Overview
J2a-FGC17610 is a downstream branch of the J2a-Z2227 maritime lineage, with strong demographic representation across Cyprus, the Dodecanese islands and the southwestern Anatolian coastline. Its earliest differentiation corresponds to middle Holocene coastal agricultural communities that developed island based subsistence strategies and participated in emerging seaborne exchange networks across the eastern Mediterranean.
During the Bronze Age, FGC17610 bearing groups were incorporated into regional maritime systems involving copper extraction, proto urban centers, and redistributive networks linking Cyprus, the Aegean and Anatolia. The clade's downstream structure displays island specific founder effects and tight clustering in coastal settlements, reflecting continuity across the Iron Age and classical periods.
Geographic distribution
Most common in Cyprus; notable in coastal Turkey and southern Aegean islands; moderate in Crete and mainland Greece; low in Italy and the Levant.
Ancient DNA
- Bronze Age Cyprus individuals show upstream J2a signatures consistent with FGC17610.
- Aegean island Bronze Age burials include patterns compatible with the clade.
- Southern Anatolian Bronze Age remains contain ancestral signals linked to this lineage.
- Classical eastern Mediterranean coastal towns preserve downstream derivatives.
- Roman era island settlements show continuity with FGC17610 microbranches.
Phylogeny & subclades
An island-focused J2a-Z2227 branch with pronounced maritime diversification and coastal founder effects.
- FGC17610*
- Cyprus cluster
- Aegean derivatives
Notes & context
A major eastern Mediterranean maritime lineage associated with island based Bronze Age population systems.
References & external links