Haplogroups are branches of the Y-chromosome genetic tree. Haplogroup comparisons are used to bring together genetic cousins, explore family genealogical roots, and plot the migration of various branches of a given surname. With its roots in Africa approximately 140,000 years ago, as time passed, small mutations occurred in the Y-chromosome. Whenever a mutation happened the tree branched out and over time as people migrated into different continents and regions, a tree-like structure was created with branches found in certain parts of the world.

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Haplogroup E is split into E1, E2 and E3. E1 and E2 have been observed almost exclusively on the African continent. The third branch, E3, is seen within Africa, Europe and western Asia. As it is the only haplogroup to be seen both inside and outside of Africa, it is evidence of the "out-of-Africa" theory where a likely small group of modern humans within Haplogroup E3 crossed from Africa into the Near East approximately 75-80,000 years ago. Early research held the theory that E3b was spread by the expansion of farmers though the Neolithic period (6000-2900 BCE), however further studies reveal a more complex picture of migration events beginning approximately 25,000 years ago in East Africa.

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Participant, Balbi Family DNA Project: A male whose surname is Balbi or a derivative such as Balbis, Balby, Balbus.

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Haplogroup I1b is seen about 22,000 - 23,000 years ago and possibly stemmed from descendants who arrived from the Near East about 25,000 years ago. As the last ice age began it became necessary to move down to below the tree line to hunt game. At its peak, the ice shelf within Europe extended down as far as southern Ireland, the middle of England and across northern Germany. Scandinavia was entirely covered. The sea-ice pack extended as far as northern Spain and tundra covered much of continental Europe. The tree line at the height of the ice age was as far south as Southern France, Northern Italy, north of the Balkans and across the Baltic Sea. Haplogroup I populations predominately took refuge in the Balkans.

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Haplogroup R1b members are believed to be the descendants of the first modern humans who entered Europe about 35,000-40,000 years ago. Those R1b forebearers were the people who painted the beautiful art in the caves in Spain and France. They were the contemporaries, and perhaps exterminators, of the European Neanderthals. R1b is the most common Y haplogroup in Europe; more than half of men of European descent belong to R1b.

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Haplogroup G is considered to be about 14,300 years old. It is observed in high frequency and diversity in Georgia within and south of the Caucasus Mountains which would suggest an origin. This haplogroup also has a strong linguistic affiliation to the northwest Caucasian languages, with their paucity of phonemic vowels and rich consonantal sounds. Additionally high frequencies north of the Caucasus in North Ossetia are detected, although as there is less haplotype diversity in this northern region it would suggest that only a few founding lineages entered and became successful over time. Upper Paleolithic inhabitants of Weasel Cave in North Ossetia may well have fallen into this haplogroup. This haplogroup is also seen south into Iraq and into Southeastern Europe but almost entirely absent from the rest of Europe.

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The Y-chromosome is the most widely used application of genetics in genealogy. Passed from father to son, the Y-chromosome remains virtually unchanged from generation to generation. Therefore, examining the Y-chromosome of a living male representative on a given paternal line will reveal information about each of the preceding male ancestors (living or deceased) in that same line and allow for the identification of shared ancestry or verification of existing genealogies.

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