- 1. History of the peoples and tribes who made Italy
- 2. Distribution maps of Y-DNA haplogroups
- 3. Y-DNA frequencies by region
- 4. MtDNA frequencies by region
-
History of the peoples and tribes who made Italy
Paleolithic to Neolithic
Europe has been inhabited by modern humans for over 40,000 years.
Three thirds of this time corresponds to the Ice Age, a period when
humans lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers in small tribes. During the
Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which lasted approximately from 26,500 to
19,000 years ago, most of northern and central Europe was covered by ice
sheets and was virtually uninhabitable for humans. Italy was one of the
temperate refugia for Cro-Magnons. It is thought that Cro-Magnons belonged chiefly to Y-DNA haplogroups F and I.
There are few surviving paternal lineages of Cro-Magnons in modern
Italy. Pockets of haplogroup I2* and I2c (L596) have been observed at
very low frequency in Northwest Italy, between the Alps and Tuscany. It
is not certain, however, that these lineages remained in Italy since the
Ice Age. They could have come from other parts of Europe later on,
notably with the Celts, who also brought I2a2b (L38). Germanic tribes
are brought haplogroup I1 and I2a2a (M223). Some or all of these
lineages might be descended from Cro-Magnons from the Italian peninsula
who migrated north when the climate warmed up 10,000 years ago.
The most common variey of haplogroup I in Italy is I2a1a
(M26), which is found mostly in Sardinia (36% of the male lineages) and
to a lower extent in Iberia and coastal areas of the Western
Mediterranean. It is still unclear where I2a1 (P214) developed. It could
have been in Italy, in the Balkans, or even further east in the
Carpathians and north of the Black Sea. According to current estimates,
I2a1 appeared about 20,000 years ago, close to the end of the LGM, and
split almost immediately into western branch (M26) and an eastern one
(M423). In all likelihood, the territory of the nomadic I2a1 people must
have included Northeast Italy and the Dinaric Alps within the refugium.
The tribe grew and split, with some branches going west to Italy and
the Western Mediterranean, and the other going east to the Balkans and
the Pontic Steppe.
By the time the first Neolithic farmers and herders arrived in
Italy from the Near East 8,000 years ago most of the peninsula could
well have been inhabited by I2a1a hunter-gatherers. Agriculture had
appeared in the Levant at least 11,500 years ago. In the ensuing two and
a half millennia it spread slowly to Anatolia and Greece. From Greece,
it took another millennium for Neolithic farmers to cross the sea to
Apulia, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia, and from there move inland and
colonised the rest of the peninsula for yet another millennium. Around
7,000 years ago all Italy bar the remotest corners of the Alps had
adopted agriculture. The Near-Eastern newcomers belonged essentially to haplogroup G2a, and seem to have carried a minority of E1b1b, J*, J1, J2 and T
lineages. The majority of modern Italian E1b1b and J2 came later
though, with the Etruscans, the Greeks, and the various Near Eastern
people who settled in Italy during the Roman Empire, particularly the
Jews and the Syrians.
Hunter-gatherers appear yo have mostly fled the peninsula after the arrival of Neolithic farmers, except in Sardinia,
where they blended with them, perhaps trapped by the sea and unable to
do otherwise. Nowadays, Sardinians are the population resembling most
closely Neolithic Europeans. This was already known from archeological
and anthropoligical studies, but was confirmed by the testing of Ötzi's genome,
a 5,300 year-old man mummified in the ice of the Italian Alps, and
whose DNA was found to be very close to that of modern Sardinians. The
geographic isolation of Sardinia has left its inhabitants to a large
degree unaffected by outside influences, apart from a minority of
Phoenician, Roman and Vandal colonisers. For example, the combined 3% of
hapogroups I1, I2a2a and R1a could be attributed to the Vandals, a
Germanic tribe who ruled over Sardinia from 435 to 534. The Romans left
some 10% of R1b-U152, and probably some additional E1b1b, G2a and J2
lineages.
Bronze Age to Iron Age
Italics & Romans
The Bronze Age was brought to Europe by the Proto-Indo-Europeans,
who migrated from the North Caucasus and the Pontic Steppe to the
Balkans (from circa 6,000 years ago), then went up the Danube and
invaded Central and Western Europe (from 4,500 years ago). Italic-speakers,
an Indo-European branch, are thought to have crossed the Alps and
invaded the Italian peninsula around 3,200 years ago, establishing the
Villanova culture and bringing with them primarily R1b-U152
lineages and replacing or displacing a large part of the indigenous
people. The Neolithic inhabitants of Italy sought refuge in the Apeninne
mountains and in Sardinia. Nowadays, the highest concentration of
haplogroup G2a and J1 outside the Middle East are found in the
Apeninnes, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia.
