The Great Orme - The World's Largest Bronze Age Copper Mine was in Cymru

THE ANCIENT CELTIC BRONZE AGE CIVILISATION

The catalyst to publish this article came from the following BBC News story:

DNA test to prove Bronze Age link

Well some of the DNA evidence is in already:

1. The following table shows a Y-Haplogroup comparison between Cymry and England:

Please notince in the above table the following regarding Y-Haplogroup prevalence in Cymru compared to England percentage-wise:

a. G - 3 times more prevalent in Cymru.

b. E3b - 50% more prevalent in Cymru.

c. R1b - 22% more prevalent in Cymru.

Lets look at each of these in turn:

R1b Y-haplogroup:

Regarding our 82% majority R1b Y-haplogroup, the Wikipedia article on R1b states:

"However, more recently it has become more widely accepted that R1b entered Europe from Asia more recently, perhaps in the Neolithic.[6][7]"

Citation [6] is the paper "The distribution of this lineage, the diversity within it, and estimates of its age all suggest that it spread with farming from the Near East...Previous studies suggested a Paleolithic origin, but here we show that the geographical distribution of its microsatellite diversity is best explained by spread from a single source in the Near East via Anatolia during the Neolithic", Balaresque et al. 2010,A Predominantly Neolithic Origin for European Paternal Lineages

Diagrams from above Citation [6] article show this idea well:

Diagram A: dates of early Neolithic sites in Europe in thousands of years before present.

Diagram B: frequency of R-M269 (R1b1b2).

Diagram C: variance within R-M269 (R1b1b2).

Notice the earliest agriculture dates, higher regional M269 frequency and overall M269 variance in Anatolia as the area of origin in the very earliest Neolithic for a majority of Celtic-Western Europe's population. Beth Nesaf alerted readers to the likelihood of this conclusion ebing reached from population genetics research last year from May 2009 in our articles where we noted Chris Tyler-Smith's critique of Dr Oppenheimer's argument for a predominantly Paleaolithic origin (editing out his Palaeolithic references when quoting him). Note that the passages we did quote from Dr. Oppenhiemer's article, we thoroughly agree with and thank him for outlining the Mediterranean-Atlantic Sea-borne migration and settlement of the Celts in accord with our epic poems as recorded by early Christian monks:

'...another geneticist, Christopher Tyler-Smith of the Sanger Centre near Cambridge...As to the identity of the first postglacial settlers, Dr. Tyler-Smith said he “would favor a Neolithic origin for the Y chromosomes, although the evidence is still quite sketchy.”'. The Celtic community thanks Dr. Tyler-Smith and his collaborators for clearing this up in this ground-breaking paper.

The Healing Stones of Cymru THE ANCIENT CELTIC MEGALITHIC CIVILISATION

Professor Steve Jones "Y: The Descent of Men" Genes, Celtic Origins and Relationships

These previous articles are being updated due to the rapid advance in human population genetics and archaeology over the past 10 months as reported by our Wikipedia friends. Please note the correspondence of early Neolithic sites, high relative R-M269 regional frequency and high R-M269 diversity in the region of the Byblos Culture we noted before.

Now on to the Copper and Bronze Ages where the same scientific processes are unravelling the story of another phase in Celtic Civilisation:

G Y-haplogroup - G213b1 subclade:

Regarding our G Y-haplogroup that is 3 times that of the English percentage, theWikipedia article on G states:

"In Wales, a distinctive G2a3b1 type (DYS388=13 and DYS592=12) dominates there and pushes the G percentage of the population higher than in England."

"The G2a3b1 definable subgroups are heavily concentrated throughout Europe west of the Black Sea and Russia where G2a3b1 is often in the majority among G persons."

In theWikipedia article on G2a3b1 it states:

"The percentage of haplogroup G among available samples from Wales is overwhelmingly G2a3b1. Such a high percentage is not found in nearby England, Scotland or Ireland."

So where did these distinctive people come from ? Indicating the probable area of origin of G2a3b1, this Wikipedia article states:

"This haplogroup represents the majority of haplogroup G men in most areas of Europe west of Russia and the Black Sea. To the east, G2a3b1 -- except in the northwestern Caucasus Mountains area--is just a large or small minority among G persons in such locales as Turkey, the Middle East, Iran, the southern Caucasus area, China and India."

