The haplogrouping of Rurik is based on the fact that a number of extant royal houses have pretty good claims of descent from Rurik; genotyping a number of individuals from these houses reveals that about 60% (from diverse regons) are N1c1, and in-fact share a number of unique mutations on top of the standard N1c1-defining sites.

Also, until reading this thread I had no knowledge of Rurik or his line, so my own theory was completely based on the genetic pattern of the region, not any historical knowledge. For my own part, this adds weight to the Rurikid line theory and similar theories about the region.

Well, I don’t know the details of their theory, my comment was due to the fact that their theory sounds plausible based on the current haplogroup distributional and autosomal genetic pattern of the region. In fact, I’ve been thinking on a similar theory based on the genetic pattern of the exact same region for some time.

In fact, with what confidence can we speculate on the distribution of certain haplogroups a mellenium ago, given the large scale movements of people and the adoption/absorption of them and their cultures from effectively one end Eurasia to another?

I think for full verification we need ancient DNA studies.

Could the current distributions have crystallized only after relatively recent and rapid population expansions?

Y-chromosome is much more open to change and rapid expansions than mtDNA and autosomal DNA because of the ubiquitous patriarchal culture of humans, and there are historical examples like Genghis Khan (I don’t know how much verified the Genghis Khan theory is), so why not?

In fact, with what confidence can we speculate on the distribution of certain haplogroups a mellenium ago, given the large scale movements of people and the adoption/absorption of them and their cultures from effectively one end Eurasia to another?

Could the current distributions have crystallized only after relatively recent and rapid population expansions?

“In opinion of administrators of this project a considerable number of males, especially in the former USSR and in Finland, are descended from Rurik.”

I think that is a plausible theory (in fact, I intuitive had already a similar theory in mind) given the fact that Lithuanians of the Behar et al. study have almost 0% Mongoloid component despite the fact that they have a high frequency of Y haplogroup N1c1.

This Rurik guy may actually be a Finno-Ugrian or a Swedicized Finno-Ugrian.

I assume this vignette was lifted from Wikipedia, and upon further perusal of the guilty link many LOLz were had:

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/rurikid/default.aspx