Italic tribes conquered the whole peninsula, but settled most heavily
in northern and central-west Italy, especially in the Po Valley and
Tuscany, but also in Umbria and the Latium, who both owe their names to
Italic tribes (the Umbrians and the Latins). In all logic, the ancient Romans,
from the original founders of Rome to the patricians of the Roman
Republic, should have been essentially R1b-U152 people. Intermarriages
with their Etruscan and Greek neighbours would have gradually brought
other lineages too to the Roman gene pool (see below).
An additional clue that the inhabitants of the Roman Republic still
belonged predominantly to R1b-U152 comes from the modern population in
the cities they founded. It is remarkable that most of the cities
founded during the Roman Republic by Roman colonists in northern Italy
(Alba, Aosta, Asti, Bologna, Brescia, Casale Monferrato, Cremona,
Ferrara, Forlì, Ivrea, Lodi, Massa, Milan, Modena, Monza, Parma, Pavia,
Piacenza, Pistoia, Pollenzo, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Sarzana, Torino,
Tortona) are located in the areas with the highest incidence of R1b-U152
(and lowest incidence of E1b1b and J2) today. Only a handful of Roman
colonies were set up in north-east Italy (Aquileia, Belluno, Pordenone,
Vicenza), four in the Marches (Ancona, Macerata, Pesaro and Senigallia),
and not a single one in the modern region of Liguria.
Naturally U152 was already present in northern Italy before the Roman
period. But if the Roman colonists had not been predominantly U152, its
frequency would have been diluted by the newcomers. What we observe is
the reverse; the frequency of U152 has been amplified around Roman
colonies.
R1b-U152 has also been found a low frequencies (1 to 10%) almost
everywhere within the boundaries of the Roman Empire, even in regions
where no other R1b-U152 people (e.g. Hallstatt/La Tène Celts) ever
settled, such as Sardinia and North Africa. On the other hand, not all
U152 in southern Italy may be of Italic or direct Roman origin. Some of
it may be attributed to the Normans (those of Gallo-Roman rather than
Viking descent) and Swabian Germans during the Middle Ages, especially
in Sicily.
During the Late Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age other
Indo-European tribes also settled in northern Italy, like the Ligures in
Liguria, the Lepontic and Gaulish Celts in Piedmont, and the Adriatic
Veneti in Veneto.
According to the founding myth of Rome,
Romulus and Remus descended from the Latin kings of Alba Longa,
themselves descended from Trojan prince Aeneas, who fled to the Latium
after the destruction of Troy by the Greeks. Troy may well have been
founded by the early M269 and/or L23 branches of R1b, representing the
first expansion of R1b from the Pontic Steppe to the Balkans (see R1b history).
If there is any truth in the myth (as there usually is), the Trojans
might have brought M269 or L23 (probably with other haplogroups, notably
J2) to central Italy circa 1200 BCE, around the same time as U152
invaded from the north. The Etruscans, who are thought to have
originated in western Anatolia, not far from Troy, might also have
brought R1b-L23 to Italy, also blended with other haplogroups (see
below). Nowadays R1b-L23 is the second most common subclade of R1b in
Italy (see map),
although well behind R1b-U152. L23 has a remarkably uniform
distribution over all the Italian peninsula, making between 5% and 10%
of the male lineages. It is found at a slightly higher frequency in
Campania and Calabria due to the Greek colonies, and decreases under 5%
of the population only around the Alps.
The study of Sardinian Y-DNA by Francalacci et al. (2013)
allowed to have a look at the subclades of R1b on this island that has
not been settled by the Celts or the Etruscans, nor by an Italic tribe
besides the Romans. The Greeks only had a brief a foothold at Olbia and
would not have influence the genetics of the island. In other words, all
the Indo-European R1b in Sardinia (bar a tiny percentage of Germanic
R1b brought by the Vandals) can be attributed to the Romans. The results
are unequivocal, R1b-U152 makes up 10.5% of all Sardinian lineages,
while R1b-M269 and R1b-L23 together amount to a mere 1.5%. This is yet
more evidence that U152 was probably the dominant Roman lineages. The
Sardinian U152 samples can be used to distinguish Roman subclades of
U152 from other Italic and Alpine Celtic subclades. All four top level
subclades of U152 were found in Sardinia, but in very different
proportions from the continent, especially north of the Alps where L2
makes up over two thirds of the lineages. In contrast, Z192 is the main
subclade in Sardinia (58.5% of all U152), followed by Z56 (10%, half of
being Z144+), L2 (7.8%, exclusively Z49+ and Z347+) and Z36 (5.5%, half
of it Z54+).
