Haplogroups / Paternal line
R1b
Western Europe's paternal line
The story of this line
R-M343 is carried by the majority of men in western Europe, and in Ireland, Wales and the Basque country by the great majority. Ancient DNA showed that it was rare in Europe before about 4,800 years ago and then became dominant within a few centuries, arriving with migrations from the Yamnaya steppe cultures. It is one of the fastest and most complete paternal turnovers in the record.
What it traces
R1b 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 150 thousand years ago
- Horn of Africa about 70 thousand years ago
- Arabian peninsula about 62 thousand years ago
- Central Asia about 20 thousand years ago
- Pontic-Caspian steppe about 6 thousand years ago
- Central Europe about 4.6 thousand years ago
- Atlantic Europe about 4 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 R1b 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 R1b?
R1b is a branch of the human paternal family tree, traced through the Y chromosome, passed from father to son. R-M343 is carried by the majority of men in western Europe, and in Ireland, Wales and the Basque country by the great majority. Ancient DNA showed that it was rare in Europe before about 4,800 years ago and then became dominant within a few centuries, arriving with migrations from the Yamnaya steppe cultures. It is one of the fastest and most complete paternal turnovers in the record.
How old is haplogroup R1b?
It first appeared about 20,000 years ago, in Western Europe. That is a coalescence estimate with a wide margin, not a date.
How do I find out if R1b 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 R1b 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).