Haplogroup I information

The distribution of Haplogroup I2b1 is closely correlated to that of Haplogroup I1 except in Fennoscandia (Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland), which suggests that it was probably harbored by at least one of the Paleolithic refuge populations that also harbored Haplogroup I1; the lack of correlation between the distributions of I1 and I2b1 in Fennoscandia may be a result of Haplogroup I2b1's being more strongly affected in the earliest settlement of this region by founder effects (defined as a genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population) and genetic drift (defined as a change in the relative frequency in which a gene variant occurs in a population due to random sampling and chance) due to its rarity.

As Haplogroup I2b1 is somewhat rare, and comprises less than 10% of the total Y-chromosome diversity of all populations outside of Lower Saxony (A state in northwest Germany). The distributions of Haplogroup I1 and Haplogroup I2b1 seem to correlate fairly well with the extent of historical influence of Germanic peoples.

Haplogroup I2b1 has been found in over 4% of the population only in the following countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, England (not including Wales or Cornwall), Scotland, and the southern tips of Sweden and Norway in Northwest Europe; the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Perche in northwestern France; the province of Provence in southeastern France; the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, and Latium in Italy; and Moldavia and the area around Russia's Ryazan Oblast and Republic of Mordovia in Eastern Europe.

The Germanic settlement of Britain resulted in Anglo-Saxon, or English, displacement of and/or cultural assimilation of the indigenous culture, the Brythonic speaking British culture causing the foundation of a new Kingdom, England. As in what became England, indigenous Brythonic Celtic culture in some of the south-eastern parts of what became Scotland (approximately the Lothian and Borders region) and areas of what became the Northwest of England (the kingdoms of Rheged, Elmet, etc) succumbed to Germanic influence c.600—800, due to the extension of overlordship and settlement from the Anglo-Saxon areas to the south. Between c. 1150 and c. 1400 most of the Scottish Lowlands became English culturally and linquistically through immigration from England, France and Flanders and from the resulting assimilation of native Gaelic-speaking Scots. The Scots language is the resulting Germanic language still spoken in parts of Scotland and is very similar to the speech of the Northumbrians of northern England. Between the 15th and 17th centuries Scots spread into Galloway, Carrick and parts of the Scottish Highlands, as well as into the Northern Isles. The latter, Orkney and Shetland, though now part of Scotland, were nominally part of the Kingdom of Norway until the 15th century. A version of the Norse language was spoken there from the Viking invasions until replaced by Scots.

Therefore, given the information discussed above, there are two possibilities. First, is that the lineage was part of the Germanic settlement of Britain (c 600 -800). However, this impacted the Scottish Lowlands near Lothian (Edinburgh). Given the District of Strachan is located in the Grampian Highlands, it is possible one might have migrated north. Alternatively, it is more statistically probable that the lineage is derived from the Norse invasion (c. 900) as the Southern tips of Sweden and Norway had a relatively high populations. Moreover, we know for certain there was a Norse encampment at present day Dunnottar Castle, which is a mere 15 miles from the present day village of Strachan.