The analysis of Sardinian lineages hint that the ancient
Latins/Romans did not carry a lot of E1b1b lineages, if any. Out of 9.5%
of E1b1b in Sardinia, some 6% belongs to the North African M81
subclade, almost certainly dating from the time when Sardinia was a
Phoenician/Carthaginian colony with intensive links with North Africa.
The remaining 3.5% ought to be mostly of Neolithic and Phoenician
origin (see details),
meaning that the Romans probably didn't bring E1b1b lineages. The
percentage of haplogroup J2 in Sardinia that could be Roman is comprised
between 2% and 6%, so probably less than half, and perhaps as little as
a fifth of the percentage of R1b-U152. Haplogroup G2a in Sardinia is
widely believed to be chiefly of Neolithic origin, although a few
percents could be Phoenician or Roman. The Roman form of G2a is almost
certainly G2a3b1a and its two main subclades U1 and L497, whose
distribution in Europe mirrors that of R1b-U152. These subclades make up
1.5% of Sardinian lineages, a proportion of 1/7 compared to R1b-U152.
Etruscans, Phoenicians & Greeks
Between 1200 and 539 BCE the Phoenicians built a vast
commercial empire from their Levantine homeland along the southern
Mediterranean as far as Iberia. In Italy they had colonies in western
Sicily and southern and western Sardinia. Based on the haplogroups found
in modern Lebanon and in their former colonies, the Phoenicians seem to
have carried a mixture of haplogroup J2, J1, E1b1b, G, R1b-M269/L23, T,
L, R1b-V88, R2 and Q,
roughly in that order of frequency. By comparing Sardinian and Lebanese
DNA, it can be estimated that the Sardinians have inherited between 16%
and 24% of their Y-DNA from the Phoenicians (see details).
Another key player in the make-up of Iron Age Italy were the Etruscans,
who appeared circa 750 BCE apparently out of nowhere. Some have
postulated that they came from Anatolia, but their origins remain
uncertain to this day. Although their territory matches closely the
extent of the Italic haplogroup R1b-U152, the Etruscans were
non-Indo-European speakers, and their language is unrelated to any other
known ancient languages apart from the Raetic language of the Alps and
the Lemnian language of the Aegean Sea. It is likely that the Etruscans
came from somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean and imposed their
language on the Italic tribes living in Tuscany, then to the Po Valley,
thus splitting Indo-European-speaking tribes in two. Based on the
non-Indo-European halogroups found in central and southern Tuscany
today, the original Etruscans probably belonged to an compound of
haplogroups J2, E1b1b, G2a, and R1b-M269 (or R1b-L23) in that order of
frequency. This would appear to support of Greek or West Anatolian
origin. The high frequency of R1b-U152 found in Tuscany today can be
attributed to Italic tribes absorbed by the Etruscans, and to the Romans
who resettled part of Etruria.
It is the ancient Greeks who had the biggest impact on the
genetic make-up of southern Italy. From the 8th century BCE the Greeks
set up colonies all along the coasts of Campania, Calabria, Basilicata,
southern Apulia, and Sicily (except the western tip) in what would
become known as Magna Graecia. Their genetic signature are essentially
haplogroups J2 (18-30%) and E1b1b (15-25%), but the ancient Greeks also
carried some R1b-M269/L23 (5-10%), G2a (3-8%), T (1-6%), I2a1b (1-5%),
R1a (1-3%), and J1 (1-2%). It is very clear on the haplogroup maps that
the areas in central and southern Italy furthest from the coast and from
ancient Greek colonies, such as Abruzzo, Molise and the southern
Apennines correspond to the highest percentages of haplogroups G2a, J1
and T in Italy, but also the lowest frequency of E1b1b and J2 in the
southern half of Italy. There is no better way to contrast the Neolithic
population of Italy with the ancient Greek colonists.
