DNA Ancestry, 5

According to DNASolutions Pty. Ltd., my common female ancestor is known as Mitochondrial Eve. Four initial groups of descendants known as Haplogroups Lo-L3 are related to Mitochondrial Eve. Group Lo apparently is now extinct, but Group L-3 divided into two subtypes: M and N. A DNA marker at position 10875T of my mitochondrial DNA, shows that I am a descendent of Haplogroup N. Of course, there were more branchings and a woman classified as “Helena” (meaning light in Greek) marked the beginning of my mitochondrial type: Haplogroup H. One of the most famous of my Haplogroup H ancestors (that can be traced back to Bertha Von Putelendorf who died 1190) is reported to be the French queen Marie Antoinette—who, unfortunately, “lost her head.” Because that family was quite prolific, some others in Haplogroup H include Marie-Louise of Austria (Napoleon’s wife), the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna (wife of the last Russian tsar Nicolas II), and Britain’s Queen Victoria. Part 6 tomorrow.