Overview
J2a-FGC17990 is a downstream coastal-oriented branch under the J2a-Z2227 maritime complex. Its earliest diversification corresponds to the middle Holocene emergence of seafaring agricultural communities in Cyprus, southwestern Anatolia and the southern Aegean. Archaeological parallels include island-based copper economies, early port settlements and maritime exchange networks linking the Levant, Anatolia and the Aegean.
During the Bronze Age, FGC17990 lineages spread through maritime circuits associated with Mycenaean, Cypriot and Anatolian polities. Its downstream microclades reflect repeated founder effects in insular populations. Classical and Roman Aegean urban centers show continued presence of this lineage, pointing to long-term stability in coastal demographic networks.
Geographic distribution
Cyprus, Antalya–Cilicia region, western Turkey, Dodecanese; moderate in Crete and the Levant; low in southern Italy.
Ancient DNA
- Bronze Age Cyprus individuals show ancestral signals matching upstream FGC17990.
- Southern Anatolian Bronze Age burials contain J2a variation related to this clade.
- Aegean Bronze Age individuals display J2a structures aligned with maritime expansions of FGC17990.
- Classical port populations preserve downstream subsets of the lineage.
- Roman Mediterranean islands show demographic continuity with FGC17990 branches.
Phylogeny & subclades
A maritime-associated J2a-Z2227 lineage with several island-centered and coastal downstream clusters.
- FGC17990*
- Cypriot/Aegean derivatives
- Southwestern Anatolian microbranches
Notes & context
An important clade for reconstructing Bronze Age maritime population history across Cyprus, Anatolia and the southern Aegean.
References & external links