The Greeks also colonised Liguria and the French Riviera,
where they founded Genoa, Nice (which was an Italian city until 1860)
and Marseille. The Phoenicians and Cartaginians also kept bases in
Liguria at some point. Modern Ligurians have the highest percentage of
haplogroup E1b1b outside southern Italy (almost entirely the Greek
E-V13), but also the highest level of G2a and J1 outside the Apennines,
which probably means that this mountainous region also served as a
shelter to Neolithic populations during the Italic invasions. R1b makes
up about half of Ligurian lineages, among which 22% belong to the U152
subclade, 20% to P312 (the highest level in Italy), 6% to L23, and 2% to
L21. The ancient Ligures spoke a language intermediary between Celtic
(P312, L21) and Italic (U152) families, and their Y-DNA is split exactly
in half between Italic and Celtic. The 6% of L23 are probably of Greek
origin. Overall about one third of the modern Ligurian lineages could be
of Greek origin.
Roman Empire & Middle Ages
In the first century Rome became the capital of a vast, cosmopolitan
empire. Immigration to Rome made the city grow from a population of
approximately 400,000 in the third century BCE, before Rome started
expanding outside the Italian peninsula, to at least 1 million under the
reign of Emperor Augustus (27 BCE to 14 CE). As those migrants came
from every part of the empire it is very hard to estimate how much
impact they had on the demographics of Rome and the Italian peninsula,
but it was surely considerable in the Latium region.
Goths, Lombards & Byzantines
In the 4th and 5th centuries the cooling of the climate prompted
Germanic and Slavic tribes to migrate south and west and to invade the
Roman Empire in search of more fertile lands. Germanic people brought
haplogroups I1, I2a2a (M223, formerly known as I2b1), R1b-U106 and R1a (L664, Z282 and Z283 subclades) to Italy.
The Vandals were the first to reach the Italian peninsula.
They had migrated to Iberia, then crossed over the North Africa in 429,
where they founded a kingdom that also comprised Sicily, Sardinia and
Corsica. Sardinia is the best place to look for traces of their DNA
because on the one hand it is the best studied region of Italy, and on
the other hand no other Germanic peoples settled there (apart from a
very brief Gothic reign), which means that the presence of Germanic
lineages on the island would incontestably be of Vandalic origin. Based
on the detailed Y-chromosomal study of 1200 Sardinians by Francalacci et al. (2013),
the Vandals appeared to have carried 35% of R1a, 29% of I2a2a, 24% of
R1b, 6% of I2a1b and a mere 6% of I1. The subclades identified were
I1a3a2 (L1237+), I2a2a (L699+ and CTS616+), I2a1b (M423+), R1a-Z282
(incl. some Z280+), R1a-M458 (L1029+), R1b-U106 (Z381+), R1b-L21
(DF13>L513+), R1b-DF27 (Z196>Z209+). The probable the reason for
the elevated (Proto-)Slavic R1a and the presence of the Eastern European
I2-M423 is that the Vandals stayed in Poland before migrating to the
Roman Empire. Over a third of Vandalic male lineages were therefore of
Proto-Slavic origin.
In 475, various East Germanic tribes (Herulians, Rugians, and
Scirians) were refused federated status by Roman emperor. Under the
leadership of Odoacer, a former secretary of Attila, they deposed the
last emperor and created the first Kingdom of Italy (476-493), bringing
to an end the Western Roman Empire. The kingdom was taken over by the Ostrogoths, who ruled the whole of Italy except Sardinia until 553. The Ostrogoths's capital was Ravenna. They were succeeded by the Lombards
(568-774), who had to contend for the political control of Italy with
the Byzantines. Like the Ostrogoths, the Lombards had invaded Italy from
Pannonia
and settled more densely in north-east Italy and in Lombardy, which was
named after them. The Lombard capital was in Pavia, Lombardy. They set
up many duchies, notably those of Friuli (based in Cividale), Trento,
Tuscany (based in Lucca), Spoleto, Benevento, as well as in the major
cities of Lombardy and Venetia.
