About us
The goals of this project are to determine the origins of our R-L371 Celtic ancestors amongst the R-P312>S461>L21 Celts of SW Britain ca 2800 to 2500 BCE, the development of the the development of the R-L371 SNP ca 2100 BCE, and the migration of the R-L371 forefathers to their Celtic tribal homeland in the period ~2000 BCE to ~1500 BCE.
We have identified a total of 8 clades and subclades below R-L371, which have revealed surprising results about the L371 clan, with a particularly wide surname range and wide geographaical distribution for a one subclade of a single Brythonic Celtic tribe.
We have also performed a surname study for nearly every surname that is R-L371+ in our project (presently 71 kits), looking at the geographical distributions of the surnames in 1880-1901 Census for Britain, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany (2014 data).
Only 2 of 8 subclades appear to come from Wales as defined by modern boundaries. Welsh surnames are also extremely common in NW England, in areas that were once Brythonic speaking in the timeframe 500 AD to 1000 AD. In some of our L371 subclades, the predominance of English surnames in a given subclade suggests that the "Welsh" surnames originate from NW England rather than Wales. We have other R-L371 descendants with Scottish surnames, Irish surnames, and even (presumed) French surnames, which suggests that R-L371 descendants were already widely distributed by ~1000 AD.
As detailed further on the Project Results, we believe that this suggests with an ~85% probability that the R-L371 SNP was specific to the Cornovii tribe of the Midlands (present day Shropshire, plus parts of Cheshire and NW Wales), and that all present day L371+ males are descendants of the Cornovii tribe that ruled the West Midlands from ~1500 BCE to 45 AD.
The R-L371 SNP mutation was formed in SW Britain about 2100 BCE. The next major R-FGC30633 SNP mutation was formed much later about 500 BCE to 500 AD. All present day R-L371+ males are descended from a common ancestor born sometime in Central Britain in the time period 500 BCE to 500 AD, probably near present day Shropshire.
See Project Results for further information.
We have identified a total of 8 clades and subclades below R-L371, which have revealed surprising results about the L371 clan, with a particularly wide surname range and wide geographaical distribution for a one subclade of a single Brythonic Celtic tribe.
We have also performed a surname study for nearly every surname that is R-L371+ in our project (presently 71 kits), looking at the geographical distributions of the surnames in 1880-1901 Census for Britain, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany (2014 data).
Only 2 of 8 subclades appear to come from Wales as defined by modern boundaries. Welsh surnames are also extremely common in NW England, in areas that were once Brythonic speaking in the timeframe 500 AD to 1000 AD. In some of our L371 subclades, the predominance of English surnames in a given subclade suggests that the "Welsh" surnames originate from NW England rather than Wales. We have other R-L371 descendants with Scottish surnames, Irish surnames, and even (presumed) French surnames, which suggests that R-L371 descendants were already widely distributed by ~1000 AD.
As detailed further on the Project Results, we believe that this suggests with an ~85% probability that the R-L371 SNP was specific to the Cornovii tribe of the Midlands (present day Shropshire, plus parts of Cheshire and NW Wales), and that all present day L371+ males are descendants of the Cornovii tribe that ruled the West Midlands from ~1500 BCE to 45 AD.
The R-L371 SNP mutation was formed in SW Britain about 2100 BCE. The next major R-FGC30633 SNP mutation was formed much later about 500 BCE to 500 AD. All present day R-L371+ males are descended from a common ancestor born sometime in Central Britain in the time period 500 BCE to 500 AD, probably near present day Shropshire.
See Project Results for further information.