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Y-DNA Haplogroup Atlas

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Haplogroup I2a1e

I2-CTS10936

Macro-haplogroup
I
Parent clade
I2a1
Formed (estimate)
c. 12,000–14,000 years before present
TMRCA (estimate)
c. 6,500 years ago

Overview

I2a1e (CTS10936) is a southeastern European and Balkan-rooted branch of the I2a1 lineage. Emerging during the terminal Pleistocene or early Holocene, it likely belonged to forager populations occupying the northern Aegean, Thrace and the lower Danube basin. The lineage did not undergo the large-scale expansions seen in I2a1b, instead maintaining a localized demographic footprint into the Neolithic and Bronze Age.

Geographic distribution

Modern carriers are most frequent in Bulgaria, northern Greece, North Macedonia and western Turkey. Smaller frequencies are found in Romania and Serbia, reflecting long-term regional continuity.

Ancient DNA

  • Early Holocene and Neolithic Aegean-associated individuals show upstream I2a1 signals linked to the ancestry of CTS10936.
  • Chalcolithic Thracian samples cluster near basal I2a1e lineages.
  • Early farmer communities interacting with Balkan foragers retain partial ancestry from related I haplogroups.

Phylogeny & subclades

Positioned within I2a1, I2a1e branches in parallel to I2a1a, I2a1b, I2a1c and I2a1d. Its SNP structure, marked by CTS10936 and secondary markers like Y16412, shows limited internal diversification.

  • I2-Y16412
  • I2-BY10340

Notes & context

I2a1e contributes to understanding the deep-time genetic substrate around the northern Aegean and Balkan prehistoric interaction zones.