The genes of the Goths and the Lombards became quickly diluted into
the Italian population owing to their relatively small number and their
geographic dispersal in order to rule and administer their kingdom. Both
the Goths and the Lombards originated in southern Sweden. Their
migration path differed considerably though. The Goths descended through
modern Poland as far as the Black Sea, where they surely intermingled
with the local populations, then moved into the Balkans in the middle of
the 3rd century, where they remained until the 5th century. Considering
the high percentage of R1a identified in Vandalic settlements in
Sardinia, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that the over half of the
Gothic lineages had become Proto-Slavic (R1a and I2a1b) by the time
they reached the Balkans. It was common practice at the time for Eastern
European tribes to converge and retain the name of the dominant tribe.
Around the same period the Huns had also been a compound of several
ethnicities brought together under Hunnic leadership. The Goths would
have subsequently blended to some extent with the native inhabitants of
the Balkans in the two centuries preceding their invasion of Italy,
assimilating mostly J2, E1b1b and more I2a1b lineages. In the 5th
century the Goths would have become such a melting pot that their
original Germanic Y-DNA might have only represented a small percentage
of their lineages. This explains why there is apparently so little Germanic Y-DNA in south-western France and Spain
(location of the former Visigothic kingdom) compared to other regions
conquered by Germanic tribes in Western Europe, including Italy.
In contrast with the Goths and the Vandals, the Lombards left
Scandinavia and descended due south through Germany, Austria and
Slovenia, only leaving Germanic territory a few decades before reaching
Italy. The Lombards would have consequently remained a predominantly
Germanic tribe by the time they invaded Italy.The DNA samples from
Campobasso in Molise and Benevento in Campania can give a good idea of
what proportion of each Germanic haplogroup the Lombards carried.
Campobasso was founded by the Lombards are lost its importance after
Lombard rule. Benevento was the seat of a powerful Lombard duchy. Among
the Germanic haplogroups identified in Campobasso by Boattini et al.
(2013) there were 16% of I1, 10.5% of R1b-U106 and 3.5% of I2a2a. No R1a
was found. The same study reported 5.5% of R1a, 2.5% of I1, and 2.5% of
R1b-U106 in Benevento. If we make the average, the Lombards seem to
have had roughly 40% of I1, 30% of R1b, 25% of R1a and 5% of I2a2a, a
frequency comparable to that of modern Sweden.
Some regions were never under Lombard domination, including Sardinia,
Sicily, Calabria, southern Apulia, Naples and the Latium. In all these
regions the Byzantines brought more Greco-Anatolian lineages
(especially E1b1b and J2), which were already the dominant lineages from
the Magna Graecia period. The Byzantines may have changed slightly the
balance of haplogroups in southern Italy, but their impact might have
been more contrasting in the parts of northern Italy that belonged to
the Exarchate of Ravenna,
namely Romagna, Marche, coastal Veneto and Liguria. It may be a
coincidence, but these regions happen to be exactly the ones where
haplogroups J2 and E1b1b reach frequencies comparable to Greece and
western Anatolia. J2 was not a major Neolithic lineage, and the Greeks
did not colonise northern Italy (apart from Liguria) in ancient times.
The Etruscans could have spread E1b1b and J2 to Emilia-Romagna, but were
not present in the other regions. The establishment of a Byzantine
population is therefore the best explanation for the high frequency of
E1b1b and J2 in Veneto and the Marches. The region of Constantinople has
one of the highest percentage of haplogroup J2 anywhere.
Franks, Arabs & Normans
The Franks conquered the Lombard kingdom of Italy in 774.
Contrarily to other Germanic tribes before them, the aim of the Franks
was not to find a new homeland. Consequently, they did not migrate en masse
to Italy. They only brought soldiers and administrators (not
necessarily of Frankish descent, but also former Gallo-Romans), like the
Romans had done when they expanded their empire. Their genetic print is
therefore more elusive, although they surely increased a bit the
proportion of I1 and R1b-U106.
Soon after the arrival of the Franks, the Saracens invaded
Sicily, where they established an emirate (831-1072). Most Muslims left
after the Normans reconquered the island in the 11th century. Sicily has
nevertheless slightly higher percentages of Southwest Asian haplogroup
J1 and North African haplogroup E-M81 than the rest of southern Italy.
The Arabs are known to have spread the J1 lineage during the spread of
Islam. However the Phoenician colonies in Sicily could just as well be
the cause of the higher J1 in Sicily. Likewise, E-M81 is the Berber
haplogroup, but its presence in Sicily could date back to Phoenician,
Roman or Vandal times, when exchanges were frequent between Sicily and
Tunisia.
