Y-DNA ORIGINS

My Y-DNA results are in and prove both disappointing and exciting at the same time.  I had joined the DOSS/DAWES Study Group and I don't match anyone in the group.  My haplogroup is G-M201 and is very rare and unique which I'll try to explain and that's why it's exciting.  From a general DNA match point of view, my closest match is from Bahrain making things more confusing until you unpack the history.

In a nutshell the G-M201 family originated in the Caucasus on the north-eastern shores of the Black Sea around the city of Tuapse in Russia.  If you watched the Sochi Winter Olympics, this is the area of your Dawes ancestors.  They were hunter-gatherers who followed the animal herds as they migrated north and west at the end of the last ice age.

Map Source; https://sites.google.com/site/haplogroupgproject/g-m201

The above map show the source and migration paths out of the Black Sea area.

All Neolithic skeletal remains contain the G haplogroup and the origins of Neolothic culture are considered to be in the Levant or Jericho on the West Bank which makes my match to someone from Bahrain make sense.  The Black Sea area was also the scene of heavy fighting with major British involvement throughout both world wars and more so it is also possible that a DAWES soldier traveled there in the early 20th century.

How the DAWES family ended up in Sussex is still a mystery but I now believe that it happened much earlier than I originally anticipated.  In other words, they didn't come through modern Germany and pick up the DOSS name along the way.  It had to have happened before surnames came into common use.

As more and more males have their Y-DNA tested this story will continue to unfold and I will post updates as that happens.

Here are some interesting articles on the G-M201 haplogroup.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_G-M201
https://sites.google.com/site/haplogroupgproject/g-m201
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuapse