The below report was copied from the E1a Google site uploaded there Jan 2011 by Currie
Also scroll down to view Links for other Comment by Argiedued on E1a
Argiedude’s Contributions
(With Some Commentary)
The man known only as “Argiedude,” whose dna analyses have appeared in dna-forums.com for the last three years, has brought considerable enlightenment to those of us who are E1a1. Using published dna results that he could find, and relying on personal observation of certain DYS values to determine E1a1 when SNP information was unavailable, he has contributed greatly to our understanding of our clade. His assumption was that if an E man had a combination of DYS 391= 9 and DYS 392=12, such a combination suggested E1a1. So far, of all those tested by FTDNA, there has never been a known exception to this assumption, although there is one man now who is E1a1 with a DYS 391 value of 10. (viewable in the “E1a1 Worksheet Sent by Argiedude.”)
Argiedude took figures from various dna studies (viewable in the “E1a1 Worksheet Sent by Argiedude”) and made a map of the places where E1a1 can be found today (viewable in the “E1a1 Analysis by Argiedude at Dna-Forum”). While the figures are not all in, and probably never will be, it is clear that E1a1, as it is comprised through test results, is quite small in comparison with other haplogroups. I have a brother-in-law, for example, who has 1,184 exact twelve-marker matches among people in his haplogroup, and others coming in every month; whereas, I do not have even one exact 12 marker match with anyone outside the family I know.
The E1a1 map put together by Argiedude shows that E1a1 is strongest in Mali, with pockets of strength up the west coast of Africa in areas adjacent to North Africa, pockets that seem to possess significant numbers. (The Cameroonian percentage Argiedude later discounted.) Outside of Africa, E1a1 makes its greatest stand in Malta and Italy, an area where the Roman Empire is known to have transplanted masses from Carthage and Jerusalem. Other than the infusion of E1a1 into Sephardic and Ashkenazi groups, E1a1 is barely represented elsewhere. The .02% used for the British Isles may even be inflated, given the study on which it was based.
Distinguishable Groups:
Argiedude has shown that E1a1 is not all alike, but that there are distinguishable groups. The first group he analyzed, the Ashkenazis, form such a cluster. Their DYS likenesses are real. They are alike in the following ways: DYS 385b=17, DYS 456=16, and DYS 446=17. In the E1a Project (viewable here) three kits, 117610, 97252, and 1293, have all three values. Kit numbers 68577, 157884, 1003, and E4807 have two of the three values.
But, you might ask: How did the Ashkenazis find E1a1? Or, more to the point: How did E1a1, a haplogroup that Argiedude says originated in North Africa, find its way into the Jewish population?
The mixing of E1a1 with the Jewish population is easily understood by Jewish movement and trades routes in North Africa in ancient times. Jews were in North Africa quite early, from Moses' time in the eastern portion more than 3,000 years ago, to Cyrene and other settlements by at least two millennia ago. In large part, intercourse between the cultures of Jews and Africans was facilitated by geography, especially when the liberty is taken to view North Africa as extending into the Middle East and the Middle East is seen as extending into North Africa.
In Argiedude’s analysis, in addition to seeking DYS identity for Ashkenazis, he tries to do the same for Sub-Saharans and Iberians. Lastly, (though he was not very specific, except for me) there is probably a category that could be described as "other,” one in which he placed the Halls.
According to Argiedude, the Sub-Saharan men who tested from Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon seem to follow an established pattern just like the Ashkenazis. They exhibit certain DYS values, in this case, values such as: DYS 385a=16, DYS 447=25, and H4=10. In the E1a project one kit, 127533, has those three values. One more, kit 151085, had two of the values.
In an effort to verify Argiedude’s figures, I found that out of 12 test results, two had results that were incomplete and one that did not match the others. But, out of the remaining 9 samples, 7 had the values and 2 were only slightly off. I judge, as he did, that sub-Saharan individuals seem to have a different pattern from those north of the Sahara. This is verified further by evidence provided by the SMGF website which contains lots of African samples.
For Argiedude, DYS numbers also seem to set the Iberians apart. Of the 15 Portuguese and Galician men tested, 12 of them had a 29 at Dys 389/2. Then, in my own observation of DYS 385a, I noticed that 10 of the 13 have a 15. Argiedude dubbed the Iberians a possible "Portuguese Cluster." Interestingly, two men, with kit numbers 117610 and 97252, have these values at 385a and 389/2.
Argiedude also sees some of the same patterns in E1a1 that he sees in other y-dna haplogroups. He sees an east-west cline in Iberia, instead of a north-south cline, and a similarity between British Isles E1a1 and that of continental northwest Europe. He also points out that Malta and Sicily, which have the highest European rate of E1a1, have basically the same y-dna haplogroup frequencies, suggesting that these two areas likely experienced the same migration pattern.
We need more testing, but until then, we are stuck with the numbers we have, numbers which, in my opinion, have implications for E1a1. At the very least, they tell us a time story. They say that certain individuals comprise groups that have spent time together. The question is: How much time?
Robert E. Hall, E1a1 member
Quotes from Argiedude:
“North Africa gives the impression of being the center of diffusion of E1a1. Every region that connects with North Africa has a high frequency of E1a1. But, bizarrely, North Africa itself has an extremely low frequency of E1a1.”
“I'm pretty sure that E1a1 in the Sahel region is at least an order of magnitude more frequent than in the rest of West Africa, and yes, that's a very notable difference. This re-enforces the North African origin of E1a1, because the Sahel has several markers of North African origin which are also much more frequent there than in the rest of West Africa.”
“E1a1 has a high frequency in BOTH Ashkenazis and Sephardics. Very few places have as high a frequency as either of them, and that includes the Middle East and nearby regions. This suggests the event that caused E1a1 to be so high in Jews occurred before they branched off into the major Diaspora populations.”
“I don't think its (E1a1) diffusion can be explained within the time constraints of its TMRCA age of 3,000 years. It requires an ancient genetic diffusion explanation.”