The Normans left a much clearer print on Sicily and southern
Italy. Originally Vikings from Denmark, the Normans were granted a duchy
by the King of France in 911. From 999, invited by the Prince of
Salerno, Norman knights started serving as mercenaries for the Lombards
against the Byzantines. They quickly acquired counties and duchies of
their own and set about to unify all southern Italy under their rule. In
1061 they invaded Sicily, which was completely conquered in 1091. The
Norman Kingdom of Sicily was created in 1130, with Palermo as capital,
and would last until the 19th century. Nowadays it is in north-west
Sicily, around Palermo and Trapani, that Norman Y-DNA is the most
common, with 8 to 15% of the lineages belonging to haplogroup I1.
Distribution maps of Y-DNA haplogroups in Italy
Y-DNA frequencies by region
Total samples for Italy = 5909.
For the regions, the first row shows the number of samples, while the second row is the percentage for each haplogroup.
| Region/Haplogroup |
I1
|
I2b1
|
I2*+I2b2
|
I2a
|
R1a
|
R1b
|
G
|
J2
|
J* + J1
|
E1b1b
|
T
|
L
|
Q
|
Total
|
| Abruzzo
|
(3)
|
(2)
|
(0)
|
(1)
|
5
|
38
|
9
|
22
|
6
|
11
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
107
|
|
3%
|
2%
|
0%
|
1%
|
4.5%
|
35.5%
|
8.5%
|
21%
|
5.5%
|
10.5%
|
5.5%
|
3%
|
0%
|
|
| Apulia
|
(10)
|
(4)
|
(1)
|
(15)
|
13
|
117
|
52
|
94
|
13
|
82
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
426
|
|
2.5%
|
1%
|
0%
|
3.5%
|
3%
|
27.5%
|
12%
|
22%
|
3%
|
19%
|
1.5%
|
0%
|
0%
|
|
| Basilicata
|
(2)
|
(1)
|
(0)
|
(7)
|
3
|
29
|
10
|
17
|
2
|
23
|
(6)
|
0
|
0
|
104
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
0%
|
6.5%
|
3%
|
28%
|
9.5%
|
16.5%
|
2%
|
22%
|
6%
|
0%
|
0%
|
|
| Calabria
|
(4)
|
(1)
|
(0)
|
(2)
|
5
|
48
|
18
|
54
|
9
|
30
|
(4)
|
(3)
|
2
|
182
|
|
2%
|
0.5%
|
0%
|
1%
|
2.5%
|
26.5%
|
10%
|
29.5%
|
5%
|
16.5%
|
2%
|
1.5%
|
1%
|
|
| Campania
|
(6)
|
(2)
|
(1)
|
(9)
|
6
|
62
|
24
|
38
|
13
|
34
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
214
|
|
3%
|
1%
|
0.5%
|
4%
|
3%
|
29%
|
11%
|
18%
|
6%
|
16%
|
4%
|
0%
|
0%
|
|
| Emilia-Romagna
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
97
|
17
|
28
|
3
|
31
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
192
|
|
5%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0.5%
|
1%
|
50.5%
|
9%
|
14.5%
|
1.5%
|
16%
|
1%
|
0%
|
0%
|
|
| Friuli-Venezia Giulia
|
10
|
1
|
6
|
19
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
47
|
|
21.5%
|
2%
|
13%
|
40.5%
|
4%
|
10.5%
|
0%
|
6.5%
|
0%
|
2%
|
0%
|
|
| Latium
|
(4)
|
(3)
|
(1)
|
2
|
5
|
55
|
17
|
32
|
2
|
21
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
150
|
|
3%
|
2%
|
0.5%
|
1.5%
|
3.5%
|
36.5%
|
11.5%
|
21.5%
|
1.5%
|
14%
|
3.5%
|
0%
|
