The lineage of the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Horn
Haplogroup E1b1b, defined by M215, is the characteristic paternal lineage of North Africa and the Horn of Africa, and it is also common around the Mediterranean and in the Near East. Unlike its relative E1b1a, which is sub-Saharan, E1b1b bridges Africa and the northern shores of the Mediterranean, and it is one of the major lineages of southern Europe.
E1b1b reaches its highest frequencies in North Africa and the Horn of Africa, where it is often the dominant lineage. It is common throughout the Near East and around the Mediterranean, with significant frequencies in Greece, the Balkans, southern Italy and Iberia. This trans-Mediterranean spread reflects a long history of movement and contact across that sea.
E1b1b is a northern branch of haplogroup E, and its origin is generally placed in northeastern Africa, from where it spread both across North Africa and into the Near East and Europe. The main expansions that shaped its modern distribution are usually discussed in connection with movements over the last several thousand years, including the spread of farming into the Mediterranean, though the details and dating remain debated.
E1b1b contains several important branches with distinct distributions. One is strongly associated with the Horn of Africa and East Africa; another, often discussed under the label M81, is the characteristic Berber lineage of North Africa; others are found across the Near East and Europe. These branches carry much sharper geographic signals than the top-level label.
An E1b1b result is consistent with ancestry anywhere from the Maghreb to the Horn of Africa to southern Europe, so the subclade matters a great deal here. Downstream SNP testing will usually distinguish, for example, a North African Berber branch from a Balkan or East African one — a distinction the top-level result cannot make.
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