Overview
J2a-Y18110 is a downstream branch of J2a-M67 with early roots in the eastern Anatolian uplands and the Armenian plateau. Its formation corresponds to middle Holocene agro pastoral expansions along upland river systems where early farming communities established durable settlements linked to obsidian and metal exchange routes. Archaeological parallels include Chalcolithic fortified towns and upland trade corridors that connected the Armenian plateau with Upper Mesopotamia.
By the Bronze Age, Y18110 bearing groups were integrated into demographic flows associated with the Kura Araxes horizon, which spread across highland regions and shaped early metallurgical and pastoral systems. The lineage persisted through the Iron Age and classical highland polities, maintaining strong continuity in upland environments with relatively limited diffusion outside the region.
Geographic distribution
Most common in Armenia, eastern Turkey and northwest Iran; moderate in northern Iraq and Georgia; low in the Levant and Anatolia’s western interior.
Ancient DNA
- Armenian Bronze Age samples display J2a variants related to early Y18110.
- Chalcolithic Upper Tigris individuals exhibit J2a structures consistent with upstream components of the clade.
- Eastern Anatolian Bronze Age populations preserve markers compatible with Y18110.
- Iron Age highland settlements include derived segments of this lineage.
- Classical plateau communities show continuity with Y18110 derived lines.
Phylogeny & subclades
A highland oriented J2a-M67 branch with microclades clustered across the Armenian plateau and eastern Anatolia.
- Y18110*
- Armenian plateau branches
- Upper Tigris derivatives
Notes & context
An important lineage representing long-term upland demographic continuity in eastern Anatolia and the Armenian highlands.
References & external links