0.5%
|
|
| Liguria
|
5
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
60
|
12
|
12
|
4
|
22
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
125
|
|
4%
|
0%
|
1.5%
|
2.5%
|
1%
|
48%
|
9.5%
|
9.5%
|
3%
|
17.5%
|
1.5%
|
1%
|
0%
|
|
| Lombardy
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
3
|
47
|
8
|
5
|
0
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
80
|
|
2.5%
|
1%
|
4%
|
1%
|
4%
|
59%
|
10%
|
6%
|
0%
|
10%
|
1%
|
0%
|
0%
|
|
| Marches
|
(5)
|
(5)
|
(0)
|
(7)
|
8
|
83
|
19
|
60
|
16
|
32
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
245
|
|
2%
|
2%
|
0%
|
3%
|
3%
|
34%
|
8%
|
24.5%
|
6.5%
|
13%
|
2.5%
|
0.5%
|
0%
|
|
| Molise
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
7
|
7
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
29
|
|
14%
|
3.5%
|
3.5%
|
3.5%
|
0%
|
24%
|
24%
|
10.5%
|
3.5%
|
14%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
|
| Piedmont
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
16
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
30
|
|
3.5%
|
0%
|
7%
|
0%
|
3.5%
|
53.5%
|
10%
|
6.5%
|
3.5%
|
6.5%
|
3.5%
|
0%
|
0%
|
|
| Sardinia
|
(4)
|
(24)
|
(20)
|
864
|
28
|
423
|
274
|
202
|
89
|
218
|
(40)
|
(7)
|
(3)
|
2293
|
|
0%
|
1%
|
1%
|
37.5%
|
1%
|
18.5%
|
12%
|
9%
|
4%
|
9.5%
|
1.5%
|
0.5%
|
0%
|
|
| Sicily
|
(22)
|
(5)
|
(1)
|
(19)
|
29
|
169
|
54
|
149
|
33
|
133
|
25
|
1
|
7
|
653
|
|
3.5%
|
1%
|
0%
|
3%
|
4.5%
|
26%
|
8.5%
|
23%
|
3.5%
|
20.5%
|
4%
|
0%
|
1%
|
|
| Tuscany
|
(14)
|
(6)
|
(4)
|
5
|
15
|
200
|
34
|
44
|
7
|
35
|
8
|
2
|
0
|
380
|
|
4%
|
1.5%
|
1%
|
1.5%
|
4%
|
52.5%
|
9%
|
11.5%
|
2%
|
9%
|
2%
|
0.5%
|
0%
|
|
| Trentino-South Tyrol
|
(99)
|
29
|
267
|
(16)
|
(41)
|
(0)
|
34
|
18
|
14
|
-
|
523
|
|
21%
|
5.5%
|
47.5%
|
3%
|
8%
|
0%
|
6.5%
|
3.5%
|
2.5%
|
-
|
|
| Umbria
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
6
|
9
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
37
|
|
2.5%
|
0%
|
2.5%
|
0%
|
0%
|
38%
|
16%
|
24.5%
|
5.5%
|
8%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
|
| Veneto
|
8
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
38
|
5
|
15
|
1
|
12
|
2
|
6
|
0
|
92
|
|
8.5%
|
0%
|
1%
|
0%
|
2%
|
41.5%
|
5.5%
|
16.5%
|
1%
|
13%
|
2%
|
6.5%
|
0%
|
|
The data in brackets for haplogroups I, L and T are estimates when
studies didn't test for I subclades or didn't distinguish between T and
L. Some K* might be included under T.
Check the Y-chromosomal haplogroups of the Italians by province and region for an extensive list of all academic papers used to compute the above table.
Sources of Y-DNA frequencies
- Clinal
patterns of human Y chromosomal diversity in continental Italy and
Greece are dominated by drift and founder effects, Di Giacomo et al.
