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Subject: R1a1 - M17 as an Ancestral (circa 9000 YBP) North American Lineage
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 17:50:43 +0000


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I have just finsihed reading Lell's article on "The Dual Origins and Siberian Affinities of Native American Y Chromosomes" - see:
http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/AJHG_2002_v70_p192-206.pdf
and it was a real eye opener to an afficianado of R1a.

The upshot of the article is that R1a1 - M17 was among a group of Asians from Eastern Siberia (with origins in Middle Siberia) who along with Haplogroup C (RPS4Y) and other P - M45 (Q) groups advanced to North America to form the second wave of settlement circa 7000 - 9500 YBP to form that Na - Dene peoples (e.g., Chipewayans of Northewestern Canada and the Navajo of the Southwestern USA).

What is most interesting is that within the second wave there were apparently groups of R1a1 - M17 from Eastern Siberia - where the haplogroup is still seen today in the Chukchi and more extensively in the Itel'men.

The only Native American tribal group that to the present has been observed with R1a1 - M17 chromosomes apparently is among the Guaymi of Costa Rica. The authors of this paper do not dwell at all on this finding (it is odd that none of the surrounding samples had even a single M17), and it is tempting to dismiss the results as an anomaly, likely reflecting a Norse mariner in the area at some unknown time in the past. However there is no documentation for this; and, more importantly, there is an extreme degree of diversity in the haplotypes.

Unfortunately the authors only measured 4 YSTRs, and two and likely three of these are reported in a fashion that requires conversion to match the nomenclature familiar to us today. It appears that to DYS19 we need to add 3; and to DYS390 we need to add 13. There are 7 of the 21 Guaymi who are M17 and despite the extreme diversity even with only 4 markers, the modal haplotype is:

DYS19 = 16 ( range 14 to 17 )
DYS388 = 11 ( a single 9 )
DYS390 = 25 ( range 23 to 26 )
DYS391 = 11 ( 3 of the 7 were 10 )

Across the R1a world DYS388 = 12 is modal, and I an unclear whether there is a nomenclature difference here too since the same situation holds for the Q samples.

If M17 was in Eastern Siberia on the Pacific Coast 10,000 years ago it does call into question the assumptions about M17 haven arised among the Kurgan people of the Ukraine and spread along with the Indo - European language and the horse to the East. It appears more likely that the true homeland is Northern India or Pakistan where the haplotype diversity is considerably higher than the Ukraine.

Thus now in addition to Q and Q3 as well as C, we must now consider R1a to be a Native American haplogroup and consider the possiblity that some unknown number of those R1a individuals whose ancestors "disappear" into North America with no documented European or Asian roots may carry a Native American Y chromosome.

Any comments or critique would be welcome.

David F.

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