Mitochondrial HVS-I sequences from 10,365 subjects belonging to 56 populati
ons/geographical regions of western Eurasia and northern Africa were first
surveyed for the presence of the T -->C transition at nucleotide position 1
6298, a mutation which has previously been shown to characterize haplogroup
V mtDNAs. All mtDNAs with this mutation were then screened for a number of
diagnostic RFLP sites, revealing two major subsets of mtDNAs. One is haplo
group V proper, and the other has been termed "pre* V," since it predates V
phylogenetically. The rather uncommon pre* V tends to be scattered through
out Europe (and northwestern Africa), whereas V attains two peaks of freque
ncy: one situated in southwestern Europe and one in the Saami of northern S
candinavia. Geographical distributions and ages support the scenario that p
re* V originated in Europe before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), whereas t
he more recently derived haplogroup V arose in a southwestern European refu
gium soon after the LGM. The arrival of V in eastern/central Europe, howeve
r, occurred much later, possibly with (post-) Neolithic contacts. The distr
ibution of haplogroup V mtDNAs in modern European populations would thus, a
t least in part, reflect the pattern of postglacial human recolonization fr
om that refugium, affecting even the Saami. Overall, the present study show
s that the dissection of mtDNA variation into small and well-defined evolut
ionary units is an essential step in the identification of spatial frequenc
y patterns. Mass screening of a few markers identified using complete mtDNA
sequences promises to be an efficient strategy for inferring features of h
uman prehistory.