Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Science & Technology > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Science & Technology

Half of European men descended from one king

By T.K. Randall
April 26, 2016 · Comment icon 31 comments

The Bronze Age king's descendants are spread throughout Europe. Image Credit: sxc.hu
A new study has revealed that half of all European men are descended from a single Bronze Age monarch.
Scientists are unable to say exactly who this individual was or where he lived, but by analyzing the sequence differences in Y chromosomes from 1200 men across Europe it has been possible to link half of the continent's male population to this one historical figure who lived 4,000 years ago.

Believed to have been a person of much power and influence, this Bronze Age king is thought to have used advances in technology ( such as wheeled transport ) to sire a dynasty of elite nobles whose descendants spread throughout Europe right up until the present day.
"In Europe there was huge population expansion in just a few generations," said Dr Chris Tyler-Smith from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Genetics can't tell us why it happened but we know that a tiny number of elite males were controlling reproduction and dominating the population."

"Half of the European population is descended from just one man. We can only speculate as to what happened. The best explanation is that they may have resulted from advances in technology that could be controlled by small groups of men."

The team's research also looked at the first common ancestor of all modern humans and found that everyone alive today is descended from a single individual who lived over 190,000 years ago.

Source: Gulf News | Comments (31)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #22 Posted by Goodnite 8 years ago
Thanks to 23 and me I know I'm royalty. Lol.
Comment icon #23 Posted by lightly 8 years ago
. . . . yourrr Majesty*
Comment icon #24 Posted by psyche101 8 years ago
@freetoroam - Assuming you weren't joking, only men pass their Y chromosome down to their sons. This is also where most evolution occurs. Female lineage can't be traced from female to female. I guess you're joking since this is 8th grade Biology stuff. The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.
Comment icon #25 Posted by LV-426 8 years ago
The only stupid question is the one that is not asked. Hmm... I dunno... If someone asked me "Is the moon really made of cheese?" or "Do cats really have nine lives for realz?" I'm not sure I'd be inviting them to my quiz team! But I take your point!
Comment icon #26 Posted by psyche101 8 years ago
Hmm... I dunno... If someone asked me "Is the moon really made of cheese?" or "Do cats really have nine lives for realz?" I'm not sure I'd be inviting them to my quiz team! But I take your point! I am not sure that I would call them "questions"............
Comment icon #27 Posted by DieChecker 8 years ago
So what about all the "former" Euopeans living in the Americas? Probably half of them are descended from the same guy. We all know who it was....... Hercules.....
Comment icon #28 Posted by Aardvark-DK 8 years ago
Well King Idiot the Moron, according to some women.... I don't agree here, humans have different gene pools, not just from 1 strain of family...arabs, turks, sheep....
Comment icon #29 Posted by Gingitsune 8 years ago
There are three different type of DNA in humans, each has its own story to tell. Autosomal DNA, which is what you refer to, Aardvark-DK, in one of them. It is a mix from ancestors all across the tree, but within less than 10 generations some ancestor's contribution is entirely gone. On a population scale, we see which ancient peoples contributed genetically to modern people. The Neandertal and Denisovan's DNA among modern humans is the kind of discovery only autosomal DNA can provide. The same for the Mal'ta boy, whose autosomal DNA linked European and Amerindian as his people was ancestral of... [More]
Comment icon #30 Posted by woopypooky 8 years ago
why al Quran say earth was created 6000 yrs ago?
Comment icon #31 Posted by theotherguy 8 years ago
why al Quran say earth was created 6000 yrs ago? It's been a while since I read the Quran, but 6,000 years is a long time, just on the edges of "time immemorial." Not sure what that has to do with the lineages of Bronze Age kings, though. This article still takes place within the last 4,000 years.


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Recent news and articles