Haplogroups / Maternal line
L1
An ancient African line
The story of this line
One of the deepest surviving branches, found today across central Africa and at high frequency among some rainforest hunter-gatherer populations. It predates the migration out of Africa by a very long way.
What it traces
L1 sits on the family tree of mitochondrial DNA, passed from mother to child. Following it back means following your mother, her mother, and so on back, one unbroken thread. It says nothing about the thousands of other ancestors you had at the same depth, which is the single most common misunderstanding about haplogroups.
The route, roughly
- East African Rift about 150 thousand years ago
- West Africa about 60 thousand years ago
A route drawn from where the branch arose and where it is found today. It is the path of one thread through your ancestry, not a map of where your family as a whole came from.
Is L1 your haplogroup?
If you have taken a test with 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, Family Tree DNA, TellMeGen or Living DNA, the answer is already sitting in the raw data file they gave you. You do not need another test.
Sequencings reads the file in your browser. It is never uploaded, and you can confirm that in your browser’s network tab while it happens.
Common questions
What is haplogroup L1?
L1 is a branch of the human maternal family tree, traced through mitochondrial DNA, passed from mother to child. One of the deepest surviving branches, found today across central Africa and at high frequency among some rainforest hunter-gatherer populations. It predates the migration out of Africa by a very long way.
How old is haplogroup L1?
It first appeared about 140,000 to 150,000 years ago, in Central and West Africa. That is a coalescence estimate with a wide margin, not a date.
How do I find out if L1 is my haplogroup?
If you have taken a home DNA test, the answer is already in the raw data file you were given. Sequencings reads that file in your browser and traces both lines without uploading anything.
Does haplogroup L1 tell me about my health?
No. Haplogroups describe one line of descent. They are not used to assess health risk, and anyone who tells you otherwise is overreaching.
Sources
van Oven M, Kayser M. 2009. Updated comprehensive phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation. Hum Mutat 30(2):E386-E394. http://www.phylotree.org doi:10.1002/humu.20921