Innovative Steppe People
The first R1b men crossed the Caucasus Mountains by about 5000 BC and spread across the northern steppes. It took over a thousand year before the second wave of R1b men migrated north over the Caucasus about 3700 BC. At the same time the so-called Maykop culture (3700-2500 BC) emerged in the Northern Caucasus region, the first culture which belonged to the Bronze Age.
The spread of R1b men to the northern steppe regions continued. The steppes were not deserted. During the Neolithic age a sparse population of nomads there already inhabited the region. Among these populations there were R1b men who had come with the first wave of migrants from the refuge. It has remained unclear with which of the waves the ancient ancestors of the Hjelt family crossed the Caucasus Mountains. However, the different genetic groups interbred on the steppes and the classification of the populations into ethnic groups is based on considerations other than genes. After this last migration the steppe people then consisted of three genetic groups: the western areas were dominated by the R1b group and the eastern areas by the R1a group, including an R1b minority consisting of approximately 5-10% of the total population. Furthermore there was also a group of Caucasian men living there which belonged to haplogroup G.
The way of life on the steppes differed from what it had been on the northern hillsides of the Caucasus. The Yamna culture (3600-2300 BC) developed on the steppes, and it had widespread influence for over two thousand years. The way of life on the steppes was nomadic. The wild horses had been tamed there earlier, and significant inventions such as the wheel and the cart were made within the Maykop culture. Tents and other belongings were loaded onto the carts drawn by the oxen. The men rode and tended the cattle, bovines, pigs, sheep and goats on the move. The craft of working with metals began during the time of Maykop-culture, and the making of bronze objects developed further on the steppes. Among others, the oldest known bronze sword has been found recently on a northern hillside of the Caucasus Mountains. Its form is similar to the swords made by the Celts about 3000 years later. Some other discoveries, such as the productive use of sheep wool, were also made found which indicate that the Celts' ancient origin was on the steppes. The dead were buried in pits, their knees bent, and with their faces turned to the northeast. Mounds typical of the Yamnas were built over the graves.
According to the common understanding today, somewhere in the area of the Yamna-culture there occurred a certain mutation on one individual R1b man. All his male descendants bear this same mutation and we thus belong to the haplogroup R-M269. This group is found in small numbers in Eurasia but in Western Europe it is the most common. The frequency is 92% in Wales, 82% in Ireland, 70% in Scotland, 68% in Spain, 60% in France (76% in Normandy), and 100% among the family Hjelts men :)
The Yamnas are considered to be Proto-Indo-European, but they were not of any individual ethnic group. They consisted of different populations that spoke Proto-Indo-European languages.
On the map I have marked in yellow the directions of migration of those haplogroups to which the ancient ancestors of the Hjelt family belong. The Red color is used to show the directions of other R1b men's migration.
Invasion
In February 2015 a scientific news story was published. It referred to a comprehensive study the results of which are also interesting from the point of view of this article. In the study, DNA tests were performed on 94 ancient persons' bones which had once been stored in museums around Europe. In brief, the results showed that the migration of Indo-Europeans to Central Europe happened earlier and were more massive than supposed before. The term "invasion" was used in the study to describe the speed of the influx. In this invasion the above named Yamnas took in central role. They brought with them the Bronze Age, Indo-European languages and their many inventions.
The effect of the invasion on the population of Europe was quick and radical. Paleo-Europeans here still lived in the Neolithic stage of development and they had no possibility of successively standing against the technologically superior steppe people. In a couple of generations the elite males of local tribes were probably replaced, and gradually other menfolk as well. The newcomers did not bring a significant number of women with them, and thus the population grew with local women. As a consequence the Caucasian and East-Asian appearance of steppe people disappeared and the skin and hair of the new Europeans became lighter. In other words, the European type which looks familiar to us was created during this period. Old Paleo-European languages in Central Europe were replaced by Indo-European languages.
The invasion was performed mainly in two routes: the northern route was directed toward the areas of the present Czech Republic, Poland and Northern Germany. In the aforementioned study ancient bones were found of people who used this route, and they belong to the same haplogroup as the men of the Hjelt family nowadays. So we are on the right track. The so-called Únětice culture (2300-1600 BC) arose to this area. The name cannot be translated into English because it was derived from the name of a Czech village. Despite the phonetic instruction [ˈuːɲɛcɪt sɛ] I still don't understand how the name should be pronounced. The R1b men who have lived here are identified nowadays by haplogroup R-L11.
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Úněticean house reconstruction, Bohemia
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In the formation of the Bronze Age in Europe the significance of the Únětice-culture is central. Its population was peculiar and dynamic. Its effects reached considerably more widely than the actual area which they inhabited. Únětice ceramics and bronze objects have been found in Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Italy and Balkans
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Haak, Wolfgang; Lazaridis, Iosif
et al.: "Massive
migration from the steppe is a source for Indo-European languages in
Europe". BioRxiv, February 2015.
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