Individuals receive mtDNA only from their mothers. According to Macaulay et al. 1999, "one-third of Mozabite Berber mtDNAs have a Near Eastern ancestry, probably having arrived in North Africa less than 50,000 years ago, and one-eighth have an origin in sub-Saharan Africa. Europe appears to be the source of many of the remaining sequences, with the rest having arisen either in Europe or in the Near East."[13] Maca-Meyer et al. 2003 analyze the "autochthonous North African lineage U6" in mtDNA, and conclude that:
The most probable origin of the proto-U6 lineage was the Near East. Around 30,000 years ago it spread to North Africa where it represents a signature of regional continuity. Subgroup U6a reflects the first African expansion from the Maghreb returning to the east in Paleolithic times. Derivative clade U6a1 signals a posterior movement from East Africa back to the
Maghreb and the Near East. This migration coincides with the probable Afroasiatic linguistic expansion.
A genetic study by
Fadhlaoui-Zid et al. 2004[14] argues concerning certain exclusively North African haplotypes that "expansion of this group of lineages took place around 10,500 years ago in North Africa, and spread to neighbouring population", and apparently that a specific Northwestern African haplotype, U6, probably originated in the Near East 30,000 years ago but has not been highly preserved and accounts for 6-8 percent in
southern Moroccan Berbers, 18 percent in
Kabyles and 28 percent in Mozabites. Rando et al. 1998 (as cited by
[1]) "detected female-mediated gene flow from sub-Saharan Africa to NW Africa" amounting to as much as 21.5 percent of the mtDNA sequences in a sample of NW African populations; the amount varied from 82 percent (
Tuaregs) to 4 percent (
Rifains). This north-south gradient in the sub-Saharan contribution to the gene pool is supported by
Esteban et al.[15]
Nevertheless, individual Berber communities display a considerably high mtDNA heterogeneity among them.
The Berbers of Jerba Island, located in South Eastern Tunisia, display an 87 percent Eurasian contribution with no U6 haplotypes,
[16] while the Kesra of Tunisia, for example, display a much higher proportion of typical
sub-Saharan mtDNA haplotypes (49 percent),
[17] as compared to the Zriba (8 percent). According to the article, "The North African patchy mtDNA landscape has no parallel in other regions of the world and increasing the number of sampled populations has not been accompanied by any substantial increase in our understanding of its phylogeography. Available data up to now rely on sampling small, scattered populations, although they are carefully characterized in terms of their ethnic, linguistic, and historical backgrounds. It is therefore doubtful that this picture truly represents the complex historical demography of the region rather than being just the result of the type of samplings performed so far."
Additionally, recent studies have discovered a close mitochondrial link between Berbers and the Saami of Scandinavia which confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe was the source of late-glacial expansions of hunter-gatherers that repopulated northern Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum and reveals a direct maternal link between those European hunter-gatherer populations and the Berbers.[17][18] With regard to Mozabite Berbers, one-third of Mozabite Berber mtDNAs have a Near Eastern ancestry, probably having arrived in North Africa ∼50,000 years ago, and one-eighth have an origin in sub-Saharan Africa. Europe appears to be the source of many of the remaining sequences, with the rest having arisen either in Europe or in the Near East."[19]
According to the most recent and thorough study about Berber mtDNA from Coudray et al. 2008 that analysed 614 individuals from 10 different regions (Morocco (Asni, Bouhria, Figuig, Souss), Algeria (Mozabites), Tunisia (Chenini-Douiret, Sened, Matmata, Jerba) and Egypt (Siwa))
[20] the results may be summarized as follows :
- Total Eurasian lineages (H, HV, R0, J, T, U (without U6), K, N1, N2, X) : 50-80 percent
- Total sub-Saharan lineages (L0, L1, L2, L3, L4, L5) : 20-40 percent
- Total North African lineages (U6, M1) : 10-30 percent
The Berber mitochondrial pool is characterized by an "overall high frequency of Western Eurasian haplogroups, a somehow lower frequency of sub-Saharan L lineages, and a significant (but differential) presence of North African haplogroups U6 and M1".
[21] And according to Cherni et al. 2008 "the post-Last glacial maximum expansion originating in Iberia not only led to the resettlement of Europe but also of North Africa".
[22]
Until recently, some papers suggested that the distribution of the main L haplogroups in North Africa was mainly due to trans-Saharan slave trade.
[23] However in September 2010, a thorough study about Berber mtDNA by Frigi
et al. concluded that most of L haplogroups were much older and introduced by an ancient African gene flow around 20,000 years ago.
[24]
Us new age Blacks got this
