Click any one of these to follow the AMH lineage's complete path through time

Learn more about our DYS390=23 Lineages
at our Sinclair DNA blog

The division of our family along the lines of DYS390 was the result of spending a great deal of time with the results, of completing the early "Mutation Rates" chart which showed very deep ancestry, and of reading a great deal online. This definition is meant to be wide and all-encompassing to a large group of our family. This and the other DYS390 (and associated markers) split is meant to be the defining split in our family. In fact, it's more recent than the R1a / R1b split, but that's likely about all. The following splits happened after DYS390=23 split off from DYS390=24 and associated markers -
The Atlantic Modal Haplogroup (allowing zero mutations)
R1b1b2
R1b1b2a1a
U106 - S21+
Heyer's Anglo-Saxon Visigoth modal
L48, etc.

The 390 study out of all the allele groupings seems to be pointing the way to a unique understanding of our family's ancient history. Scientists have predicted certain alleles mutate at a very slow rate, 390 and 19 mutate at an overall mutation rate of 0.4%, 142  making these plus 393 and certain others very stable marker and a very trustworthy way to divide up a project such as ours. 

Many of our participants are part of the Atlantic Modal Haplotype, the most successful breeders since the last ice age. And, because these folks stayed in Europe, any mutations they had make it very difficult to further refine any differences via DNA. Our DNA is all very similar. Any basic haplotype that differs from the AMH values of 14-12-24-11-13-13 by even a single mutation, on any marker, up or down in value, is still considered part of AMH. The Sinclair project shows DYS390 values of 23, 24, 25, and 26. The 23's and 24's are overwhelmingly outnumbering the others. Niven and his lineage are showing a 25. 

These markers are the definition of the Atlantic Modal Haplotype. Most of us in the project fall within a one-step mutation of these markers. Note that this chart shows DYS390=24. This is precisely on the AMH, but the folks who found this Haplogroup decided to allow someone to be off by one or two markers and still say they're part of the AMH. Those days are numbered as there are so many SNPs now being found downstream of this Haplogroup.

When you couple our DYS390 values with other particular markers, we can compare ourselves to some interesting studies that have been conducted throughout Europe. Our DYS19 values are overwhelmingly 14 with a few 13's and 15's. Our DYS392 values are overwhelmingly 13's with a few interesting 11's and 14's. These are all quite deviant from the AMH norm, but are still classified as R1b. 

The Heyer study of 1997 recorded a mutation rate of zero for DYS390 and DYS393. Although the DYS390 marker has not exhibited a mutation rate as consistently low as DYS393 in other studies, the results of the Heyer study suggest that it is a relatively stable marker. As such, particular values of DYS390 may be acquired less often by random mutation, and therefore may be more likely to reflect a shared ancestry among the haplotypes that exhibit them. Because these haplotypes deviate from AMH in different ways, they suggest a variety of origins.

A.A. Foster's study 141 focused on DYS390 in four particular regions of Europe - 1. Baltic-Russian,  2. NorthSea-Baltic, 3. Alpine-South German, 4. Atlantic. And he found significant differences within the set of alleles he used for the study. 

DYS390=24 represents about 59% of the R1b DYS390 population in Europe. In Iberia and France, and in the more remote areas of the British Isles, it averages almost 70% and reaches 80%. But in the Baltic regions the density is consistently low: it averages only 33% throughout the Baltic States, about 43% in the Netherlands, and 47% in Baltic Germany. The lowest European percentage (29%) is to be found in Moscow, Russia. An even lower frequency, of 22%, can be found in Asian Khazakstan. 

Complete R1b data from the "YHRD" database, indicated that, after an earlier existence in Asian Khazakstan, all European variants of R1b shared an existence in Russia ( in the region of Kazan, on the Volga river at about 55° North and 50° East), and that, later they separated and expanded into two major migrations (a westward migration to the Russian-Baltic region, and a south-western migration to the Black Sea area and then further, westwards, to the Alpine-South German region). Eventually, a North Sea-Baltic migration evolved from the Russian-Baltic expansion; and an Atlantic migration evolved from the Alpine-South German variant.

There's a great deal more on this which I'm happy to share, but I think it's just too much to put here. 

What it means 

If we divide our project along the lines of DYS390, then it's safe to say that we're viewing at least five distinct lineages within the Sinclair family. It's important to remember this is long before anyone took the surname St. Clair from the land they lived on in Normandy. And this does not mean any one lineage is any less "Sinclair" than the other. I believe nearly all who bear the name have ancestors who arrived in Western Europe sometime after the last ice age and remained there until the time of the Conqueror, taking on the surname St. Clair from the land they inhabited. But their ancestors came along different paths. Keep in mind, our DNA mutations point to times between 3,900 (S21 splits off R1b) and 30,000 years ago (E1b1b comes into the Balkans).

"We have noted a tendency among the project members for DYS390=23 to occur at higher levels in different areas of Europe. If you look at this table you'll see the level of DYS390=23 among project levels is higher among members with central European ancestry (southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic) and to a lesser extent those with northwestern European ancestry (northern Germany, France, the Low Countries), as compared to those with Scandinavian and northeastern European ancestry. This is interesting and may indicate some sort of unknown subclade differences (perhaps the newly discovered SNP L48?), but that's unclear at this time."  143   The distribution map below seems to bear this out as well. If you're DYS390=23, your ancestors likely spent a good deal of time in southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic. 

Summary of the Facts -  DYS390=23 Lineage

(1) With all the SNP work on U106, there's a great deal that's now downstream of the marker groups used to describe DYS390=23.  S21 U106 is downstream of it, so too will be L48 and others. (2) The density of DYS390 in middle-southern Europe is very consistent with a Germanic tribal background and less so with Frisian ancestry (this claim was over-hyped). And now it appears that a new SNP will divide this group up between east and west. (3) DYS390=23 is higher among those with central European ancestry (southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic) and to a lesser extent those with northwestern European ancestry (northern Germany, France, the Low Countries, but L48 may be an exception. It depends on the dating of that SNP..

Further notes - Some tested S21 +, SNPs split this lineage in many ways, It's our largest lineage.

AMH  |  Germany  |  DYS390=25  |  DYS390=23  |  S21-U106  |  Anglo-Saxon Visigoths  
E1b  |  I1  |  R1a  |  CCR5-Delta-32  |  Mutation Rates  |  Lineage Smugness

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