The Netherlands have closer connections wth the Germanic population back to the timeof Strabo, Ptolemy and Pliny the Elder. It is here, where the various elements such as theFrisians and the Saxons, who in many cases appear to have abandoned their villages tomigrate as perhaps tribal units to England in the 5 th Century, had their home.R-M269 percentages – In Belgium the R-M269 element is about 65%, and Holland istypically about 70% R-M269.R-U152 predictions – It is expected that there will be a noteworthy difference betweenthe two areas in terms of R-M269 haplogroup structure. Both areas will likely show R-U106 as the predominant variety, but with Holland (including Friesland) having thelargest percentage. With known findings of between 60 and 75% R-U106 in Holland, itdoes not leave a great deal of room for R-U152 since R-P312/S116* (or R-L21/S145*) islikely to be the second largest grouping in northern Germanic countries. It isLuxembourg, the land of the Treveri, where substantial percentages of R-U152 areanticipated.R-U152 findings – The Myres et al. (2007) study found 65% R-U106 and its subclade R-U106b (S29 / U198) at 4% yielding about 70% who tested positive for U106 in Holland.This is almost identical to the findings of another study by Dr. Wilson with a Frieslandsample. The question then is whether there is any R-U152 in the remaining 30%. Theanswer is to be found in the latter unpublished study which found less than 1% R-U152.This is a very dramatic finding. It says that R-U152 is almost entirely absent from partsof the northern Germanic region. There appears to be, even to this day, a sharp north –south division in relation to U106 and U152, the latter being more common in thesouthernmost Germanic areas (as will be seen later), but almost non-existent in thenorthernmost Germanic areas (above about Koblenz).In the commercial testing to this point, a participant whose ancestors are from the LiegeRegion of Belgium (within the domain of the Aduatuci tribe, a branch of the Cimbri)tested U152+, and three other Belgians from nearby. Clearly many more observationswill be necessary before any conclusions can be drawn. Two individuals fromLuxembourg have tested positive for R-U152, and one from Central Netherlands.FRANCE: One of the three late Hallstatt and La Tene foci (western) is located in France(Gaul), the Marne (Champagne) group. It is from here in central eastern France that circa600 BC, and a later wave circa 400 BC, migrated into the Po Valley of Italy (e.g., Collis,2003). By the time of Caesar, most of Gaul was composed of Celts with tribes such asthe Aedui, and Averni.It is unclear how many of these groups trace descent from the La Tene peoples, and howmany were the aboriginal groups from the area who became “Celticized”. The continuityfactor is reflected in the following statement by Collis (2003). He said that what has beenobserved is that there is, a connection between western Languedoc and areas to the northand west that is long-lived; the similarity of the pottery in the Late Bronze Age, the26
Hallstatt and La Tene metalwork, and the monnaies a la croix (the ‘Tectosages cross’)variants of which also turn up in southern Germany; the connections of Provence aremore with the Swiss plateau (p.177). This latter fact may serve to explain the reasonwhy, under pressure from German intruders, the Helvetti chose to migrate toward the Bayof Biscay in the time of Caesar.However, many of the same tribal names pertaining to the migrations of circa 400 BCwere present at the time of Caesar in the middle of the 1 st Century BC, occurring withinthe broad territory stretching from the Marne south to the Massif Central and from theRhone to the Middle Loire Valley (Cunliffe, 1997, p.75). There are a number of reportsof large areas of the ancient homelands being abandoned (confirmed by thearchaeological record). However, after the defeat at Delphi in 279 BC, many Celtsappear to have turned westward and returned to their old haunts, and as well pushedfurther west where there is found, the sudden appearance of La Tene material in the27