Haplogroups / Paternal line
E1b1a
The Bantu expansion
The story of this line
E-V38 and its descendants dominate paternal lines across sub-Saharan Africa. Their present distribution was created in the last few thousand years by the Bantu expansion, one of the largest and fastest population movements in human history, which carried iron-working and farming from West-Central Africa to the southern tip of the continent. The Atlantic slave trade then carried these lines to the Americas.
What it traces
E1b1a 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 30 thousand years ago
- West Africa about 100 thousand years ago
- Congo basin about 3 thousand years ago
- Southern Africa about 1.5 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 E1b1a 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 E1b1a?
E1b1a is a branch of the human paternal family tree, traced through the Y chromosome, passed from father to son. E-V38 and its descendants dominate paternal lines across sub-Saharan Africa. Their present distribution was created in the last few thousand years by the Bantu expansion, one of the largest and fastest population movements in human history, which carried iron-working and farming from West-Central Africa to the southern tip of the continent. The Atlantic slave trade then carried these lines to the Americas.
How old is haplogroup E1b1a?
It first appeared about 30,000 years ago, in West, Central and Southern Africa. That is a coalescence estimate with a wide margin, not a date.
How do I find out if E1b1a 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 E1b1a 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).