04 |
| Sicily, Southern Italy | 1.01 |
| Marche, Eastern Italy | .93 |
| Cologne, Westphalia | .74 |
| Northern Portugal | .55 |
| Central Portugal | .54 |
| Antioquia, Colombia | .49 |
| London, England | .40 |
| Munich, Bavaria | .39 |
| Chemnitz, Saxony | .12 |
Atlantic Modal Haplotype #15
This haplotype exhibits its highest frequencies in Iberia and the Celtic heartland of Central
Europe. It most likely entered Britain with prehistoric Iberian migrants or a later wave of
Celtic settlers.
| 19 | 389i | 389ii | 390 | 391 | 392 | 393 | 385a | 385b |
| 14 | 13 | 30 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 14 |
Geographical Locale |
% |
| Indiana [African-American] | 2.70 |
| Madrid, Central-East Spain | 2.08 |
| Pennsylvania [European-American] | 1.49 |
| Texas [Hispanic-American] | 1.35 |
| Central Portugal | 1.08 |
| Lausanne, Western Switzerland | 1.04 |
| Transylvania, Romania [Szekely] | 1.02 |
| Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate | .96 |
| Zaragoza, Aragon | .83 |
| Brussels, Belgium | .80 |
| Cologne, Westphalia | .74 |
| Dusseldorf, Westphalia | .67 |
| Munster, Westphalia | .51 |
| Tuscany, Central Italy | .46 |
| London, England | .40 |
| Antioquia, Colombia [European] | .25 |
Atlantic Modal Haplotype #16
This haplotype exhibits its highest frequencies in Switzerland and the Rhineland.
This suggests an origin among the Celts of Central Europe.
| 19 | 389i | 389ii | 390 | 391 | 392 | 393 | 385a | 385b |
| 14 | 13 | 30 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 |
Geographical Locale |
% |
| Lausanne, Switzerland | .93 |
| Cologne, Westphalia | .74 |
| Argentina [European] | .33 |
