A · BT · CT · CF · F · I · I2 · I2c · I2c3
I2-Y13076
I2c3 (Y13076) is a deeply divergent Caucasus–Caspian oriented branch of the I2c lineage. This clade appears to trace later Upper Paleolithic populations of the southern Caucasus and adjacent Caspian corridor. Its persistence through the early Holocene suggests long-term habitation of mountain foothill refugia and participation in forager networks that linked the Caucasus, northern Mesopotamia and the Iranian plateau.
Modern carriers are concentrated in Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Armenia, northeastern Turkey and western Iran. Minor occurrences in Georgia and the North Caucasus reflect localized continuity. Rare instances in southeastern Europe likely represent ancient trans-Caucasus dispersals.
I2c3 branches alongside I2c1 and I2c2 within the I2c radiation. SNPs such as Y13076 define a regionally stable and slow-diversifying clade. Its structure suggests early isolation followed by limited Holocene expansions.
I2c3 is important for understanding Highland West Eurasian deep-time diversity, capturing a lineage that survived outside the major Neolithic and Bronze Age demographic waves.