Overview
J1-FGC8704 is a downstream lineage under J1-Z1828 and is strongly tied to the demographic history of the South Caucasus, eastern Anatolia and the northern Zagros. Its earliest formation corresponds to middle Holocene upland agro-pastoral communities who practiced seasonal transhumance and maintained mountain-based networks linked by early metallurgy and obsidian distribution. These populations contributed significantly to the cultural constellation that later evolved into the Kura-Araxes horizon. Throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages, FGC8704-bearing groups inhabited upland fortresses, plateau settlements and highland ecological niches that promoted long-term demographic stability. The phylogeny displays tightly clustered microbranches anchored to specific valleys and massif regions, indicating limited diffusion into surrounding lowlands and persistent highland continuity.