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This project is a meeting place for users who share the I-BY316 Y-DNA haplogroup, which means they are related along their paternal lines. Users in this group may want to share their family trees with each other to find overlaps and merge duplicate profiles in order to join or expand the World Family Tree and discover new relatives.
On the basis of analysing samples of volunteers in YDNA sequencing, the YDNA analysis company YFull estimated that I-BY316 formed 2,300 years ago (500 BC) (95 % CI 3,100 <-> 1,950 ybp) with a TMRCA (Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor) of 2,400 years (95 % CI 2,800 <-> 2,100 ybp) before present.
Geographically I-BY316 is believed to have arisen in or near what is now Finland (based in part on the current distribution of this haplogroup).The current distribution of I-BY316 shows that there is a very high concentration in the regions bordering the Baltic Sea. Due to the distinct distribution pattern around the Baltic sea it would appear that the progenitor of I-BY316 may have been immersed in a seafaring culture. In a historical context the distribution patterns fits well with the historical region of Kvenland and the associated tribe of the Kvens.
At the time when haplogroup I-BY316 came into existence, the Celts were beginning to expand from their traditional territory in southern Germany. The Germanic peoples were then presumed to be occupying a possible original homeland in southern Sweden and the Jutland peninsula (i.e. the presumed homeland of parent haplogroup I-Z63). There were surrounded on three sides by Kvens. They appear to have gone through a period in which they were conquered by the western Celts and remained subject to them (especially in Jutland). Triggered by the Gallic invasion, the Germanic peoples began expanding south-westwards along the North Sea coast and eastwards along the shores of the Baltic Sea. The push eastward along the Baltic Sea deep into Kven territory is assumed to coincide with the migration pattern of I-BY316. Historical records from the time of haplogroup origin are extremely sparse. The mythological king Fornjót of Norse sagas was said to have ruled over Kvenland roughly around the time of haplogroup origin. Fornjót was eventually followed by the dynasty of "sea kings" starting with Heiti Gorsson. Even though mythology may be very far removed from historical truth, it nevertheless paints a picture of a strong seafaring tradition in the area of interest and can therefore help to explain the subsequent expansion of the haplogroup.