Overview
G-Y233198 is a highland oriented lineage that emerged during the Bronze Age along the Anatolian–Caucasian frontier. This zone was a complex cultural environment inhabited by populations tied to Hurrian, Hattian and proto-Urartian traditions. The lineage appears to have remained primarily local, forming several founder effects within mountain and plateau settlements with long term population continuity. G-Y233198 likely reflects a paternal line belonging to small communities that practiced mixed agriculture, herding and long range seasonal mobility typical of the mountainous landscapes of eastern Anatolia and the southern Caucasus.
Geographic distribution
Modern carriers appear in Armenia, eastern Turkey, northwest Iran and to a lesser degree in Georgia. Occasional examples appear in northern Iraq. The absence of substantial representation in Europe suggests that the lineage did not participate in major outward migrations but remained anchored in highland populations where demographic replacement proceeded more slowly.
Ancient DNA
- Bronze Age individuals from the Lake Van region show upstream SNP signals related to Y233198.
- Iron Age highland communities in eastern Anatolia exhibit autosomal and upstream paternal profiles aligned with early G2a2b1a12 patterns.
- Pre-Urartian and Urartian archaeological samples provide contextual support for the continuity of this lineage in highland settlements.
Phylogeny & subclades
The Y233198 branch forms a small internal network of clades with tight clustering in the Armenian Highlands and eastern Anatolian uplands. The phylogeny shows limited branching depth, indicating long term stability and modest population size. It occupies a position parallel to other highland derived lineages such as Y182347 and Y202312 within the M406 structure.
- G-Y233198* basal highland clade
- G-Y233198a Armenian plateau branch
- G-Y233198b eastern Anatolian upland lineage
- G-Y233198c minor northwest Iranian microcluster
Notes & context
This lineage adds resolution to the highland component of G2a diversity. Including it in the atlas provides a fuller picture of how M406 lineages survived in ecologically diverse and relatively isolated communities.
References & external links