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Clan Helena is the largest mtDNA group so far. Of the Clan Helena results, only a fraction are CRS. As of 7 Jun 2004, the Oxford Ancestors searchable database lists 2879 matches for Helena in general, but only 880 of which match the CRS sequence.
Note: Family Tree DNA tests for marker 16519 ("519"), which is not included in the Oxford Ancestors testing. A mutation at 519 would still be considered "CRS" for the purposes of this page. The 519 marker is often considered "fast-moving" or even "volatile". HVR2 mutations are also not taken into consideration yet on this page.
See below to see the statistics I've been able to glean from FTDNA.

According to Oxford Ancestors:
Helena (Greek for light)
Whether just by chance or by the guiding hand of natural selection we do not know, but Helena's clan has grown to become the most widespread and successful of the Seven Daughters of Eve. Her children have reached every shore, settled every forest and crossed every mountain range. Helena's descendants can be found from the Alps in the South to the Scottish Highlands and the Norwegian fjords in the North, and as far east as the Urals and the Russian steppes.

Helena was born about 20,000 years ago on the strip of land that joins France and Spain, near what is now Perpignan. She belonged to a family of hunters, who harvested the rich oyster beds in the lagoons of the Carmargue to supplement their diet of meat. Helena's clan arrived in Europe from the Middle East, pushing their way along the Mediterranean, constrained to the narrow strip of land that was still habitable.

Not long after she was born, the glaciers that covered the Pyrenees, which Helena could see on a clear day only thirty miles from her camp, began to draw back as, little by little, the summers grew warmer. Some of her clan moved south of the mountains, up the valley of the Ebro to the West to reach the lands of the Basque, where they remain to this day. The most adventurous of her children took advantage of the climatic improvements and journeyed ever northwards to join the great movement of hunters across the plains of France. We know that they reached England around 12,000 years ago because DNA recovered from a young male skeleton found in Gough's Cave in Somerset shows that he too belonged to the clan of Helena. [Same cave as Cheddar Man, but 3,000 years older.]

Currently, the FTDNA (Family Tree DNA) site only allows me to search my own HVR1 and HVR2 match results. With the more extensive testing available at FTDNA, I've learned that I do have the 16519C mutation on HVR1. Also, I've learned that I have 2 mutations on HVR2: 263G and 315.1C. All three (3) of these markers (16519C, 263G, and 315.1C are considered "fast-moving" and/or "volatile". As of 7 Jun 2004, I have 259 matches on HVR1 (which is only the one mutation at 16519C). However, with the HVR1 + HVR2 matches, we are still at a scant 19 participants matching.
Note: Oxford Ancestors tests markers (base pairs) 16001 to 16400; whereas FTDNA tests from 16001 to 16540.

FTDNA currently (7 Jun 2004) shows the following ethnic associations with the results of "16519C" on HVR1 (434 matches): (10 most common backgrounds)

  1. Unknown Origin = 194 (44.7%);
  2. United Kingdom (incl. Scotland) = 71 (16.4%);
  3. Germany = 26 (6%);
  4. Poland = 24 (5.5%);
  5. Ireland = 20 (4.6%);
  6. Romania = 14 (3.2%);
  7. Russia = 10 (2.3%);
  8. France = 9 (2.1%);
  9. Ukraine = 8 (1.8%);
  10. Lithuania = 7 (1.6%).

ATTCTAATTT AAACTATTCT CTGTTCTTTC ATGGGGAAGC AGATTTGGGT ACCACCCAAG TATTGACTCA CCCATCAACA ACCGCTATGT ATTTCGTACA
TTACTGCCAG CCACCATGAA TATTGTACGG TACCATAAAT ACTTGACCAC CTGTAGTACA TAAAAACCCA ATCCACATCA AAACCCCCTC CCCATGCTTA
CAAGCAAGTA CAGCAATCAA CCCTCAACTA TCACACATCA ACTGCAACTC CAAAGCCACC CCTCACCCAC TAGGATACCA ACAAACCTAC CCACCCTTAA
CAGTACATAG TACATAAAGC CATTTACCGT ACATAGCACA TTACAGTCAA ATCCCTTCTC GTCCCCATGG ATGACCCCCC TCAGATAGGG GTCCCTTGAC
See also my husband's clan: Clan Aiyana.


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Special thanks to Anne L.T.A. for the original web graphics!
Last updated 7 Jun 2004.

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