Overview
Haplogroup R-P245 represents one of the earliest upstream nodes inside haplogroup R1 and captures the genetic structure of Upper Paleolithic populations before the massive differentiation of R1 into the later lineages R1a and R1b. This lineage likely formed in north central Eurasia at the end of the last glacial period, a time characterized by low population densities, mobile hunter gatherers and wide ranging cultural networks across the steppe and forest steppe zones. Modern representation of R-P245 is extremely sparse, and most descendants today fall under deeper R1a or R1b branches. However, R-P245 is significant because it reflects a time when R1 lineages were not yet separated into the distinct expansions that would later define Eurasian prehistory. This early structure is also valuable for understanding how genetic continuity from Upper Paleolithic groups contributed to the ancestral lineages of Indo European and Indo Iranian populations. Although rarely detected directly, R-P245 underlies all R1a and R1b expansions and therefore forms a foundational node for the entire paternal macro lineage that came to dominate Europe and large parts of western and central Asia.