Haplogroups / Paternal line
B
An ancient African paternal line
The story of this line
B is one of the two deepest surviving African branches, found today at high frequency among rainforest hunter-gatherer groups in central Africa and among some East African populations.
What it traces
B sits on the family tree of the Y chromosome, passed from father to son. Following it back means following your father, his father, 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 130 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 B 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 B?
B is a branch of the human paternal family tree, traced through the Y chromosome, passed from father to son. B is one of the two deepest surviving African branches, found today at high frequency among rainforest hunter-gatherer groups in central Africa and among some East African populations.
How old is haplogroup B?
It first appeared about 100,000 to 130,000 years ago, in Central and East Africa. That is a coalescence estimate with a wide margin, not a date.
How do I find out if B 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 B 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
ISOGG Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree, marker coordinates via ybrowse.org (hg19).