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Haplogroup C2a3

C2a3-Z13076

Macro-haplogroup

Parent clade

C2a

Formed (estimate)

c. 24,000–30,000 years before present

TMRCA (estimate)

c. 9,000–12,000 years ago

Z13076
F1383
Z13079

Overview

C2a3 (Z13076) represents a northeastern Asian branch of the C2a radiation linked to early Holocene proto-Arctic populations inhabiting the region between Yakutia, Kamchatka and the Sea of Okhotsk. Its distribution and age suggest an ancestral connection to coastal hunter-gatherer groups that persisted in the subarctic ecological zones during climatic transitions.

Geographic distribution

Today, C2a3 occurs at low to moderate frequencies among Chukchi, Koryak, Itelmen and some Yakut and Evenk groups. Minor signals appear in Kamchatka, the Okhotsk coast and occasionally among Ainu-related individuals.

Ancient DNA

Late Pleistocene remains in the Okhotsk–Kamchatka region carry paternal markers ancestral to C2a3.
Proto-Arctic Holocene genomes align with downstream C2a3 structure.
Some early coastal populations show continuity with C2a3-linked foragers.

Phylogeny & subclades

C2a3 is defined by Z13076 and F1383 and forms a northern coastal sister branch to the more interior-oriented C2a2. Its internal phylogeny matches the distribution of subarctic forager groups.

C2a3a
C2a3b
C2a3*

Notes & context