In 1994 Professor Bryan Sykes, a leading world authority on DNA and human evolution, was called into examine the frozen remains of a man trapped in glacial ice in northern Italy. What made Sykes's story particularly revelatory was his successful identification of a genetic descendent of the Ice Man, a woman living in Great Britain today.
In The Seven Daughters of Eve, he gives us a firsthand account of his research into a remarkable gene, which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line. After plotting thousands of DNA sequences from all over the world, Sykes found that they clustered around a handful of distinct groups. Among Europeans and North American Caucasians, there are, in fact, in seven.

This conclusion was staggering: almost all people of native European descent, wherever they may live throughout the world, can trace their ancestry back to one of seven women, hence, the Seven Daughters of Eve. Naming them Ursula, XENIX, Helena, Vela, Tara, Quatrain, and Jasmine, Sykes has created portraits of their disparate worlds by mapping the migratory patterns followed by millions of their ancestors.

This discovery led Sykes to a larger conclusion: that almost every one of the 650 million modern Europeans has an unbroken genetic link to one of only seven women in the ancient past Sykes assigns names to these seven daughters of Eve and presents likely details of their lives and travels.

 

An artist's impression of Mitochondrial Eve who probably lived in Africa, about 150,000 years ago.

Over the past decade research in Oxford and other universities throughoutthe world, has shown that our mitochondrial DNA (or mtDNA for short),which is inherited exclusively through the maternal line, uncovers agenetic legacy which has been invisible until now.
This female genealogy has created an evolutionary framework going back150,000 years, and reveals that almost everyone in Europe, or whosematernal roots are in Europe, is descended from one of only seven women.Each of them founded a maternal clan whose descendants make up well over95% of modern Europeans.
These seven women, the 'Seven Daughters of Eve', have been given thenames Ursula (Latin for "she-bear"), Xenia (Greek for "hospitable"),Helena (Greek for "light"), Velda (Scandinavian for "ruler"), Tara(Gaelic for "rock"), Katrine (Greek for "pure") and Jasmine (Persian for"flower").
You can now find your own place within this genealogy - by far theworld's largest known family tree. If your roots are in Europe, you willdiscover which of these women is your ancestor and find out about herworld.
In other parts of the world, twenty seven equivalent clans have beenidentified so far. If your maternal roots lie outside Europe, you canfind which one of these you belong to and how you are connected to allthe other clans.


Helena
Helena's descendants are the most numerous in Europe, having started20,000 years ago from a hunting family in the Dordogne region ofsouthwest France. After the Ice Age her clan moved north, reachingBritain about 12,000 year ago.

Katrine
Katrine lived 15,000 years ago near Venice. Her clan ventured north, butmany are still to be found in the Alps. The 5000 year old IceMan was oneof her descendants

Velda
Velda lived among the hills of northern Spain 17,000 years ago where theyshared the land with Ursula's clan. They spread out after the Ice Age,some of her clan becoming the Saami or Lapps of northern Scandinavia.

Tara
Tara lived in Tuscany in Northern Italy about 17,000 years ago, when thehills were thick with forests. After the Ice Age, her clan moved intoFrance and trekked across the dry land that was to become the EnglishChannel into Ireland.

Ursula
Ursula lived about 45,000 years ago in Northern Greece. She was slenderand graceful and hunted with stone tools. Her clan spread across Europeincluding Britain and France.

Xenia
Xenia lived 25,000 years ago on the plains beneath the Caucasus Mountainson the eastern edge of the Black Sea. As the Ice Age ended her clanspread to Europe and across Asia to America.

Jasmine
Jasmine was born in Syria about 10,000 years ago and her descendantsarrived in Europe too late to experience the hardships of the Ice Age.Her clan brought agriculture into Europe.

MatriLine
Discover which Daughter is your Ancestor
http://www.oxfordancestors.com/daughters.html

From http://www.mctiernan.com/mtdna.htm
The Seven European Daughters of Eve matriarchal groups correspond to Dr.Wallace's lineages above, and were given names by Prof. Sykes:


Helena: (Greek for "light") This is our family line of descent and holdsfor any male or female family member who descends maternally from afemale Blaies / Blaes. This clan's descendants are the most numerous inEurope, having started 20,000 years ago from a hunting family in theDordogne region of the ice-capped Pyrenees in southern France. As theclimate warmed, Helena's descendants trekked northward to what is nowEngland, some 12,000 years ago. Members of this group are now present inall European countries.

Jasmine: (Persian for "flower") Her people had a relatively happy life inSyria 10,000 years ago, where they farmed wheat and raised domesticanimals. Jasmine's descendants arrived in Europe too late to experiencethe hardships of the Ice Age. Her clan brought agriculture into Europe.

Katrine: (Greek for "pure") lived 15,000 years ago near Venice. Her clanventured north, but many are still to be found in the Alps. The 5000 yearold IceMan was one of her descendants. Today most of Katrine's clan livein the Alps.

Tara: (Gaelic for "rock") settled in Tuscany in Northern Italy about17,000 years ago when the hills were thick with forests. After the IceAge, her clan moved into France and trekked across the dry land that wasto become the English Channel into Ireland.

Ursula: (Latin for "she-bear") lived about 45,000 years ago in NorthernGreece. She was slender and graceful and hunted with stone tools. Herclan spread across Europe including Britain and France.

Valda: (Scandinavian for "ruler") Originally from the hills of northernSpain, Valda and her immediate descendants lived 17,000 years ago andshared the land with Ursula's clan. They spread out after the Ice Age,some of her clan becoming the Saami or Lapps of northern Finland andNorway.

Xenia: (Greek for "hospitable") lived 25,000 years ago on the plainsbeneath the Caucasus Mountains on the eastern edge of the Black Sea. Asthe Ice Age ended her clan spread to Europe and across Asia to America.[As Dr. Wallace discovered, the X pattern is a rare European lineage andis also among the northern Native Americans such as the Ojibwa andSioux.]