Haplogroup V is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup. The clade is believed to have originated over 14,000 years ago in Southwestern Europe.

Origin

Haplogroup V derives from the HV0a subclade of haplogroup HV. In 1998 it was argued that V spread over Europe from an Ice Age refuge in Iberia. However more recent estimates of the date of V would place it in the Neolithic.

Distribution

Haplogroup V is a relatively rare mtDNA haplogroup, occurring in around 4% of native Europeans. Its highest concentration is among the Saami people of northern Fennoscandia (~59%). It has been found at a frequency of approximately 10% among the Maris of the Volga-Ural region, leading to the suggestion that this region might be the source of the V among the Saami. Haplogroup V has been observed at higher than average levels among Cantabrian people (15%) of northern Iberia, and among the adjacent Basque (10.4%). Haplogroup V is also found in parts of Northwest Africa. It is mainly concentrated among the Tuareg inhabiting the Gorom-Gorom area in Burkina Faso (21%), Sahrawi in the Western Sahara (17.9%), and Berbers of Matmata, Tunisia (16.3%). The rare V7a subclade occurs among Algerians in Oran (1.08%) and Reguibate Sahrawi (1.85%).

Ancient DNA

MtDNA haplogroup V has been reported in Neolithic remains of the Linear Pottery culture at Halberstadt, Germany c. 5000 BC and Derenburg Meerenstieg, Germany c. 4910 BC. Haplogroup V7 was found in representative Maykop culture samples in the excavations conducted by Alexei Rezepkin. Haplogroup V has been detected in representatives Trypil'ska and Unetice culture. Haplogroup V has also been found among Iberomaurusian specimens dating from the Epipaleolithic at the Taforalt prehistoric site 14,000 years BP. Haplogroup V has also been found among Somogyvár-Vinkovci culture specimens dating from the Bronze Age from Western Hungary https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.03.478968v1.full.pdf

Tree

This phylogenetic tree of haplogroup V subclades is based on the paper by Mannis van Oven and Manfred Kayser Updated comprehensive phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation and subsequent published research.

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