This is the sixth video in my origins series, which explores family history research and several of the Haplogroup’s that exist in my ancestry including my paternal and maternal genetic groups. The series includes a few How to videos, including How to begin researching your family history, how to record and source the data you collect, how to get past those early parish records, break down walls and how to publish your family history.
These are all videos planned over the coming weeks, so if any of the subjects interest you, then please keep watch for those upcoming videos. This series of videos goes live every Monday at 12 Noon British Standard Time.
Todays video takes a look at my paternal grandmothers Haplogroup.
A group called K1B1A1A, Which can be traced back to a genetic mutation that occurred no more than 7,400 years ago, This woman lived 300 generations ago, and every person that carries the genetic marker K1B1A1A are descended from this one woman.
K1B1A1A, broke away from it’s parent group 7,400 years ago and this maternal line stems from a branch of haplogroup K called K1a. K1a is a widespread haplogroup that traces back to a woman who lived nearly 20,000 years ago, right around the time of the last great peak of the Ice Age.
As the Ice Age gradually loosened its grasp on the global climate an event which took several millennia, waves of migration began to spread across Europe from the middle East
I’m going to take a brief look at some of the prehistoric ancestry of this mtdna haplogroup before moving on to more recent times, so please keep watching as there is a few interesting things coming up in this video.
K1B1A1A, broke away from the parent group K1B1A1, This group has 4 subclades and is aged about 11,300 years.
Now interestingly there has been many ancient examples of this mtdna group discovered during archaeological digs
The following gives examples of where K1B1A1 has been found in those ancient samples – there are 27 recorded in total and I’m going to cover just a few of them in this video.
They include –
Neolithic burials found during excavations of the Holm of Papa Westray Chambered Cairns, there are 3 Cairns in total and they sit on
The uninhabited island of Holm of Papa Westray. Orkney, Scotland The largest cairn has 12 inner chambers and boasts peculiar carvings on interior lintels.
It is one of the most northerly islands in the Orkney group. Though the island is now a few hundred feet offshore, it was probably linked to the main island in Neolithic times, and seems to have served as a cemetery for the settlers at Knap of Howar; the oldest stone settlement in northern Europe.
A pair of remarkable early Neolithic stone houses stands at Knap of Howar. The houses feature stone cupboards and stalls and are believed to be the oldest houses in this region of Europe.
The second example we are going to look at includes yet another discovery made on the Islands of Orkney,
The Isbister Cairn – Also known as the tomb of the eagles.
The cairn was uncovered by a local farmer, Ronald Simison, on his land on the south-eastern tip of the island of South Ronaldsay in 1958.
After noticing flagstones jutting from a mound in a field, Mr Simison began digging and was astounded when, ten minutes later, he reached the bottom of what looked like a wall.
Excited by his discovery, he continued and, before long, had uncovered a black and white polished mace head, axe heads and a tiny jet button.
Spurred on by his unexpected discoveries, he dug further until he reached the top lintel of what he recognised as being an entrance of some sort.
Mr Simison continued exposing the newly discovered entrance bit by bit and was eventually able to peer into the darkness of the small stone cairn.
There, by the flickering light of a cigarette lighter, Ronald Simison saw that 30 human skulls filled the chamber – he encounterd what is now known as the Tomb of the Eagles.
The third example comes from Amesbury Down, Wiltshire and the discovery of a grave dating 2,300 years – the skeleton belonged to that of a man
dubbed the “Amesbury Archer” or the “King of Stonehenge”
The grave contained the richest array of items ever found from this period. Around 100 objects were found, including the complete skeleton of a man, three copper knives, two small gold hair tresses, two sandstone wristguards to protect his wrists from the bow string, 16 flint arrowheads and five pots.
This makes the grave the richest Bronze Age find in Britain
In regard to more recent times and my own ancestry, I know as far back as my 6th great-grandmother through my paternal grandmother’s direct maternal lineage.
Researching maternal lines is one of the more difficult branches to undertake whilst researching your ancestry.
All of my known female ancestors in my fathers maternal line came from Essex and Dorset, England – the latter not being too far from Stonehenge.
They include my father
Stephen Robert Kuta who was born in Maldon in 1956 and died 2018
My grandmother Rosie May Janes who was born in Maldon in 1930 and died in 1997
My great grandmother Hannah Maud Mabel Barritt born in Colchester in 1890 and died in 1957
My 2x great-grandmother Charlotte Anna Diskett born in Compton Valence, Dorset in 1866 and died in 1935
My 3x great-grandmother Emma Gale, born in 1829 in Powerstock, Dorset and died in 1871
My 4x great-grandmother Jane Best, born in Hooke, Dorset In 1792 and died in 1870
My 5x great-grandmother Hannah Mintern, born in Hooke, Dorset in 1774 and died in 1806, interestingly Hannah is paternally descended from John Mintern, the legendary Dark conjuror of Batcombe and I have made a video about him which is linked above.
And finally
My 6x great-grandmother Mrs Mary Mintern, her maiden name is unknown but she was born in Dorset in 1742 and died in 1831
Where the line goes from there, I am not sure – but the lineage certainly has prehistoric ties to both Stonehenge and Neolithic Orkney.
Anyway a very big thank you for watching…
I hope you have found this video interesting, if you have then please give this video a big thumbs up, leave a comment and feel free to subscribe, which certainly helps the channel grow and helps the video reach a bigger audience.
Next week, will be our seventh video in this series and we are going to be take a look at the YDNA Group – R-M269 which belongs to my 4x great-grandfather – Henry Harris paternal lineage
The Lives of my Ancestors 