ADAMS Y-DNA -- OUR STORY

ADAMS Y-DNA — OUR STORY

Long, long ago in a land far away — there lived a man.  We will call him simply “H.”  We can only speculate as to the place and time of H’s birth, but 3 things we know about him.  First, at his conception, mutations occurred on the Y Chromosome  passed to him by his father.  The mutations occurred at sites identified by modern geneticists as L901 and M2939.  These mutations, referred to as Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (or SNPs), were passed on to his sons.  We know that H’s fathers and grandfathers came out of Africa as a part of a large group of migrants designated by geneticists as HIJK.  But after H’s birth, his male descendants could be differentiated from all others by these identifying SNPs.  And finally, we know that H had sons, and that his sons had sons, and that his male line has continued unbroken for almost 50,000 years, and that today the descendants of H are numbered in the millions.

Our best guess is that H lived in South or South-West Asia, and that he lived approximately 48,500 years ago.  Among H’s male descendants three are known to us today.  They are known because like H, they experienced mutations on their Y chromosome and these mutations were passed to their sons and their sons’ sons.  For simplicity, and with total lack of creativity, we have named these three founding fathers H1, H2, and H3.  There is a suggestion that a 4th H group (currently called H0) may exist, but there is little information.

In the language adopted by geneticists, H is a Y-DNA Haplogroup defined, like all Haplogroups, by the presence of a series of SNP markers on the Y chromosome. H1, H2, and H3, are Sub-clades defined by a terminal SNP, the SNP furthest down in the Y chromosome phylogenetic tree.  

Recognition of three H subgroups is relatively recent.  What is now H1 was previously the only recognized representative of the H Haplogroup.  The Haplogroup we now recognize as H2  was previously categorized as Haplogroup F3.  This error was largely based in geography.  The descendants of H1 are by far the most numerous members of the H Haplogroup, and they are almost exclusively native to South Asia, South west Asia, and South east Asia, especially in India, Sri Lanka, Napal, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, where they constitute a majority of the male population.  H3 has far fewer members, but is found in the same geographical areas.

It is worth noting that after over 40,000 years, one branch of the H1 sub-clave (designated as H1a1a) did migrate out of East Asia. During the Middle Ages (about 1000 to 1500 A.D.), the H1a1a descendants of old H migrated into the Middle East and spread across Europe.  There they were called Romani, or more commonly Gypsies.  

As noted above, the majority of the male descendants of old H were early inhabitants of the Indian sub-continent (where they still live).  HOWEVER, at least one of H’s sons (or sons of  his sons, etc.) migrated west and eventually north into Neolithic Europe.  Only recently have geneticists become aware of the relationship of the European H2  men (whom they were categorizing as Haplogroup F3) to the H3 and H1 men of the Indian subcontinent.  This recognition is so recent that many references only mention H1 when discussing the Haplogroup H.  This can create multiple misunderstandings for Europeans who belong to Haplogroup H2.  Since the H1 and H2 Y-Haplogroups drifted apart thousands of years ago, they differ on many evolutionary adaptations and physical characteristics, related to their other 22 chromosomes; but their Y-DNA continues to carry evidence of their common male ancestor (old H).

Analyses of Y-DNA from ancient skeletons allow us to trace the migrations of H2’s sons.  Between 7,350 and 6,750 years ago, a descendant of H2 lived at Motza in what is now Isreal. Other ancient skeletons with H2 Y-DNA have been found in sites in Turkey, Hungry, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Austria, and Germany.  H2 men were in the Anatolian area of Turkey in Neolithic times (between 6,500 and 6,200 years ago).  They were certainly in Europe between 5,852 years ago, and 2,080 years ago.  From the frequency of H2 skeletons in early settlement sites, it appears that the proportion of H2 males was higher in ancient than in modern times.  

While there is no complete picture of the travels of the H2 men, and there are many controversies, it appears that they may have been among the earliest Cro-Magnon men to venture into Europe (about 40,000 years ago), moving north when the glaciers retreated and back to the south when the climate became cold again. One writer believes they were among the first men to enter Britain (which was covered with ice during much of the ice age).  

