The Forefathers of Europe

More than 60 percent of males in modern-day Europe descends from three Bronze Age leaders.

Genetic researchers estimate that three families in particular, which originated around 5,000 years ago, rapidly expanded across the continent.

And the study suggests that the spread of modern populations across Europe occurred much later than had originally been thought.

Professor Mark Jobling, a geneticist at the University of Leicester who led the research, said it was likely the forefathers of the three main paternal lineages detected were powerful Early Bronze Age tribe leaders.

He said: ‘The population expansion falls within the Bronze Age, which involved changes in burial practices, the spread of horse-riding and developments in weaponry.

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‘Dominant males linked with these cultures could be responsible for the Y chromosome patterns we see today.’

The researchers, whose work is published in the journal Nature Communications, analyzed the DNA sequences from the Y chromosomes of 334 men from 17 populations across Europe and the Middle East.

These included men from England, Bavaria, Orkney, Turkey, Greece, Norway, and Hungary.

They searched for mutations on the Y chromosome that are only carried by men and so can be used to trace paternal lines through families.

By comparing the DNA from each of the populations they were able to trace key mutations in the genomes and work out when they may have occurred.

The pie charts show the frequencies of Y-chromosome groups across regions. One mutation was found to be prevalent in Norwegian and Orkadian populations. Another mutation spread throughSpain, Italy, France, England and Ireland, and a third is prominent in the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Serbia and Bavaria

23andMe Ancestry + Tra... Buy New $99.00 (as of 06:10 UTC - Details) They found one mutation appears to have originated around 4,750 to 7,340 years ago and is prevalent in Norwegian and Orkadian populations.

Another mutation seems to have occurred between 3,700 and 6,500 years ago and has spread throughout Spain, Italy, France, England, and Ireland.

A third mutation seems to have occurred in a man who lived between 3,470 and 5,070 years ago and is prominent in the Sami in Lapland, Norwegian, Danish, Frisia populations in the Netherlands, but can also be found in France, Hungary, Serbia, and Bavaria.

Together, the scientists estimate from their findings, that these three paternal lines account for 63 per cent of the European men currently living.

In 2013 there were approximately 742.5 million people living in Europe, and if this had an equal gender split, would leave 371.25 million males.

Two-thirds of this work out at around 233 million people being descendants of this trio – however, this is an estimate due to the fact it is not known how many of these people originated in Europe.

While it is unclear exactly who the men were that first fathered these paternal lines, it is likely that they were influential or powerful individuals.

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