The origin of the Celts
Where did the Proto-Celts originally come from? Where does y-DNA R1b originate? And what were their blood type frequencies before arriving in Western Europe?
What did the Yamna people look like?
Blue eyes may have originated with the Yamna people and red hair was frequent. R1b may have been their almost exclusive marker indicating that they were likely very much like today’s Celts appearance wise.
They were not “peace loving” people. The Proto-Celts invaded the Proto-Basques who had been living in the Pyrenees mountains peacefully for around 4,000 years. The original y-DNA markers of I2a and G2a have been replaced by R1b indicating the killing of the original Basque men.
There are strong indications that originally there were descendants of Neolithic farming cultures which have migrated towards Ireland and the British isles in general around 7,500 years ago. Their haplogroups were not likely y-DNA R1b. Yet in parts of Ireland, there is more than 98% y-DNA R1b presence. And overall, the vast majority of all Celtic groups carry R1b. Be it the original Boii of Bavaria and Bohemia, the Welsh having the highest percentage of R1b on a national level or the Scots up north. This indicates that the Yamna descendants not only conquered and killed the Basque men, but possibly did the same to the vast majority of the original male inhabitants of the British isles and Ireland. Fairy tales of ancient red-haired giants might be popular, yet it is clear that red hair came with the ancestors of the Celts from the Yamna cultures 4,000 years ago.
Steel blue eyes as well. Blue eyes are a mutation originating in their region. And due to the island setting, the original appearance has been preserved in many. Much more than in mainland Europe where mixing with dark-eyed people, blue eyes and generally not as blue.
During the time of the descendants of Neolithic farming cultures arriving, there was no such thing as British isles and Ireland. Mainland Europe was connected to the region via Doggerland. But by the time that the Yamna arrived, the sea levels have already risen making the geographic situation same as today.
Fairy tales are more pleasant to listen to than brutalities of the past. But it is a common part of history where population bottleneck came about. There can be different reasons for that. But when there is evidence that the original maternal haplogroups are still present today with the original y-DNA mostly if not absent, it comes clear that men were killed and women used to mate with. This is what happened to the Neanderthals (y-DNA not present in us), the Proto-Basques and later the original inhabitants of Brazil. And all over the world.
What were the original blood type frequencies of the Yamna people?
Needless to say, I am extremely interested in finding out more information on this. There are claims and reports out there indicating high frequencies in the region today Ukraine. It could have been that half of the Yamnas were rh negative, but there is no real proof of that. And looking at the high R1b frequencies in Ireland, we would have to assume that all of the original female inhabitants were rh positive considering today’s frequencies of around 25%.
Despite their island isolation, the Basques still have higher rh negative frequencies than Ireland, Scotland and Wales especially. The extermination of the original males from the region could have taken several generations causing a potential dilution of a possibly high initial rhesus negative frequency.
The continued elimination of male populations and offspring mating with female populations even along the way towards Doggerland is also likely responsible for original rh negative frequencies to have gone down, while the ancestors of the Proto-Basques may have more or less stuck together in their group of migrants without mating with other populations too much. And mind you, most regions at the time were sparsely populated if populated with humans at all.
Regardless, anywhere we look in terms of the origin of rh negative blood, we always are led into the same direction which is towards the Fertile Crescent.