Yes, if you count mixed lines not just the direct paternal one, I believe mathematicians like Joseph Chang have proved that if you go back far enough, everyone alive at the time was either the ancestor of everyone living or none. See for example http://www.jstor.org/stable/1428340 http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v431/n7008/abs/nature02842.html and so on. And we've known since the work of Galston in the 19th century that over a period of a few centuries, almost all lines will die out for purely random statistical reasons, as touched on by Thomas. Invoking prolific warlords isn't necessary although that's not to rule one out. Iain > From: david.maclennan@utoronto.ca > To: dna-r1b1c7@rootsweb.com > Date: Mon, 26 May 2014 17:13:54 +0000 > Subject: Re: [R-M222] Niall haplotype 'dubious' - Professor Mark Thomas > > When I was corresponding with Dr Elin Eyjolfsdottir (Celticist and > Genealogist) about my Icelandic pedigrees, she had these words of wisdom > which I will share with you: > > "As a reference point, in our genealogical records you will not find any > Icelander who is not a descendant of Harald the Fair-haired, King of > Norway in the 10th century, who is much later than Niall of the > fifth/sixth century would have been. This is because as you know, with one > set of parents, two sets of grandparents, four of great-grandparents, > eight great-great-grandparents and so on and so on, you will find at least > one person somewhere who is a descendant of Harald the Fair-haired. It is > almost a genetic impossibility if you are of Irish descent and > particularly of the Ulster region that you are not a descendant of 'a > person' from Niall Noigiallach's era, but you can never be entirely sure > who from². > > > David > > On 2014-05-26, 12:08 PM, "Iain Kennedy" <ikennedy_msdn2@hotmail.com> wrote: > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DNA-R1B1C7-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message