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From: David Faux <>
Subject: Haplotype "Q" in Shetland Islands
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 22:50:07 -0700 (PDT)
Hello all:
In the windswept islands of the North Atlantic there is a DNA mystery which begs for an explanation.
I was given access to the skeleton findings of a Shetland database a while back and was astounded to learn that 8% of the sample were typed at haplogroup Q - the same percentage as haplogroup I. My first "Q" emerged recently in a participant with a patronymic surname.
The matches in the Haplogroup Database are 1 exact Shetland; and at the one step mutation level, 2 from Shetland and 2 from Iceland; and at the two step mutation level, 1 from Iceland and 1 from Norway. Dr. Wilson also indicated that he has found 1 Q in his large Orkney database.
Clearly the distribution pattern points to a Norwegian source dating back to Viking times. But how did an East Asian haplotype find its was to Norway considering that it is not (as I recall) seen in any samples of the surrounding countries. I have entertained the possibility that a group of Greenland Inuit were blown off course 2000 years ago - but what will be needed here is a SNP test since the samples were not broken into Q versus Q3 (which charactieizes Native American haplotypes). Since there are Greenland Inuit samples in the database, and no mathes emerged, it does seem unlikely, but there could be a founder effect here so who knows. Fascinating though, and will need to be intensely investigated.
David.
Dr. David K. Faux, P.O. Box 192, Seal Beach, CA, 90740, USA
www.davidkfaux.org
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