Discover Haplogroup H to H2b - Tracing mtDNA through History ⋆ Historical Ramblings

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After participating in ancestry testing over at 23andme, my DNA results revealed that I belong to haplogroup H2b on my maternal side. H2b is a subclade, or branch of, the more ancient haplogroup H. So, let’s start at H and work our way down to H2b.

Haplogroup H (mtDNA)

Haplogroup H is the most common haplogroup in Europe, the Near East, and the Caucasus. Within these areas, the frequency is found in about 50% of the population. According to the National Institute of Health, this haplogroup probably originated in the Middle East.

Let’s go back to Eve and follow the mitochondria mutations that define our H and H2b haplogroups. These changes occurred over thousands of years.

Timeline from Eve to H2b

The maternal haplogroup timeline from Eve to H2b is:

Eve > L1 > L3 > N > R > pre-HV > HV > H > H2b

L1: direct descendent of Eve, from Africa. L1 gave rise to all the people alive in the world today.
L3: descendent of L1, from Africa and the Mediterranean. L and N are descended from L3 and were the first humans to migrate out of Africa.
N: the haplogroup that lived by the Mediterranean. Haplogroup N represents one of the two large family clans that made it out of Africa and populated Europe and Asia.
R: lived in South Asia (Near East). She is a direct descendant of haplogroup N, and her descendants are the founding peoples of many European lineages.
PreHV or R0: arose in the Middle East and today is found mainly in the Near East and Arabia. This group is a direct descendant of haplogroup R.
HV: found throughout Southeastern Europe and West Asia (Iran, Turkey, Caucasus Mountains). It started from a female descendant of R0 who lived between West and Central Asia.
H: the dominant mtDNA haplogroup in Western Europe. Oxford Ancestors say that the female who started the H haplogroup was born in South-Central France. Currently, the highest frequencies of haplogroup H are found amongst the Basque people in Northern Spain and Southern France*.
H2: The H2 branch of haplogroup H originated in the Near East about 26,000 years ago, when the Ice Age covered much of Eurasia with a thick layer of ice that rendered most of Europe uninhabitable. When the climate warmed about 15,000 years ago, opening the continent to habitation for the first time in millennia, people carried the H2 haplogroup from the Near East as far as the Basque region of northern Spain. It is surprisingly common in Sweden, where up to 11% of southern Swedes carry H2. The H2 haplogroup can still be found at low levels among the populations of Saudi Arabia, Daghestan, and other Near Eastern countries.
H2b: the first appearance of H2 in ancient remains was found in the village of Únětice, located in the Central Czech Republic, northwest of Prague.

* Another interesting tidbit… my blood type is O-, and the highest percentages of O-negative blood type are among the Basque.

Haplogroup H Royalty and Other Famous People (or Well-known)

Who are some famous people from haplogroup H? Here is a listing of queens, kings, and other well-known individuals from around the world who share this bloodline.