Overview
J1-FGC10012 is a downstream lineage within the highland-oriented J1-Z1828 complex and originated among agro-pastoral communities inhabiting the Armenian Highlands, eastern Anatolia and the northern Zagros. These societies practiced vertical transhumance, early metallurgy and stable upland agricultural production. Their settlement systems often included fortified hilltop villages, valley farmsteads and interconnected herding networks typical of early highland West Asian cultures. Across the Bronze and Iron Ages, FGC10012-bearing groups remained localized in mountainous regions where ecological barriers enforced long-term demographic continuity. Genetic and archaeological continuity between ancestral FGC10012 populations and later Iron Age and medieval highland communities demonstrates the deep rootedness of this clade in upland West Asian landscapes.