[2][3] R-M269 had formerly been dated to the Upper Paleolithic,[9] but by about 2010 it was thought to have formed near the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution, about 10,000 years ago.

[10][11][12] More recent archaeogenetics studies since 2015, however, strongly suggest an origin among Eneolithic hunter-gatherers from eastern Europe.

[5][13] Balaresque et al. (2010) based on the pattern of Y-STR diversity argued for a single source in the Near East and introduction to Europe via Anatolia in the Neolithic Revolution.

According to the authors, the occurrence of basal forms of R1b in eastern European hunter-gatherers provides a "geographically plausible source" for haplogroup R-M269.

These show a clear articulation within Western Europe, with centers in the Low Countries, the British Isles and the Alps, respectively.

It peaks at the national level in Wales at a rate of 92%, at 82% in Ireland, 70% in Scotland, 68% in Spain, 60% in France (76% in Normandy), about 60% in Portugal,[23] 50% in Germany, 50% in the Netherlands, 47% in Italy,[24] 45% in Eastern England, 43% in Denmark and 42% in Iceland.

[26] The R-M269 subclade has been found in ancient Guanche (Bimbapes) fossils excavated in Punta Azul, El Hierro, Canary Islands, which are dated to the 10th century (~44%).

[32] Especially Western European R1b is dominated by specific sub-clades of R-M269 (with some small amounts of other types found in areas such as Sardinia[23][33]).

In Western Europe it is present but in generally much lower levels apart from "an instance of 27% in Switzerland's Upper Rhone Valley.

Z2103: Balkans and Turkey, Samara (Russia, Yamnaya a.c.), South Ural (burjan bashkirs) In 2009, DNA extracted from the femur bones of 6 skeletons in an early-medieval burial place in Ergolding (Bavaria, Germany) dated to around c. 670 yielded the following results: 4 were found to be haplogroup R1b with the closest matches in modern populations of Germany, Ireland and the USA while 2 were in Haplogroup G2a.

The following gives a summary of most of the studies which specifically tested for M269, showing its distribution (as a percentage of total population) in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia as far as China and Nepal.

In 2000 Rosser et al., in a study which tested 3616 men in various populations[66] also tested for that same marker, naming the haplogroup Hg22, and again it was found mainly among Basques (19%), in lower frequencies among French (5%), Bavarians (3%), Spaniards (2%), Southern Portuguese (2%), and in single occurrences among Romanians, Slovenians, Dutch, Belgians and English.

[citation needed] In 2008 two research papers by López-Parra[63] and Adams,[57] respectively, confirmed a strong association with all or most of the Pyrenees and Eastern Iberia.

In a larger study of Portugal in 2006, with 657 men tested, Beleza et al. confirmed similar low levels in all the major regions, from 1.5%–3.5%.

[61] Myres et al. report this clade "is most frequent (20–44%) in Switzerland, Italy, France and Western Poland, with additional instances exceeding 15% in some regions of England and Germany.

[69] Far removed from this apparent core area, Myres et al. also mention a sub-population in north Bashkortostan, where 71% of 70 men tested belong to R-U152.

[23] King et al. (2014) reported four living descendants of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort in the male line tested positive for U-152.

[70] Ancient samples from the central European Bell Beaker, Hallstatt and Tumulus cultures belonged to this subclade.

[16][71][72] Analyzed Iron Age Latins and Etruscans dating between 1000 and 100 BCE belonged primarily to haplogroup R1b-U152 (including the clades L2, Z56 and Z193).