Overview
J2a-FGC17512 is a downstream maritime-oriented lineage of the J2a-Z2227 radiation with a demographic core in Cyprus, southwestern Anatolia and the southern Aegean region. Its earliest diversification aligns with middle Holocene coastal agricultural populations who developed island-linked subsistence systems and early seafaring corridors. Archaeogenetic comparisons suggest close ties with early Cypriot and Anatolian coastal groups.
During the Bronze Age, FGC17512 bearing individuals played a role in population systems tied to Aegean and eastern Mediterranean maritime trade, including copper extraction centers, proto urban coastal towns and long-distance redistribution networks. Its downstream variants show pronounced founder effects in insular communities and persistent representation in classical and Roman coastal settlements.
Geographic distribution
Most common in Cyprus and coastal southwestern Turkey; moderate in Crete, the Dodecanese and mainland Greece; minor in Italy and the Levant.
Ancient DNA
- Cypriot Bronze Age burials show upstream elements consistent with early FGC17512.
- Southern Anatolian Bronze Age individuals display signatures compatible with the clade.
- Aegean Bronze Age remains include J2a structures aligned with this maritime lineage.
- Classical Levantine port towns preserve downstream derived branches.
- Roman island populations retain microbranches of FGC17512.
Phylogeny & subclades
A coastal and island-centered branch of J2a-Z2227 with pronounced maritime diversification patterns.
- FGC17512*
- Cyprus island branches
- Southern Aegean derivatives
Notes & context
A defining eastern Mediterranean maritime lineage strongly represented in island and coastal Bronze Age contexts.
References & external links