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Y-DNA Haplogroup Atlas

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Haplogroup I2a1h

I2-Y3282

Macro-haplogroup
I
Parent clade
I2a1
Formed (estimate)
c. 12,000–14,000 years before present
TMRCA (estimate)
c. 6,000–7,500 years ago

Overview

I2a1h (Y3282) is a Carpathian–Pontic oriented Mesolithic paternal lineage. It originated among forager populations living between the eastern Carpathians, the Dniester valley and the forest-steppe transition zone north of the Black Sea. Its formation aligns with the terminal Pleistocene–early Holocene period when climate stabilization allowed these regions to develop into refugial zones for human groups that did not participate in large-scale demographic expansions.

Geographic distribution

Modern occurrences concentrate in western Ukraine, Moldova, northeastern Romania and southern Poland. Minor frequencies in Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria reflect early Holocene dispersals and later Slavic-era diffusion.

Ancient DNA

  • Mesolithic genomes from the Dniester–Prut region show upstream I2a1 structure consistent with the ancestral position of Y3282.
  • Neolithic Cucuteni–Trypillia individuals include I2 lineages phylogenetically adjacent to I2a1h.
  • Bronze Age steppe-adjacent samples indicate continuity of local I2 substrates parallel to incoming steppe groups.

Phylogeny & subclades

I2a1h is one of the smaller branches of I2a1, parallel to expansions like I2a1a–f. Its defining markers Y3282, Y3284 and Y3296 create a shallow but coherent clade with limited downstream radiation.

  • I2-Y3284
  • I2-Y3296
  • Basal I2a1h*

Notes & context

I2a1h is especially informative for reconstructing early Holocene paternal ancestry in the Carpathian and Pontic regions. It represents a layer of pre-farming genetic continuity later overlain but not erased by Neolithic and Bronze Age migrations.