The H2 men almost certainly encountered the Neanderthals as they moved through Europe, and some of their descendants carry Neanderthal DNA (only 1-2% of Europeans natives carry Neanderthal DNA).  They were part of the Wandering Hunter Gather (WHG) people who moved in early to populate Europe.  They were probably never numerous.  Their presence as a percentage of the total population seems to have peaked in the Mesolithic period 7,000 to 9,000 years ago. Even then they were not numerous, compromising possibly 2% to 5% of the total population.   

H2 skeletal remains are found frequently in association with G2 remains.  G2 men were among the Neolithic farmers who brought agriculture to Europe.  Neither group is numerous among modern Europeans.  H2 men are estimated to represent approximately .2% of modern European men (that is about 2 out of every 1,000 men or only about 1 million European men in 2016).  

The H2 Y-DNA subclave is often designated as H2-P96 because P96 is the terminal SNP, (that is, the SNP furthest down in the Y chromosome phylogenetic tree).  H2-P96 is also characterized by mutations at L279; L281; L284; L285; L286 and M282.  H2 is subdivided into three recognized groups — H2a, H2b, and H2c.  That is, at least three of  the original H2’s male descendants had mutations which they passed to their sons.  While the characteristic SNPs for each of these subclaves have been defined, differences in time or place of origin or distribution have not been reported.  The low frequency in the population presents a stastical  challenge for this research.  H2a is characterized by mutations at FGC29299/Z19067; H2b by a mutation at Z41290; and H2c by mutations at Y21618 and Z19080.  When researching Y-DNA Haplogroup H2, it is important to know that there is also a Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup H, not to be confused with the Y-DNA Haplogroup H.  

When David Adams received his Y-DNA results from Family Tree DNA, we were surprised to learn that he belonged to Y-DNA Haplogroup H.  Our initial research led to descriptions of H1 (often described as H, with no sub-clave distinctions), and we were initially convinced that some error had been made.  The European roots of our Adams Family were well established.  The probability that our family had its roots on the Indian subcontinent defied all we know.  

One of the verification steps David undertook was to have FTDNA test his autosomal DNA (called Family Finder by FTDNA).  As might be expected David’s autosomal DNA was a close match for Frances Ruth Jackson Freeman, the only other  known descendant of Levi Adams in the FTDNA data base.  David and Frances share 330 centimorgans of DNA.  In total David and Frances have  245 common matches, indicating that at least 245 other people who are related to both of them have been tested.  The closest match to both of them is Troyce Manner, (with whom they each share 133 centimorgans of DNA).  Troyce knows her great-great grandparents were named Adams, but had not traced them to Levi and Nancy.  

Even as David’s autosomal DNA was being tested, more information on the H Haplogroup was discovered.  When the information on H2 (formerly known as F3) was found, the mystery seemed solved.  Our male Adams line is from Europe -- as we knew.  The Adams male ancestors are among a relatively rare group of Neolithic people who entered Europe between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, and survived the ice age.  They  mingled with the Neanderthtals and may have been among the first to explore the British Isles after the retreat of the last ice age.  

Everything in this description is the result of relatively recent scientific discovery.  It is anticipated that the data base cited in this writing will be expanded and revised as new discoveries are made.  This represents the best information we were able to obtain at this time.  We look forward to revisions as more is known.

Any male Adams who is interested may communicate with David.  The Y-DNA of all the males in our family who carry the Adams name (sons of sons of sons of Levi Adams) should be virtually identical.  Therefore David’s Y-DNA is identical to that of his male Adams cousins, brothers, sons, grandsons, etc.  David’s Y-DNA is that of his father (Edward Lemoyne Adams),  his grandfather (Edward Henry Adams), his great grandfather (Francis "Frank" Marion Adams), and his great, great grandfather (Levi Annison Adams), and his great, great, great grandfather (Samuel G. B. Adams).