In other words, it is only in the North-Westerm Caucasus area, that G2a3b1 forms the majority of G persons East of Europe where it also forms such a majority of G persons.

"..in Russia along the north slope of the Caucasus where G2a3b1 is common among the Kabardinians" and: "...the north Caucasus type of G2a3b1* seen especially among the Kabardinians"

G2a3b1* is the ancestral type of G2a3b1 without subsequent major mutations.

When did these people orginate ? This Wikipedia article says:

"Based on the number of mutations seen in 67-marker STR values, this P303 mutation perhaps occurred about 5,000 years ago, and the major subgroups developed their mutations about 4,000 years ago. "

So we are looking for a source culture of age around 3,000 BC or so, and entering Europe, spreading and developing local mutations in each region of its spread around 2,000 BC or so.

The NW Caucasian Kabardinians are the Eastern Refuge area branch of the Adyghe (Circassian) people who were decimated further West, but today there is a small remnant in their own small fragmented area in Russia whose capital is Maykop. The Shapsug branch of the Adyghe are located on the Black Sea near Tuapse, NW of Sochi (site of the next Winter Olympics) towards the Crimea have 81.1% G Y-haplogroup: "The reported high G concentration among the Shapsugs of the far northwestern Caucasus represents the highest percentage of G among any group worldwide.".

Read the Wikipedia article on the Maykop Culture from which I have extracted the picture below of the amazing Golden Ox figurine made by the expert metal workers of theis culture. Starting in 3,700 BC they alloyed Copper with Arsenic purposefully to produce Arsenic Bronze hard-edged daggers. Arsenic Bronze became the dominant type of Bronze later in early Bronze Age Europe. This culture seems the ideal source culture and population source.

Golden ox figurine. Middle of 3rd millennium BC. Found in Maykop kurgan. Hermitage Museum exhibition.

So how did people from this culture get to Europe and what culture in Europe corresponds in age and characteristics to our Adyghe-Circassian Maykop skilled prospectors and copper metallurgists - the original "smithies" ?

Well, there is such a culture and there is a defined intermediate precursor culture and there is a ready means of transport into Europe. This culture is the Beaker Culture with its precursors in the Carpathian Basin. The Wikipedia article on the Beaker Culture explains:

"Possible pottery precursors
A type of Chalcolithic cord-impressed ware was produced by the Usatovo culture, bordering the Black Sea. This is generally classed as a Tripolye C2 culture, but appeared in the steppe zone and has steppe elements, and so should be considered a composite culture of steppe herders and arable farmers.[7]"

Citation [7]: D.W. Anthony, The Horse, The Wheel and Language (2007), pp. 351-3.

In the Wikipedia article on the Beaker precursor Usatovo Culture it is explained:

"Usatovo culture, 3500—3000 BC, an archaeological culture facing the Black sea between the mouths of the Bug River and the Danube in present-day Romania, Moldavia, and southern Ukraine.
It is seen as a hybrid, with roots in both the Cernavoda and the Tripolye cultures, overlain by an intrusive steppe-derived element of the Indo-European-speaking Kurgan culture. Metal artefacts are connected to contacts with the distant Caucasus."

In the Wikipedia article Haplogroup G (Y-DNA) Country-by-Country there is a population

"Moldova, Republic of
In 89 samples taken among the Turkic-speaking Gagauzes of southern Moldova 13.5% were G.[72]"

Citation [72]: Varzari A, Kharkov V, Stephan W, et al. (2009). "Searching for the origin of Gagauzes: inferences from Y-chromosome analysis". American Journal of Human Biology 21 (3): 326–36. doi:10.1002/ajhb.20863. PMID 19107901

The approximate extent of Beaker usage is shown on the Wikipedia map below:

E1b1b (E-M215) previously known as E3b Y-haplogroup - E1b1b1a2 (E-V13) subclade:

Bob Jones December 2009 - March 2010. You are free to use any of the above information with the following restrictions:

1. You must not use it as the basis for any discriminatory comments or actions against any people or group.

2. You must use the material for the promotion of the interests of the people or group and not for any other purpose whether it be commercial or otherwise. Such use must not be against the interests of other people or group.

3. Send Beth Nesaf an email with the link to the web page or reference to the publication or document where such use is made of the information.