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Y-DNA Haplogroup Atlas

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Haplogroup I1-Y6220

I1-Y6220 Baltic coastal branch

Macro-haplogroup
I
Parent clade
I1
Formed (estimate)
c. 3,300–4,000 years before present
TMRCA (estimate)
c. 2,000–2,400 years ago

Overview

I1-Y6220 is a Baltic coastal oriented subclade of haplogroup I1 that likely originated among late Bronze Age and early Iron Age communities around the southern Baltic Sea. It appears to have been associated with coastal populations in Pomerania, Prussia and the adjacent Scandinavian shores, active in amber trade, maritime exchange and early Germanic cultural formation. The demographic pattern of the lineage suggests moderate local expansion in a series of coastal micro regions rather than a single large scale founder event.

Geographic distribution

Modern carriers of I1-Y6220 are concentrated in northern Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and coastal Germany, with additional presence in Denmark and southern Sweden. Low level frequencies in Finland and northwest Russia reflect later Baltic and Finnic interactions. Sporadic occurrences in Britain and North America result from recent historical migration from Baltic and German sources.

Ancient DNA

  • Iron Age burials from the Vistula delta and coastal Pomerania show I1-Z58 derived haplotypes that phylogenetically cluster near the Y6220 branch.
  • Baltic archaeological contexts associated with early west Baltic tribes display paternal lineages positioned in the broader phylogenetic neighborhood of Y6220.
  • Some Viking Age individuals from coastal Sweden and Baltic islands carry I1 haplotypes that map to downstream or adjacent parts of the Y6220 cluster, reflecting maritime movement within the Baltic basin.

Phylogeny & subclades

I1-Y6220 is a downstream derivative of the I1-Z58 continental radiation, and is particularly related to Z138 and its coastal microbranches. SNPs Y6220, Y6223 and BY15420 define the clade. Internal diversification consists of a small number of regional subclades that correspond closely to specific Baltic coastal regions.

  • I1-Y6223
  • I1-BY15420
  • Basal Y6220* Baltic coastal lineages

Notes & context

I1-Y6220 is a useful marker for high resolution studies of Baltic coastal ancestry and provides a paternal counterpart to archaeological and linguistic evidence about the formation of early Baltic and Germanic cultural zones along the southern Baltic shore.