(2003) (PDF)
- Peopling
of three Mediterranean islands (Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily) inferred
by Y-chromosome biallelic variability, Francalacci, et al. (2003)
- Population Structure in the Mediterranean Basin:
A Y Chromosome Perspective, Capelli et al. (2006) (PDF)
- Y
chromosome genetic variation in the Italian peninsula is clinal and
supports an admixture model for the Mesolithic-Neolithic encounter,
Capelli et al. (2007)
- New
genetic evidence supports isolation and drift in the Ladin communities
of the South Tyrolean Alps but not an ancient origin in the Middle East,
Thomas et al. (2007)
- Y-chromosome genetic structure in sub-Apennine populations of Central Italy by SNP and STR analysis, Onofri et al. (2007)
- Slow and fast evolving markers typing in Modena males (North Italy), Ferri et al. (2008)
- Male haplotypes and haplogroups differences between urban (Rimini)
and rural area (Valmarecchia) in Romagna region (North Italy), Ferri et al. (2008)
- Y-Chromosome
Based Evidence for Pre-Neolithic Origin of the Genetically Homogeneous
but Diverse Sardinian Population: Inference for Association Scans, Contu
et al. (2008) (PDF)
- Moors and Saracens in Europe: estimating the medieval North African male legacy in southern Europe, Capelli et al. (2009)
- Differential Greek and northern African migrations to
Sicily are supported by genetic evidence from the Y chromosome, Di Gaetano et al. (2009)
- Genetic
Structure in Contemporary South Tyrolean Isolated Populations Revealed
by Analysis of Y-Chromosome, mtDNA, and Alu Polymorphisms, Pichler et
al. (2009)
- Uniparental Markers of Contemporary Italian Population Reveals Details on Its Pre-Roman Heritage, Brisighelli et al. (2012)
- Uniparental Markers in Italy Reveal a Sex-Biased Genetic Structure and Different Historical Strata, Boattini et al. (2013)
- Low-Pass DNA Sequencing of 1200 Sardinians Reconstructs European Y-Chromosome Phylogeny, Francalacci et al. (2013)
MtDNA frequencies by region
| Region/Haplogroup |
HV
|
H
|
HV0+V
|
J
|
T1
|
T2
|
U1
|
U2
|
U3
|
U4
|
U5
|
U
|
K
|
N1+I
|
N2+W
|
X
|
Other
|
Size
|
| Apulia |
1.9
|
35.7
|
2.6
|
10.4
|
3.2
|
9.1
|
1.3
|
1.3
|
2.6
|
3.2
|
4.5
|
2.6
|
5.8
|
5.8
|
3.2
|
2.6
|
3.9
|
154
|
| Calabria |
10
|
28
|
4
|
14
|
0
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
2
|
12
|
2
|
8
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
50
|
| Campania |
2.8
|
43.8
|
2.8
|
8
|
4.1
|
6.3
|
1.1
|
0.6
|
5.2
|
1.9
|
4.1
|
2.2
|
7.4
|
3.8
|
1.1
|
1.7
|
3
|
363
|
| Friuli-Venezia-Giulia |
6
|
54
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
12
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
50
|
| Latium |
2.7
|
39.5
|
5.4
|
9.7
|
3.2
|
8.1
|
2.1
|
0.5
|
1.6
|
0.5
|
8.6
|
1.6
|
4.3
|
3.2
|
1.6
|
3.2
|
3.8
|
185
|
| Liguria |
2
|
44
|
10
|
8
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
4
|
2
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
2
|
6
|
50
|
| Lombardy |
3.4
|
38.4
|
3.9
|
5.1
|
2.8
|
9
|
1.7
|
1.1
|
0
|
4
|
5.1
|
0
|
11.3
|
5.1
|
1.1
|
6.8
|
1.2
|
177
|
| Marche |
3.2
|
36.9
|
4.9
|
6.6
|
2.7
|
11.1
|
0.6
|
0.2
|
2.7
|
1.7
|
8.5
|
2.2
|
6.6
|
2.8
|
1.7
|
3.2
|
4.4
|
813
|
| Piedmont |
1.2
|
56.5
|
6.5
|
7.1
|
0.6
|
5.9
|
0
|
1.8
|
2.4
|
1.8
|
1.2
|
0.6
|
7.1
|
1.8
|
2.4
|
3
|
0.1
|
169
|
| Sardinia |
4.4
|
44.3
|
3.7
|
13
|
2.9
|
10.3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
1.4
|
6
|
1.6
|
0.4
|
0.4
|
1.3
|
328
|
| Sicily |
5
|
45.2
|
2.3
|
6.7
|
2.7
|
4.4
|
2
|
1
|
0.7
|
1.3
|
3.3
|
1.7
|
6.3
|
6
|
1
|
3.7
|
5.6
|
303
|
| Tuscany |
4.8
|
41.4
|
5.1
|
6.4
|
2.7
|
8.6
|
0.5
|
1.9
|
2.4
|
2.1
|
4
|
3.5
|
7.8
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.5
|
374
|
| Veneto |
1.5
|
41.2
|
5.9
|
10.3
|
2.9
|
18.8
|
?
|
?
|
1.5
|
?
|
1.5
|
(2.9)
|
4.4
|
1.5
|
0
|
4.4
|
0.1
|
68
|
| ITALY |
2.9
|
40.2
|
3.3
|
8.1
|
3.3
|
8.2
|
1.5
|
1.6
|
2.1
|
1.9
|
4.6
|
2.7
|
7.7
|
1.4
|
1.9
|
2
|
7.9
|
2799
|
|
|
