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Haplogroup I1-Z2535

I1-Z2535 Continental Germanic

Macro-haplogroup

Parent clade

Formed (estimate)

c. 3,600–4,200 years before present

TMRCA (estimate)

c. 2,000–2,500 years ago

Z2535
BY2881
Z2537

Overview

I1-Z2535 is a continental Germanic lineage that emerged within the I1-Z58 radiation during the early Iron Age. It represents populations residing in the inland North German Plain and the upper Elbe–Weser drainage. The clade is moderately sized but phylogenetically important for understanding the structure of early Germanic paternal lines between Denmark, northern Germany and the Low Countries.

Geographic distribution

Modern distribution peaks in Germany (Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg), Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland’s Pomerania. Lower frequencies occur in England due to Anglo-Saxon settlement. Small traces appear in France and Scandinavia linked to medieval migrations.

Ancient DNA

Iron Age individuals from the Elbe-Weser region exhibit I1-Z58 lineages phylogenetically adjacent to Z2535.
Roman-period frontier burials in northern Germany show continental I1 haplotypes consistent with this clade’s ancestry.
Anglo-Saxon cemeteries include males bearing haplotypes mapping to the Z2535 sector.

Phylogeny & subclades

I1-Z2535 is defined by Z2535, BY2881 and Z2537. It branches alongside other continental Z58 lineages such as Z1312 and Z382. Its downstream structure is shallow but geographically coherent.

I1-BY2881
I1-Z2537
Basal Z2535*

Notes & context