New Haplogroup System
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The haplogroups HG1, HG2, HG3 are part of an older classification system that was used when less was known about the human Y-chromosome tree.
In 2002 the Y Chromosome Consortium (YCC) came out with a new classification system to standardize the way haplogroups are named. In the new system the main branches are assigned letters - from A through R. HG1 and HG3 just get new names - HG1 is named as a sub-branch of the letter R known as "R1b", and HG3 is in another sub-branch known as "R1a1". The situation with HG2 is more complex. It turns out that several very different branches of the human Y-chromosome tree had been lumped together under the label "HG2". In Europe, the HG2s included members of the F, G, I, and J branches.
The set of most common values for HG2 given here is based on a database of 140 results whose HG2 components were likely primarily of the haplogroup "I" branch. Haplogroup "I" is found in Central and Eastern Europe, but also accounts for almost all the HG2s in Northern Europe and the British Isles. Haplogroup "I" is thought to stem from a group (Gravettian culture) that arrived in Europe from the Middle East about 25,000 years ago. The Gravettian culture was "known for its Venus figurines, shell jewellery, and for using mammoth bones to build homes".
The other parts of HG2 - Haplogroups F, G, and J - are more common in Southern and Eastern Europe. They are believed to be the descendants of the Neolithic farmers from the Middle East who were the first to practice agriculture in Europe. Each of those branches will have their own set of common values - all different from that shown here for "I". If your values for DYS426, DYS438 and GGAAT1B07 match those of HG2 but you differ from the HG2 most common values in more than about ten markers, then you may belong to the F, G, or J parts of HG2.
A fascinating map of the distribution of haplogroups in Europe is given on page 1156 of Semino's 2000 paper "A Genetic Legacy of Homo Sapiens Sapiens in Extant Europeans: a Y Chromosome Perspective". Haplogroup R1b (HG1) is shown in green, R1a1 (HG3) is shown in purple, I is shown in blue, and F,G, and J are shown in red. Other haplogroups shown on the map but not discussed here are haplogroup E3b (yellow), and haplogroup N3a (pink).
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